Rate My Professor Keri Lawson-Te Aho

Dr. Keri Lawson-Te Aho is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington. She holds qualifications including an MSc in Cross-Cultural Psychology and a PhD in Psychology from Victoria University of Wellington, completed in 2013 with a focus on Māori suicide prevention. Her doctoral thesis, titled Whāia Te Mauriora: In Pursuit of Healing, theorises connections between soul healing, tribal self-determination, and Māori suicide prevention in Aotearoa/New Zealand. With more than 30 years dedicated to Hauora Māori, Māori and Indigenous suicide prevention, she serves as a faculty member researching critical issues in indigenous wellbeing. Lawson-Te Aho supervises postgraduate students, including PhD candidates in public health, and contributes to departmental seminars and initiatives.

Her research specializations encompass the mental health of Māori and indigenous populations, suicide in the Māori population, historical trauma, intergenerational trauma, and indigenous self-determination. Notable publications include 'Outcomes for Māori participants in Housing First' (2025, International Indigenous Policy Journal, with Ombler et al.), 'A principles framework for taking action on Māori/Indigenous homelessness in Aotearoa/New Zealand' (2019, SSM Population Health, with Fariu-Ariki et al.), 'The Healing is in the Pain: Revisiting and Re-Narrating Trauma Histories as a Starting Point for Healing' (2014), 'Building community resilience: learning from the Canterbury earthquakes' (2015), 'Constructing identity spaces for First Nations people: Towards an indigenous psychology of self-determination and cultural healing' (2014), 'The Master's Tools: Maori Development Inside Pakeha Psychology' (1994), and 'Indigenous Suicide and Colonization: The Legacy of Violence and the Necessity of Self-Determination'. She has delivered keynote presentations such as 'The evidence for Māori suicide prevention and mental health and wellbeing' (2018 Global Indigenous Suicide Prevention Symposium) and contributed to government submissions like the Revision of the Abortion Law (2018). Lawson-Te Aho has convened symposia exploring new approaches to Māori suicide prevention and maintains leadership in indigenous mental health research.