Rate My Professor Peati MeneVaele

Peati Mene-Vaele serves as a Research Fellow in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch, within the Division of Health Sciences. In this role, she contributes to academic activities, including serving as the Lecturer Pacific for the postgraduate papers PSME404 Addiction Assessment and PSME422 Addiction Treatment. These papers are offered nationally and focus on core knowledge and skills relevant to addiction assessment and treatment.

A senior registered clinical psychologist, Peati Mene-Vaele holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology (PGDipClinPsy) and is a Member of the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists (MNZCCP). She has worked in primary care mental health at Etu Pasifika Christchurch for three years, providing services to adults and adolescents. Prior to this position, she spent three years in the Department of Corrections working with adults and youth. In 2024, she started a private practice to address gaps in Pasifika psychology, sexual harm, and trauma services. She has been teaching for three years in the University of Canterbury Clinical Psychology Programme and undergraduate psychology courses, and for two years in the University of Otago psychological medicine department postgraduate studies. Her master's research at the University of Canterbury, supervised by Professor Julia Rucklidge, examined stress and mental illness amongst Samoan adults aged 16 and older living in New Zealand, including attitudes toward mental health and preferred treatments. Peati Mene-Vaele is a graduate from the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Lab at Te Puna Toiora, University of Canterbury. She presented as a speaker at the Pasifika Medical Association Conference 2024.