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By Suzanne Smith
Graduating psychology student Dave Segal takes a joyous celebratory paddle in a kayak he uses in his work, providing recreational opportunities for people with disabilities. UVic awards 3,143 degrees, diplomas and certificates in convocation ceremonies this month, including Segal’s bachelor’s degree.
While working towards his bachelor’s degree at UVic, Dave Segal discovered a way to combine his passion for psychology and the environment. Through his work with Power To Be Adventure Therapy Society, a charitable organization that aims to improve the lives of people living with special needs, Segal is applying his skills and expertise in wilderness therapy. He coordinates the organization’s Adaptive Recreation Program, which aims to improve the physical health and emotional well-being of people with special needs through such recreational activities as alpine skiing, sea kayaking, indoor rock climbing, camping and gardening.
“Since I started coordinating this program, the number of people enrolled has grown to over 300,” says Segal. “It makes it possible for people with disorders like muscular dystrophy to get out in a kayak and have a blast just like any other person. These kinds of experiences help boost their confidence and allow them to break through some of the barriers of living with a disability.”
When he’s not facilitating workshops or debriefing with participants after an outdoor activity, Segal also spends his time working at UVic’s Centre for Addictions Research. He started working there as part of a directed study with Dr. Tim Stockwell, and since then Segal has managed to design and implement his own study looking at low alcohol strategies for reducing alcohol-related harm to university students.
His study compares the level of enjoyment and perceived intoxication between participants who are given moderate amounts of unmarked low alcohol beer compared to those who drink regular strength. The results, which Segal hopes to publish next fall, suggest that most participants could not tell the difference between the two strengths of beer. He hopes that this study will help convince policy makers to introduce alcohol taxes and other incentives that will promote low alcohol alternatives, and help persuade breweries to manufacture higher quality, better tasting, low alcohol beer.
Segal is graduating this month with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a focus in environmental studies. He has been accepted into UVic’s child and youth care master’s program and received a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to study wilderness therapy.
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