Katy Konyk, PhD, RSW, is a social worker, educator, and researcher. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the UBC School of Social Work.

Dr. Konyk completed her PhD in Social Work at McGill University. Her research interests include occupational experiences of trauma and stress, affect regulation, occupational mental health, and critical analyses of resilience.  Her doctoral research focused on the experiences of stress, trauma, and resilience amongst professionals working in environments with frequent and acute stressor exposure.

Dr. Konyk has taught at the University of British Columbia, McGill University, and Langara College. Across undergraduate and graduate courses, she is committed to integrating clinical experience with theoretical and critical scholarship to create applied, practice-relevant learning environments. She weaves real-world case examples, structured skills practice, and reflexive discussion into her teaching to help students translate conceptual frameworks into ethical and contextually responsive practice.

Before entering academia, Dr. Konyk worked as a social worker in hospital, community, forensic mental health, and correctional settings, including positions with Yale New Haven Health and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. She has extensive clinical experience in comprehensive assessment, individual and group therapy, crisis intervention, and collaborative care planning. Her teaching and scholarship are grounded in anti-oppressive, trauma-informed, and relational approaches to clinical social work, and she is committed to preparing students for ethical, reflexive social work practice within complex institutional environments.

Konyk, K., Maurer, K., Ricciardelli, R., Regehr, C., & Rabiau, M. (2025). Correctional officer recruits’ navigation of overwhelm: Internal and external strategies. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2025.100731

Maurer, K., Konyk, K., & Hémond-Dussault, V. (2024). Mieux comprendre les processus sous-jacents des comportements des adolescents.es exposés.es à la violence familiale: un appel à une approche sensible au traumas. Revue travail social, 69(1). https://doi.org/10.7202/1112123ar

Maurer, K., Kimyaci, M., Konyk, K., Wekerle, C. (2023). Building resilience through daily smartphone app use: Results of a pilot study with the JoyPop app with social work students. Frontiers in Digital Health, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2023.1265120

Konyk, K., & Ricciardelli, R. (2022). Tough lessons: Pathways toward correctional officer resilience and growth. Traumatology. https://doi-org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/10.1037/trm0000408

Konyk, K., Ricciardelli, R., Taillieu, T., Afifi, T. O., Groll, D., & Carleton, R.N. (2021). Assessing Relative Stressors and Mental Disorders among Canadian Provincial Correctional Workers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(19). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910018

McKendy, L., Ricciardelli, R., & Konyk, K. (2021). Trauma in the correctional field and the correctional worker habitus. Incarceration, 2(2), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/26326663211021727