Richard Lichtman, Ph.D. 1931 - 2018

Dear Wright Institute Community,

With great sadness we write to inform you of the passing of Professor Emeritus, Richard Lichtman, Ph.D. Dr. Lichtman passed away at home on Friday, just a few days short of his 87th birthday. He has been teaching at the Wright Institute since the early 1970s.

His Wright Institute web-page bio is very informative, as is a Tikkun obituary written by Wright Institute graduate, Rabbi Dr. Michael Lerner.

Faculty member is making data accessible to clinicians

Read about Dr. Rubio's interest in expressive arts therapy here.
Click here to see an example of Dr. Rubio's research.

Alumni Interviews: Monika Parikh

Monika had fifteen years of experience working with survivors of human trafficking when she enrolled in the Counseling Psychology Program in 2013. In this interview, she speaks about how the program led her to found a non-profit organization, Partnerships for Trauma Recovery, in Berkeley. We are in awe of the incredible work that Monika and her team are doing for refugees and asylum-seekers here in the Bay Area.

Alumni interviews: Monika Parikh from The Wright Institute Counseling Psychology Program.
Video credit: Madnomad Films

Alumni Interviews: Dylan Kersh-Oliva

Dylan, a 2015 graduate of the Counseling Psychology Program, discusses how the Wright Institute prepared him for the work he does now in private practice and as a program coordinator at Shine a Light Addiction Specialists.

Alumni interviews: Dylan Kersh-Oliva from The Wright Institute Counseling Psychology Program.
Video credit: Madnomad Films

Click here to learn more about the Wright Institute’s Doctor of Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) program.
Click here to learn more about the Wright Institute’s Master of Counseling Psychology program.

Students participating in panel discussion at the 2018 Society for Personality Assessment Convention

A small group of Wright Institute students in the Doctor of Clinical Psychology Program, including Charles Warter and Lizzie Hedrick, will participate on a panel at the 2018 Society for Personality Assessment Convention in Washington, D.C. in March. After administering a personality assessment on a current client, the students will role-play their respective clients in order to provide Dr. Richard Levak with clinical information to supplement his live interpretations of their MMPI-2 personality assessment results.


Click here to learn more about the Wright Institute’s Doctor of Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) program.
Click here to learn more about the Wright Institute’s Master of Counseling Psychology program.

Alumni Interviews: Katherine Tarnoff

Katherine Tarnoff, a graduate of the Counseling Psychology program, speaks about the program and why she decided to begin teaching at the Wright Institute. She describes her experience as a student in the Multicultural Awareness & Sensitivity class, which she now teaches to first year students. She also discusses her school-based work with children at Bay Area Community Resources, and in private practice.

Alumni interviews: Katherine Tarnoff from The Wright Institute Counseling Psychology Program.
Video credit: Madnomad Films

Alumni Interviews: Hazel Zetino

Hazel Zetino graduated from the Counseling Psychology program in 2016. Since then, she has served as a Bilingual Family Clinician at Lincoln. In this brief video, she speaks about her experience building the skills and confidence to be an effective therapist.

Alumni interviews: Hazel Zetino from The Wright Institute Counseling Psychology Program.
Video credit: Madnomad Films

Psychologists Focus on Diversity in Programs, Policies, and Practices

Founded in 1976, the National Council of Schools and Programs in Professional Psychology (NCSPP) is an organization composed of delegates from programs and schools of professional psychology who aim to advance the development of graduate training in professional psychology. NCSPP hosts an annual conference for delegates from professional psychology programs across the country. In January, the Wright Institute was well-represented at the 2018 Midwinter Conference:

Alicia del Prado, PhD, Full-Time Faculty member in the Clinical Psychology program, is a member of the NCSPP Conference Planning Committee, and has also served on other committees within the organization in the past.

Therapist Doubles as Asylum Advocate

Sahil Sharma, a third-year student in the Wright Institute’s Doctor of Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) program, is spending his training year developing not only his clinical and assessment skills, but also learning to compose asylum evaluations for many of his clients. Placed at Partnerships for Trauma Recovery, a relatively new Bay Area nonprofit founded by a graduate of the Counseling Psychology program, Sahil works with people who were forced to flee their countries of origin.

“Our clients include refugees, asylum seekers, and victims of human trafficking and other atrocities,” he explained. “At my placement, we provide free mental health services and work closely with local legal agencies to provide asylum evaluations for court to help our clients remain legally in the country.”

As his clients’ therapist and advocate, Sahil’s role is distinct from that of an expert witness but still potentially extremely influential.

Dr. Hanna Levenson, Clinical Psychology Program core faculty member, to serve as invited discussant

The University of California, San Francisco Department of Psychiatry will host its 13th annual Robert S. Wallerstein, MD Visiting Lectureship on Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy on Wednesday, March 21, 2018 from 1-5 pm. Dr. Hanna Levenson, Wright Institute Clinical Psychology Program core faculty member, will lead the discussion following the keynote address.