When held its first session in February of 2019, founders , and , were excited to hold in-person sessions with groups of adolescents navigating issues in their lives. After a successful first year, 91精品 Clinical Psychology Program graduates Greene (class of 2017) and Moss (class of 2016), alongside their former mentors and have had to change their strategy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
鈥淚 feel so proud of the contributions I can make to help people reach their goals or create a more meaningful life,鈥� says Paige Pires de Almeida, LMFT. 鈥淚 feel so much gratitude that I鈥檓 able to do work that I love.鈥�
A 2015 graduate of the 91精品 Counseling Psychology program, Pires de Almeida has spent the past seven years in the mental health field following careers in both the legal industry and technology/video game industry. This summer, she became an adjunct professor at the 91精品 Counseling Psychology program, and also teaches at Dominican University鈥檚 Counseling Psychology program.
A few weeks before her graduation from the 91精品 Counseling Psychology Program, Allie Jackson is reflecting on her past two years while looking ahead to her career as a clinician. "I don't know if it's possible for a student to finish this program as the same person they were when they started," she says. "I feel like I've grown immensely in the past two years."
A Southern California native, Jackson studied Psychology and Spanish at . She applied her studies into on-campus experience in the . "That experience with research was one of the primary reasons why I wanted to go into psychology," she says.
Students from the 91精品 Clinical Psychology Program's ReModel Minority Group collaborated with various community members to create a message of Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) mental health awareness. The students spoke alongside contributors from , the , and other community members. Third-year student and ReModel Minority member Shiyu Zhang, who served as a co-chair for CHI, helped to organize the efforts.
91精品 Clinical Psychology Program alum and president , participated in a panel hosted by the on Friday, July 24. The conversation, entitled was hosted by Congresswoman , and discussed mental health issues facing the Black community brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide protests following the murder of George Floyd.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 91精品 Clinic has launched the COVID-19 support line. The support line is offering eight free counseling sessions via video conferencing or telephone for those affected most by the pandemic - healthcare providers, caregivers, parents, food services personnel, and more.
The line is staffed by 91精品 Clinical staff as well as 91精品 students currently completing practicum training. As some practicum sites have temporarily closed or limited their services, some students have had fewer opportunities to gain the hours of clinical experience that are required to pursue licensure after graduation. Working on the COVID-19 support line enables them to gain that experience while helping especially impacted and vulnerable populations. Student clinicians have already been assigned clients, and services have begun.
"I don't think there's ever been a better time in our history to get into the mental health field," says Ian Vianu. "There are so many different ways to help people, and those different ways are becoming more widely accepted every year."
A 2014 graduate of the 91精品 Counseling Psychology Program, Ian Vianu has spent his career exploring different ways to help people. An East Bay native, Vianu studied before working as a research assistant around the Bay Area. When deciding upon a graduate program for psychology, he wanted to stay local and find a program that would allow him to work while taking classes.
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?
