The Students of MSPP

Karen Ruccio—Master of Arts & Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in School Psychology

From Art To Reading: A Journey

“When my grandmother would ask me what I wanted to be, I would always say ‘a psychologist,’ even before I knew what that meant,” says Karen Ruccio, a second-year School Psychology student.

“I knew it had something to do with helping people, and that is what I wanted to do.” Helping people began for Ruccio when she completed a Bachelor’s in Psychology at Nazareth College in New York and spent a year in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, working with Mexican immigrant teens in rural California.
A Master’s in Art Therapy from Lesley University gave her a taste of the power of this special clinical practice in helping the severely mentally ill. Through art, she notes, patients could safely tell their stories and build human relationships.

She went on to work at Charles River Day Treatment, an alternative school for troubled teens. After a one-year break from clinical work, the Carol Center for the Blind made her their creative art therapist. She spent six years watching her clients gain mastery and self-confidence. Their transformation ignited her interest in the psychological “barriers to learning.”

That is when she made the leap to MSPP’s new School Psychology Master’s program. “Right from the get go I felt it was a place where I could grow, and I certainly have. The school, the professors, the field placement supervisors have been so welcoming, and the curriculum is very rich,” she says. “The connection was instant, unlike anywhere else I interviewed.”

Ruccio’s next step, she believes, will be implementing evidence-based programs for young children with reading difficulties. “Early intervention is critical and is the key for children’s academic success,” she says. “I want to be part of that.”

Updated 1/3/08