Andrea Gaymes to Share Mental Health Expertise in Canadian Webinar 

By S.Browne. Updated 6:16 p.m., Wednesday, January 14, 2026, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).

Andrea Gaymes, also known as Andrea Gaymes–Mohess, a Vincentian psychologist and counsellor based at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College, will present on January 16, 2026 in a Canadian-hosted webinar, as part of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) Professional Development Series’ Climate-Informed Counsellors Chapter “Caribbean Voice” series.

She will appear alongside Bahamian mental health professionals Tezel Lightbourne and Marjah Finlayson.
The series provides counsellors and psychotherapists with a space to discuss and respond to environmental challenges, and to support practical initiatives addressing the climate crisis.

The webinar will highlight the Caribbean experience, focusing on the mental health impacts of climate change, effective science and disaster communication for planning and public health, and ways communities can reduce stigma around mental health and climate-related stress.

Gaymes recently completed a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship (QES) research internship at McGill University’s Department of Global Health, Climate Change and Mental Health in Montreal, Canada, under the Climate Adaptation and Resilient Communities: Policy, Research, and Practice programme, as part of her postgraduate training with the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, CERMES.

Over the past decade, she has accumulated more than 5,000 clinical hours, supporting individuals and communities across the Caribbean affected by disasters and emergencies, including the major national experiences of 2021 and 2024 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This combination of academic training and frontline practice has shaped her perspective and strengthened her ability to speak with care and credibility on the mental health dimensions of a rapidly changing climate.

Gaymes said the presentation is less about recognition and more about representation and global responsibility. It offers an opportunity to share lessons from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the wider Caribbean region, contributing a clinician’s perspective on what helps communities recover, rebuild trust, and strengthen preparedness, as well as address the traumas communities encounter.

With continued work in mental health and ongoing studies in environmental and natural resource management, she aims to contribute to advancing a more integrated approach in the region that connects mental health, climate resilience, and disaster response in culturally grounded and community-led ways.

Her participation also reflects a wider regional push toward collaboration and partnership, translating global commitments, including the Sustainable Development Goals, into practical, people-centred action across the Caribbean.

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This information was sourced from a press release sent to us by Andrea Gaymes–Mohess.