Irina is a first-year PhD student in the Clinical Psychology program.  She received her undergraduate Specialized Honours degree in Psychology at York University and completed her MA in Clinical Psychology at TMU. Her MA thesis examined explored sensitivity and disrupted caregiving behaviours in mothers with problematic substance use. Her findings highlight that these constructs are overlapping but unique, with differences particularly pronounced in mothers who are parenting in the context of poverty and basic need insecurity.  Irina will continue to pursue research to support the development and evaluation of interventions to support positive parent and child outcomes in living in contexts of mental health and social-contextual stress at the doctoral level. Irina’s graduate studies have been supported by SSHRC, OGS, and a TMU graduate scholarship.