Researchers and Mental Health Professionals Meet to Discuss Youth and Adolescents in the San Francisco Bay Area

Read about Dr. Ritchie Rubio here.


Trauma Transformed and SAMHSA are co-hosting the Regional CANS Reflection and Focus Group in Oakland today. Facilitators will lead a discussion to share regional learning around best practices and common challenges in implementing CANS in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths Assessment (or CANS) is an outcome measure used to assess for overall psychological, social, emotional, and behavioral functioning of children and youth.

Dr. Ritchie Rubio, full time faculty member for the Counseling Psychology Program at the Wright Institute, will be presenting his work on data reflection in the Child, Youth, and Families system of care of San Francisco.

Wright Institute Professor’s Book Highlights Horrors of, Alternatives to Solitary Confinement

Over the course of decades researching the effects of solitary confinement on prison inmates, Professor Emeritus Terry Kupers, M.D. has amassed hundreds of anecdotes that illuminate the ways in which isolation causes disturbing patterns in relatively stable people and exacerbates symptoms of mental illness in those with histories of trauma and psychological problems. One such story was that of a woman he met in an East Coast prison who had recently been moved out of a secure housing unit (SHU), or solitary confinement.

“She was extremely anxious, and she told me that as a child her mother had locked her in a dark closet for hours or even days to punish her and was physically and verbally abusive,” Kupers said. “She eventually went to prison and to solitary, which triggered flashbacks, or experiences of reliving her abuse as a child.”

Get to know Ulash Thakore-Dunlap, LMFT - Full-Time Faculty, Counseling Psychology Program

See Ulash's professional biography here.


Shayna Quilty (SQ): I’m curious how you first heard about the Wright Institute, and what keeps you invested?
Ulash Thakore-Dunlap (UTD): I first heard about the Wright Institute when I was lobbying on capitol hill representing the Asian American Psychological Association. I was sitting at a table with representatives from California and sitting next to me was Dr. Gilbert Newman, Dean of the Clinical Psychology program at the Wright Institute. Dr. Newman put me in touch with [the Director of the Counseling Psychology Program,] Dr. Milena Esherick, when I asked if there were opportunities for me to teach at the Wright.

What keeps me invested is the intimate connection of our faculty. The support of the administration and the faculty allows me to do really good work with the wonderful students.

Get to know Nancy Ulmer, LCSW - Core Faculty, Counseling Psychology Program

Shayna Quilty (SQ): Tell me about how you became involved with the Wright Institute, and what keeps you invested?
Nancy Ulmer (NU): I had never taught before, but neuroscience is one of my areas of interest, so I accepted the offer to teach Human Development the first year that the Counseling Psychology Program was in existence. Later I began teaching Addictions Counseling and Professional Development as well.

We had such a fun time in the early years of the the Wright Institute Counseling Psychology Program! It was energizing, and kept me studying, learning, and growing. The students at the Wright Institute are wonderful, and I’m so pleased with our focus on professional development.

Get to know Stuart Lee, LMFT - Field Placement Director, Counseling Psychology Program

Shayna Quilty (SQ): Tell me about your history with the Wright Institute. What drew you here, and what makes you stay?
Stuart Lee (SL): I first arrived at the Wright Institute as a student when changing careers after 20 years in forensic science. I decided to enroll in the weekend program while concurrently working full-time in a crime lab. During my second year of coursework, Dr. Milena Esherick asked for volunteers to assist in visiting and evaluating potential field placement sites, and I was the only one who raised my hand in my cohort. What an opportunity! I really liked the work so I asked if I could continue in a more permanent role. I started part time in 2009 while I was completing my licensure hours and recently became full-time field placement director in 2016.

Tuition

Tuition for the 2025-2026 academic year is $43,650 for students enrolled in the first three years of the program. Tuition is payable at the rate of $16,370 for the 13-week fall trimester, $16,370 for the 13-week winter trimester, and $10,910 for the ten-week spring trimester.

Students who have completed three years (nine trimesters) of full-time study move into reduced tuition status, with payment set for the 2025-2026 academic year at $18,700 per year: $7,010 for the fall trimester; $7,010 for the winter trimester, and $4,680 for the spring trimester.

WI Student Presents at IARR Conference

First-year Clinical student, Anthony Lucas will be presenting a paper with Dr. Lauren Shapiro at this year's International Association for Relationship Research conference in June. The paper explores the inter- and intra-personal dynamics involved in the decision to marry. Thematic analysis was conducted on semi-structured interviews with 48 newlyweds.

Major themes included: The collaborative nature of envisioning and constructing a shared future, the role of social pressure and support- in the form of cultural scripts and family prodding-and the conceptualization of marriage as a vehicle for expressing love and commitment to one's partner as well as communicating a shift in relationship status to the community.

WI Student Presents at NCORE

Munn Saechao was invited to present at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) on May 30th in Forthworth, TX. Munn will co-facilitate a training on the topic: Affirming our Asian American cultural identities in the context of current political times (Individually yet collectively, individualized yet unified while having our needs met on college and university campuses). Munn will utilize her dissertation and her experience as a social worker to discuss the development of culturally sensitive programs for underrepresented Southeast Asian students on university campuses.

Munn was also invited to present her dissertation at the Sacramento Valley Psychological Association (SVPA) student research conference on May 13th in Sacramento, CA. Her dissertation is titled: Three to Four Decades Later: Examining Stressors And Resiliency Factors For Elderly Iu-Mien Refugees.

Meet HSU's New Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity Executive Director

Cheryl Johnson, Psy.D., has recently been named Executive Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Humboldt State University.

In this role, Johnson will also serve as the HSU Title IX Coordinator. Her appointment begins July 1, 2017. Read more: https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2017/may/1/meet-hsus-new-office-diversity-e...

WI Student Is Chair-Elect of CPAGS

Third-year student, Crystal Faith Cajilog, was recently Chair-Elect of the California Psychological Association of Graduate Students (CPAGS). CPAGS is the graduate student division of the California Psychological Association (CPA). Its purpose is to expand leadership, networking, research, advocacy, and scholarship opportunities for California Psychology graduate students. Ms. Cajilog works with adolescents at San Mateo County's Youth Services Center and conducts court-ordered assessments.

She has held several leadership positions with CPA's Federal Advocacy Committee, Pipeline to Advanced Degrees in Psychology (PaDiP) for Historically Underrepresented Students, University of California San Francisco's Mabuhay Health Center, and Bohol Circle Inc. in Alameda, CA. Her clinical interests include working with bio-psycho-social focus, substance addiction, psychological assessment (forensic and child), and Filipino American psychology. Other interests include legislative advocacy, outreach to marginalized students to enter the field of psychology, and mental health outreach to address mental health stigma in communities of color.