Major(s): Sociology
What is your current role? What was your journey in arriving there?
I am currently a Professor (Research) in the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University (in Providence, RI) and the Director of the Pediatric Anxiety Research Center (PARC) at Bradley Hospital. I hold a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the State University of NY at Buffalo and completed my residency and fellowship training here at Brown University where I have remained for the last 25 years (my entire career!). My area of expertise is pediatric anxiety disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder with particular interests in developing new treatments and improving access to care for historically marginalized youth who have been economically/socially marginalized and/or historically underrepresented in clinical science and underserved in clinical practice. As the director of a hospital based research center, I am actively working to highlight the importance of innovative care models, community training, and meaningful integration of research and clinical practice.
My journey to this career path began with a life long desire to work with youth and to engage in public service. After college where I had no thought of being a psychologist (see below about time at Wes), I worked for a year in a child psychiatric hospital and the went on to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology.
What do you enjoy about your work? What challenges does your industry currently face?
I enjoy many things about my work including my colleagues, our patients and families, and the ability to wear many different hats with regard to my role. I do clinical work (treating youth with anxiety), conduct research (writing federal grants and academic papers), participate in training (usually at the postgraduate level as well as training community providers), and over the years have taken on an increasing administrative role.
There are also many challenges in in an academic/medical environment. This includes systems level financial pressures related to funding, insurance reimbursement, and expectations for activities that may not be reimbursed (e.g., training).
How did your time at Wesleyan influence your career choice/journey?
At Wesleyan, I remained unsure of what working with kids should look like for me and considered pediatrician, public interest attorney, and sociology professor with a specialty in educational policy as potential ideas. I ended up very happy as a Sociology Major (after considering math and physics and Chinese early on) and interestingly never considered Psychology. I did take one amazing Psychology class though– Social Psychology with Professor Plous! One class that also stands out was a history class with Prof Abelove entitled AIDS and its Discourse which got me thinking critically about health inequity in such important ways even though I was super anxious that did not have the correct pre reqs to be in the class. Life after college somehow took me to a front line job in a child psychiatric setting where I quickly figured out that I had a deep interest in child mental health and missed academic research at which point I decided to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology.
I know it sounds like something you have probably been told too many times, but my years at Wesleyan taught me to be excited about learning new and different things and I took classes across the spectrum of subjects (English, History, Mandarin, Religion, Sociology, Astronomy, Government, Dance, and Physics to name a few.. and my one Psychology course lol). I truly learned to write and to think deeply and critically about things. I also learned to be more creative, more flexible, and to fight for things that matter.
Do you have any advice for students thinking about entering your industry?I think it is important to understand at at PhD in clinical psychology is in most settings a primary research degree and therefore ideally is driven by a love of science and curiosity as well as a desire to work within a particular clinical field or content area. If you are driven by the clinical part of the work more than the research part, there are also many other Doctoral level and Master’s level paths to consider as well.
Updated October 8, 2024
