My name is Madeline, and I am currently a second-year student in the weekend program at the Wright Institute. After several years working in a different field, I decided to pivot and follow my passion for mental health. This felt like a natural progression of my desire to support others and hopefully make a meaningful impact on their lives.

I had an amazing first year in the program and am eager to help new students adjust and get the most out of their experience, just as I did. I am always happy to offer support with career changes, becoming a student later in life, and balancing academics, work, and personal life. I look forward to connecting with you and supporting you in any way I can.

Email: mberg@wi.edu

Hello fellow students. Welcome! My name is Elizabeth Carty. I am a “career changer”, I started my career in the late 1980s as a social worker in the SF Mission district, took a 25-year detour in community-based elder care administration (plus raising 2 kids!) and am now finally fulfilling a long-held dream to become a therapist.

I am in my third year, having deferred my practicum and selected the Bay Area Community Resources (BACR) site where I will be a school counselor. Outside classes at the Wright, I have benefited from participating in the White Anti-Racism Affinity Group, the MI lab and Expressive Arts sessions facilitated by our professors, and other advising meetings with professors. I have volunteered this year with Crisis Support Services of Alameda County to put some of my counseling skills to use while I deferred my practicum. I find many of the theories very interesting and I am landing (I think!) on humanistic, feminist and attachment-based theories with a bit of CBT, DBT and psychoeducation sprinkled in. I am looking forward to supporting you as you embark on this intense, fascinating and meaningful journey.

Email: ecarty@wi.edu

Hi Everyone! My name is Dominique Creer and I am a second-year in the weekend program at the Wright. I was born and raised in the Bay Area. After I completed my undergrad in another state, I came back to the Bay Area and taught K-12 for almost 10 years. I went into education because I know the importance of having young people who have similar identities to their educators. Working with many adolescents and families really impacted me on how important it was for people to have access to therapists with similar identities and understanding of cultural differences. As an Afro-Latine, my hope is to destigmatize conversations regarding mental health and intergenerational trauma.

I chose the Wright institute because of the supportive staff to help, as well as infinity groups, and student mentors to help support learning and growing. The supportive environment of the Wright has given me the confidence to get out of my comfort zone in my choice for practicum. I will be joining New Bridge Foundation as a trainee where they specialize in addiction treatment. During my free time I enjoy seeing my family, friends, or relaxing with my two cats and catching up on Netflix competition shows.

Email: dcreer@wi.edu

What's up! I'm Sean, a second-year student in the weekend cohort at The Wright. I grew up in San Diego and moved to the Bay Area eight years ago for work. After a few years in tech I realized I needed to be doing more meaningful work and that I was hungry to be helping folks directly, which is how I ended up here! I'm super excited to be working with incoming students. I know it can be a big move to start the journey to become a therapist, especially as a career-switcher. As a full-time student who's also working full time I am deferring my practicum to my third year. In terms of therapeutic work, I feel drawn to working with adults and couples from Psychodynamic, Humanistic, and Existential frames and I am informed by Buddhist psychology. I hope to bring joy, playfulness, and curiosity to my work.

Outside of school and work I love going for long runs, playing guitar, meditating, reading sci-fi or nonfiction, and seeing live music. I'm happy to connect on school, therapy stuff, career switching, or really just to hang :) Looking forward to meeting you!

Email: sdaugherty@wi.edu

Hey! My name is Jim Gorham and I am a second year Counseling student in the weekend program at the Wright. I was born in Albany, NY, and had stints in Pittsburgh, PA and Los Angeles before landing in the Bay Area in 2006. During what seems like another life, I alternated between tech and bartending gigs before finding personal recovery. After working at an addiction treatment facility for several years I decided to pursue a Counseling Masters at the Wright Institute at the ripe old age of 45. One of my specific interests of study is addiction and how it affects mental health, families, intergenerational trauma, and marginalized communities. I chose the Wright because of the supportive environment, diverse and reputable staff, and the potential for growth. This year I will be doing my practicum at an addiction treatment center at the New Bridge Foundation in Berkeley where I am excited to be working with clients again. I would love to talk to you about your thoughts, recovery, returning to school in middle age, and whatever else comes up for you. In my not very spare time I work at a bookstore, read depressing books, and hang with my cat, Little Joan Didion. I look forward to talking with you soon!

Email: jgorham@wi.edu

Hello! I’m Shaddai (she/her). I was born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico, and migrated to the US after finishing High School. I’m fully bilingual and bicultural. I always knew I wanted to be a therapist, but took me a bit to get here! I got my BA in psychology and gender studies. An internship doing sex ed and community health education led me to a career in public health. I got and MPH from UC Berkeley and worked at an HIV clinic in San Francisco for 8 years—working with the Latino/e gay community. I then moved on to work with public health and social justice advocates. I provided training in strategic communication to help them advance their policy goals. During the pandemic I decided to go back to my original dream of being a therapist. I deferred my practicum so I am a third year student and will be at the UCSF Infant Parent Program this year. I’m very interested in community mental health, and in learning about psychodynamic approaches to therapy. I love cooking (and eating), going to concerts, spending time with friends and family, and traveling!

Email: smartinezcuestas@wi.edu

Hi Everyone, My Name is A.J. Tyler and I’m a mixed race (Black/Italian/PuertoRican), Bay Area native and second year student in the daytime cohort. I’m also starting practicum at Bay Area Community Resources, a father of two (3 and 6), tech industry career switcher, and former stay-at-home parent. I was called to the mental health field through my own positive experiences and a desire to affect change, and leave the world a little better than I found it. Like many people in this profession and program I’ve found myself a “wounded healer” and hope to use my own experiences, quest for identity, and curiosity to help those with whom I am fortunate enough to cross paths. Outside of school I enjoy playing with my kids, baking, cooking, acquiring new hobbies and skills via YouTube, and long conversations with good friends, new friends and everyone in between.

Email: atyler@wi.edu

Hi! My name is Archana (aka Archie), and I am a second-year day-time student at the Wright Institute. I was born and raised in India, and I worked in Japan for three years before moving to the US. I lived in Temecula for many years before finally making a home in the Bay Area. I currently live in San Ramon with my husband and three teenagers. My own difficulties with finding a culturally sensitive therapist and the desire to raise awareness and reduce stigma surrounding mental health in the South Asian community inspired me to move from the IT industry and become a therapist. I will be starting my practicum soon at the Portia Bell Hume Center and will be working in schools in and around Pleasanton and Dublin. In my free time, I like to spend time with my family, listen to music, learn about other cultures and cuisines, watch cooking videos on YouTube, and occasionally try cooking something new. I am very grateful for the invaluable friendship, kindness, and guidance that I received from the second-year students over the past year. I look forward to connecting with you and honoring them all by paying it forward.

Email: avellasure@wi.edu

Hello all! My name is Julia Wadsworth (she/her) and I am a third year, weekend student at The Wright. I grew-up in Cleveland, Ohio, and while I left there over twenty years ago I certainly feel I maintain some midwestern friendliness. My background is in the visual arts and I still actively paint when I can. Currently I live in the North Bay with my husband and three children. This fall I will begin practicum with Eldership Academy/Elder Ashram, an assisted living center for elder adults. I hope to be someone folks can reach out to with questions about deferring practicum to third year, the challenges of juggling caregiving and graduate school and anything else that could be supportive. I look forward to meeting new students and creating a sense of community within the masters program.

Email: jwadsworth@wi.edu