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Sarah Ciotti
Associate Professor & Practicum Clinical Coordinator, Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy.
I am an Assistant Professor in Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy and serve as the Practicum Coordinator. I hold a BA in Sociology & Criminal Justice and Public Policy, an MA in Sociology, a Certificate in Couple & Family Therapy from the University of Guelph, and a PhD in Child and Youth Studies from Brock University.
Before joining Martin Luther University College, I was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with the International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership (ICCRP) at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). I have also taught as a contract instructor at the University of Guelph, Brock University, TMU, and Sheridan College.
I have been a Registered Psychotherapist (RP) since 2015 and have worked in helping professions since 2000. My practical experience spans diverse settings, including health care, youth justice, residential care, community-based children’s and youth work, post-secondary education and counselling services, children’s mental health, and child welfare. I have worked with adults, children, youth, and families.
As a theoretically oriented, transdisciplinary social justice scholar, my research areas include child rights and child/youth participation, young caregivers, and child and maternal health. I am particularly interested in child/youth participation. My research explores how the social constructions of childhood influence child rights, and the opportunities made available to children and young people to engage in civic participation in various sectors. Additionally, I am interested in understanding how child rights can be meaningfully integrated into professional praxis.
I am currently involved in a project with the International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership (ICCRP) at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), investigating how intergenerational relationships can advance children’s rights through child and youth activism. I am also examining social discourses that juxtapose parents’ rights with children’s rights.
- Ciotti, S., Zufelt, V., Collins, T. & Gibson, S. [Forthcoming 2025]. “Navigating Youth-Led Participatory Action Research: Reflections on Ethics, Processes, and Lessons Learned from International Child and Youth Activism Projects” in The Palgrave Handbook on Participatory Action Research with Children.
- Ciotti S, Moore SA, Tardif-Williams C. (2023). “I Can Do Anything if I’ve Overcome That”: A Collaborative Case Study of an Adolescent with Symptoms of Lyme Disease in Canada. Adolescents, 3(3), 524-537. https://doi.org/10.3390/adolescents3030037
- Newman, K., Chalmers, H., Wang, A. Z. Y., Ciotti, S., Luxmykanthan, L., & Mansell, N. (2023). The Impact of Public Health Restrictions on Young Caregivers and How They Navigated a Pandemic: Baseline Interviews from a Longitudinal Study Conducted in Ontario, Canada. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(14), 6410. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20146410
- Ciotti, S., & Moore S.A. (2022). Children ‘at risk’: a critical content analysis exploring representations of childhood in Canadian media from the first wave to the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450128.2022.2136425
- Ciotti, S., Moore S.A., Connolly, M., & Newmeyer, T. (2022). Super-Spreaders or Victims of Circumstance? Childhood in Canadian Media Reporting of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Critical Content Analysis. Healthcare, 10(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10010156
- Ciotti, S., Moore, S.A., Connolly, M. & Newmeyer, T. (2021). Roots, Rights and Risk: Canada, Childhood and the COVID19 Global Pandemic. Canadian Journal of Children’s Rights 8(1), 13-33. https://doi.org/10.22215/cjcr.v8i1.2814