Surfing as Therapy: Introducing Surf Circle

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.

Student Spotlight: Ananya Rajaraman, first year Diversity Committee Representative

"I had a mentor that said stereotypes are like paper cuts - they may seem small and insignificant, and no one on the outside can really see them. But you feel each and every one, and they can really build up over time."

Fresh out of her Diagnosis & Empirically Supported Treatments class with Professor Beth Greivel, Ananya Rajaraman settles in for an interview. From her first answer, it's clear why she was elected as the representative of first year students on the new Counseling Psychology Program Diversity Committee. "Community advocacy is something I've always been interested in. Sometimes it feels like I can't change anything because I'm only one person, but I'll continue to make an impact in any way I can."

Alumni Spotlight: Jeri Mares '15, Mentoring Program Coordinator

"Humans have an innate drive towards attachment. In many ways, attachment is like survival," says Jeri Mares about her work with couples, which she calls her most impactful. Never one to cut corners, she cites research which supports that a healthy, loving, high-functioning relationship benefits several aspects of health. "But of course we know that to be anecdotally true as well," she adds.

Yet it's clear that Jeri's passion for her work and connections towards her clients is greater than the expertise and clinical acumen she clearly possesses. "Helping couples achieve more lasting and enduring satisfaction in their relationships means that we're making little ripples in the overall health of people themselves," she explains.

Get to know Raymond Buscemi, PsyD - Core Faculty, Counseling Psychology Program

See Raymond's professional biography.

How Mindfulness Psychology Makes Better Therapists

Mindfulness - bringing awareness to the present - is as integral to the human experience as breathing. And in many ways, it's just as simple. "It's not a mysterious thing that some people learn. It's a process we all do," explains Wright Institute Counseling Psychology Program core faculty member Bowbay Liang-Hua Feng, LMFT. Her goal is to help clinicians learn to harness the benefits of mindfulness psychology, both for better therapy outcomes and for the wellbeing of therapists. Mindfulness is already incorporated into different theoretical orientations and therapeutic approaches, but its benefits are even farther reaching. So how can mindfulness psychology make for better therapists and more successful therapy?

Helping Children Process Trauma

"Bibliotherapy can be a powerful medium to help process distress," says Dr. Ritchie Rubio, faculty member with the Counseling Psychology program and Director of Practice Improvement and Analytics for Children, Youth, and Families System of Care with the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

"With kids, my experience is that the books need to be as close as possible to what they went through but it doesn't have to be. My personal favorite is 'A Terrible Thing Happened' by Margaret Holmes. Another good one is 'When the Bough Breaks: A Story For Children Suffering Natural Disasters.'"

Dedicated LGBTQ safe space established

Abigail Johal, a student in the Clinical Psychology Program, started a group for LGBTQ-identified students enrolled in high school programs at Contra Costa College in the 2017-2018 academic year. Wright Institute faculty member Daniela Kantorová, PsyD has worked with students Joshua Chow and Candice Bain to establish a safe space for this student group while continuing to build on Abigail's work.

The new safe space was featured in the Contra Costa College student newspaper, The Advocate. Click here to read the article and learn more about the project.

Abigail is currently writing a dissertation on how ethnic minority parents come to accept their Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Queer (LGBTQ) children.

Fostering Heroism in Fourth and Fifth Grade Students

Wright Institute Clinical Psychology Program alumnus Elisabeth Heiner, Psy.D., has adapted her dissertation into an article, which was recently published in The Journal of Humanistic Psychology. The article, "Fostering Heroism in Fourth- and Fifth-Grade Students," was published online by the journal in January 2018. The print version will be available later this year.

A desire to research prosocial, heroic behavior led Dr. Heiner to formulate a study that “empirically evaluated the potential effect of a training program...designed to foster heroism in children.” This grew to be her dissertation, which she completed with committee members Dr. Jerry Diller and Dr. Karen Wise.

Dr. Diamond Deepening Our Understanding of Autism

Since graduating from the Wright Institute Clinical Psychology Program in 2004, Faculty member Emily Diamond, PsyD has focused on gaining a deeper understanding of autism. In her groundbreaking International Autism Mapping Project, she found correlations between children with a confirmed diagnosis of autism and parents' proximity to toxic sites during the child's gestation.

Fueled by a desire to better understand the medical, genetic, and chromosomal issues which account for autism in the participants of her International Autism Mapping Project, Dr. Diamond and student Bridget Wieckowski are reviewing the records of over 8,000 project participants.

Motivational Interviewing in Educational Settings

Kristin Dempsey, EdD, is co-leading two presentations at the upcoming Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) 2018 International Forum. The Forum for MINT trainers will be held in New Orleans November 1 - November 3, and will be preceded by pre-Forum workshops on October 30 and 31 that interested individuals may attend for a fee.