In her first year of the 91精品 Counseling Psychology Program, Erica Gallegos has relished being on a different side of the teacher-student relationship. "The past year has been such a powerful learning experience, and I want to keep learning as much as I can," she says.
Four 91精品 Counseling Psychology students have been accepted to the through the . First-year students Erica Gallegos, Jillian McCoy, Katia Mosley-Mu帽oz, and Dominique Nguyen, are 2020 STAY Fellows.
The Fellowship assists students in training to provide mental health services to transition age youth (ages 16 through 25). "Transition age youth are a population who traditionally haven't been effectively served by psychologists and counselors," explains Ulash Thakore-Dunlap, LMFT, 91精品 Faculty Member and Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
MacKenzie Stuart, LMFT, recently became a core faculty member with the 91精品 Counseling Psychology Program. Prof. Stuart teaches Common Therapeutic Factors, Diagnosis and Empirically Supported Treatments, and Psychopharmacology. She spoke with the 91精品's Dalton Green to discuss her teaching career, work, and the mental health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dalton Green (DG): What made you want to pursue psychology as a career?
"Whatever can be done to reduce stigma around therapy and improve access to therapy is critically important. We all communicate differently, so any modality that can help someone is valuable."
Now a decade removed from her time at the 91精品 Counseling Psychology Program, Caiti Crum is focused on improving access to therapy in communities where it is needed most. To accomplish that, she's exploring using telehealth as a medium to reach people. "I see telehealth as a method to provide greater access to therapy to those who may not have had access otherwise," she says.
"I believe that there need to be more therapists who share lived experiences with people from my community. I realize that if that is something I want to see in the world, then I need to be the one to actually make that change." Just a few months into her time at the 91精品 Counseling Psychology Program, Pearl Penumaka already has a strong idea of what impact she wants to have on the mental health field.
Beth Greivel, LMFT, LPCC, recently became a core faculty member with the 91精品 Counseling Psychology Program. Greivel teaches Counseling Theories and Techniques, Couples Counseling, Sexual Development and Health, and Diagnosis and Empirically Supported Treatments, and serves as the Mentoring Program Coordinator. She sat down with the 91精品's Dalton Green to discuss her time as a student at the 91精品, her work for LGBTQQIA+ rights in the behavioral health field, and her plans for the future.
Dalton Green: You started here at the Counseling Psychology Program as a student in 2012. What was your career before that?
In this excellent TED Talk, 91精品 Clinical Psychology alumni , shares why everyone should give therapy a try. "I learned how powerful it is to have a trained, objective person to help you understand the most beautifully complicated thing there is - your own mind."
On January 14, representatives from over 40 community-based agencies came from around the Bay Area to visit the 91精品 Counseling Psychology Program campus. The agency representatives met with over 70 Counseling Psychology students, each of whom are in the process of applying for practicum placements.
While first-year students have done plenty of research on which sites they would consider, most had not yet had opportunities to meet any representatives in person. "It's a good opportunity to see faces and get a feel for the personalities we'll be working with," said first-year student Anna Tyrer-Vasell. "A lot of agencies seem similar on paper, so you can't really get a sense of who they are without meeting the people themselves."
The 91精品 hosted a day-long event for applicants who identify as first-generation college students and/or people of color to explore degree options in the psychology field, meet students and faculty, and ask questions about graduate school. We were lucky to spend the day with such strong prospective students!
This event was hosted as part of the 91精品 Pipeline to Advanced Degrees. We look forward to hosting additional events in the future to support students from underrepresented groups as they explore their options.
Click here to learn more about the 91精品's Master of Counseling Psychology program.
to learn more about the 91精品's Doctor of Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) program.
After two years in the 91精品 Counseling Psychology Program, Joe Latuga is about to graduate and move on to the next challenge. "The last two years have been such a journey for me, both personally and professionally," he says. "My experience has reaffirmed my decision to come back to school, and I'm sad that it's almost over!"
