Nicole Barr is equal parts nurse practitioner, private practice therapist, and now, instructor at the Wright Institute. She also spends her time conducting research and teaching other health care providers. Barr wears many hats, but she is not someone who wastes a single day on something she does not feel is important.
After a major life change like finding a new job, or moving across the country, it can be difficult for many people to adjust.
Not so for Veronica Cruz-Martinez, who graduated from the Wright Institute Counseling Psychology Program in 2015.
"I just moved to New Jersey," she says nonchalantly. "Just a few weeks ago, actually." Cruz-Martinez, who grew up in the Bay Area and had never lived outside of California until February, now works at New Jersey City University (NJCU) in Jersey City. She recently landed a position as a counselor in the NJCU Counseling Center, working face-to-face with college students on a variety of issues.
Left to right: Lama Alameddine, PsyD with Alzheimer's Association staff member Mandi Gundersen
Congratulations to Lama Alameddine, PsyD, a 2014 graduate of the Wright Institute Clinical Psychology Program, for receiving the Alzheimer's Association 2018 Community Partner of the Year Award!
Each February, the Columbia University Teachers' College annual Winter Roundtable calls together psychologists, therapists, professors, and social workers to discuss cultural issues ranging from immigration and racial justice to community-based trauma. Now in its 36th year, the Winter Roundtable is "the longest running continuing professional education program in the United States devoted solely to cultural issues in psychology, education, and social work."
Six Wright Institute faculty members presented at this year's Winter Roundtable, held at Columbia University in New York City on February 22 and 23. The theme of this year's gathering was "Rise Up," tackling issues in racial justice, immigration, social activism, education, unity, and psychology.
"We have won a tremendous victory at the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors," says Clinical Program faculty member Terry Kupers, MD. On February 12, the Board "voted not to build a 'mental health jail' to replace the dilapidated Men's Central Jail that has to be demolished."
Instead, the Board of Supervisors plans to move forward with building a new mental hospital.
Doctor of Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) program students Melanie Schug, Kristi Guan, and Pratima Pathania presented posters at the 2019 National Multicultural Conference and Summit. The conference was held January 16-18 in Denver, Colorado. The posters, which were created by members of Wright Institute Students of Color (WISOC) and the White Privilege Accountability Group (WPAG), describe the groups' collaborative efforts to effect multicultural change at the Wright Institute.
The WISOC poster, entitled "Advocating for multicultural change from the perspective of Students of Color," was co-authored by Yani Chu-Richardson, Kristiana Guan, Iris Leung, Pratima Pathania, and Shiyu Zhang.
"A lot of school-based therapy, from a systemic standpoint, gets pushed towards behavioral issues," says Jennifer Dorsey, a 2017 graduate of the Wright Institute Counseling Psychology Program. "I want to re-focus on an approach that is deep enough to really help our clients."
How do you move forward with no real road map? That's the question facing men in search of a new definition of masculinity, one that rejects the precepts of toxic masculinity. "We haven't yet found a way to create or sustain on a mass scale less toxic or even healthy masculinity," says Raymond Buscemi, Psy.D., core faculty member with The Wright Institute Master's in Counseling Psychology Program.
On February 2, The Psychotherapy Institute will host the 2019 Supervisors' Symposium, featuring a keynote presentation from Wright Institute full-time faculty member Stephanie Chen, PhD.
For over 40 years, the Psychotherapy Institute (TPI) has provided continuing education and advanced training to psychotherapists, as well as as affordable psychotherapy to Bay Area residents. TPI's Supervision Study Program helps clinicians develop their skills, theoretical grounding, and personal authority as culturally sensitive relational, psychodynamic supervisors.
Surf therapy is a relatively recent addition to the mental health landscape. Best known for its use by the U.S. Navy, it is most often used to work with veterans suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Two graduates of the Wright Institute Clinical Psychology Program, Adam Moss, PsyD (class of 2016) and Nathan Greene, PsyD, (class of 2017) have partnered with two of their mentors to launch Surf Circle. The four psychologists are blending the surf therapy model with more traditional group therapy to provide a unique experience for adolescent boys and young men in the San Francisco Bay Area.
