Graduate Students

Marissa Bowsfield, M.A

Marissa is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program. Her research, which is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), focuses on associations between body image variables (e.g., body satisfaction) and sexual satisfaction over time in mixed-sex couples and how sexual anxiety mediates these associations. Marissa is particularly interested in the dyadic effects of body image and sexual anxiety on sexual satisfaction, including how individuals’ perceptions of their romantic partner’s satisfaction with their body may positively influence their body satisfaction and sexual satisfaction, and the implications these effects have for couples seeking treatment for sexual challenges.  

Click here to visit Marissa's Research Gate profile.

Jessica Ferreira, M.A.

Jessica is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program. Her MA research, which was funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), examined how spouses’ difficulties with emotion regulation moderated the associations between daily negative behaviours and daily relationship satisfaction over 21 days in a community sample of 125 mixed-sex married couples. Jessica is particularly interested in the dyadic effects of emotion regulation on relationship and sexual satisfaction, and the implications these effects have for individuals and couples seeking treatment.

Click here to visit Jessica's Research Gate profile.

Richard Rigby, M.A.

Richard is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program. He received his BSc. in Psychology (Behavioural Neuroscience) from the University of British Columbia in 2015. He completed his master’s thesis on how positive illusions buffer the association between attachment insecurity and relationship satisfaction in newlywed couples in Summer 2020.

He is looking forward to starting his PhD project where he will be examining the themes present in couples discussion about their sexual problems. Currently, Richard is completing two additional qualitative projects. The first explores how COVID-19 has impacted British Columbians in romantic relationships. The second examines the themes of newlywed narratives of couples with stable and declining marital satisfaction.

Click here to visit Richard's Research Gate profile.

Lauren McRae, M.A.

Lauren is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at SFU. She completed her honours research project under the mentorship of Dr. Cobb in 2017, and graduated from SFU in 2018 (B.A., Hons). This past summer (2020), she completed her Master's program in Clinical Psychology.

Lauren is interested in the complex associations among monogamy, jealousy, and infidelity, and seeks to understand how couples can best navigate such difficult topics.

Click here to visit Lauren's Research Gate profile.