As a student clinician, I am an advocate for our profession and our community. As your student representative, I would like to help students and their training institutions take advantage of the extensive resources offered by HNS, and to help students’ voices be heard about their needs. In my clinical training for the past three and a half years, I have seen first-hand the serious need for bilingual neuropsychological services and therapy in the Hispanic community. It is often a challenge to find guidance, from tests/norms and research, to consultation and career opportunities. HNS is the one-stop entity that provides us with concentrated support.
My commitment to a career in bilingual assessment and therapy has shaped my training path. Heading to internship next year, my pre-doc training sites include: two years at Wright Institute Assessment Services (where I am now a teaching assistant); Alameda County Medical Center (Highland Hospital-Health Psychology, Fairmont Hospital Outpatient Psychiatric Clinic, and John George Psychiatric Pavilion); Family Institute of Richmond; and as a registered psychological assistant treating Hispanic clients in the Victims of Crime Compensation Program. My dissertation pertains to cultural influences on Hispanic women who are victims of crime.
Prior to my doctoral studies at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, I owned a communications agency for 20+ years, working on projects such as community-based AIDS-prevention psychoeducation, as part of a bi-national consortium between Mexico and CA. My lifelong interest in Hispanic culture and language began when I lived in Spain. I have a B.S. in Spanish from Georgetown University’s School of Languages and Linguistics, an M.A. in Psychology from the Wright Institute, and am completing an MFT at St. Mary’s College while finishing my doctorate.
Employer:
1) Psychological Assistant (PSB 36202) to Louisa Lurkis, Ph.D., providing therapy to Hispanic clients in the Victims of Crime Compensation Program
2) Teaching Assistant to Howard Friedman, Ph.D., ABPP, for Wright Institute Assessment Services
3) fee-paid lecturer at St. Mary’s College in Orinda, for a class I developed on Dual Diagnosis Treatment and Families.
Hometown: Canton, Ohio
Research interest and/or current projects: Dissertation is on cultural influences on Hispanic adult women who are victims of crime. Also interested in research on developing brief-therapy trauma interventions for inpatients, using cultural traditions.
Name one thing not many people know about you: I’ve played the harp since I was nine years old.
What is something you’ve won and how did you win it? I received an ADDY (competitive award for communications professionals) for media and community outreach for the traveling exhibit/lecture series ‘Silent Voices Speak,’ which was about the Holocaust and current issues of social advocacy.
What is something you should throw away by can’t? Old files in my computer. I keep thinking someone is going to ask for something, although it’s only happened once. Besides, I back everything up on an external drive, but I just can’t seem to put Empty Trash at the top of my priority list.
What book are you reading right now? Little Bee by Chris Cleave
If given a choice to skip work for a day, how would you spend the day? With my children – cooking, paying music, dancing, and laughing.