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You Are Here > Home > Admissions > Student Ambassadors > Elena Tillman
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MSPP Student AmbassadorElena Tillman Hello and welcome! I am a second year student in the MA in Counseling Psychology program. After completing my undergraduate work in Psychology and Spanish at Texas A&M University, I provided bilingual early childhood development intervention and service coordination with Latino families in Bryan, Texas. One of the salient issues was a disconnect between counseling services and the Latino families in the program; there appeared to be a barrier in cultural competence that prevented a positive therapeutic relationship between the client and the clinician. One of my main goals in this graduate experience and beyond is participating in the journey towards practicing culturally competent mental health services, especially within Latino communities in the US and abroad. Even though Texas A&M offered me a place in its Hispanic Studies doctoral program, it was clear to me that I not only wanted to pursue counseling psychology, but even more that I wanted to so at MSPP. The sense of community, social responsibility, and dedication to its students and the field resonated with me. Each student and faculty member brings an incredibly unique and quintessential component to the program. The Latino Mental Health Program at MSPP confirmed and “sealed the deal” in my graduate program search. So far in my current practicum position at the Latino Health Institute in Boston, I have had the privilege of providing individual therapy as well as co-leading a group therapy session for Latino men who experience substance abuse issues living with HIV; even though I have only been interning for a few months, I am already feeling a powerful common theme of within a group of people that struggle with invisibility, oppression, and stigma on a daily basis. My professors are brilliant and diverse in their areas of expertise. The coursework and readings are extremely relevant and engaging; I’m frequently commenting and reflecting on how I’ve grown and been enlightened more in the last 11 weeks at MSPP than any other semester in my academic career thus far. And it’s nowhere near over! I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to continue for another year and a half, and plan on applying advanced standing to the Clinical Psychology PsyD program next year. A piece of advice might be to prepare yourself for a lot of reading, reflecting, and becoming involved. MSPP opens up infinite opportunities to create your own journey. Updated 12/13/12 |
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