Biography

Before joining the Counseling Psychology program in Fall 2018, I completed a B.A. in Psychology, a B.A. in Neuroscience, and a minor in Business Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado Boulder. During my undergraduate time, I enjoyed being a peer educator at the university’s counseling center and completed an honors thesis examining the influence of single nucleotide polymorphisms in dopamine receptors on adolescent risky sexual behavior. After graduating, I worked as a medical assistant where I developed my love for health and working one-on-one with others.

At the University of Illinois, I am interested in research and roles focused on health psychology, innovative mental health interventions, and trauma recovery. My doctoral research is focused on evaluating and improving the Faculty and Staff Mental Health Ambassador program. This program is designed to increase non-clinical university faculty and staff's comfort, knowledge, and skills related to student mental health. My other passion areas and clinical interests include community outreach and programming, advocacy work for sexual assault survivors, human sexuality, and eating disorders. It is important to me that my work focuses on empowerment, social justice, and overall wellness. 

I have previously held graduate assistantships at McKinley Health Center conducting sexual health/education outreach and at the Counseling Center conducting eating disorder/body image outreach and LGBTQ+ outreach. My clinical training has taken place at the Counseling Center as well as Disability Resources and Educational Services. This year, I will be teaching EPSY 220: Career Theory and Practice and have previously instructed EPSY 202: Exploring Cultural Diversity. I also serve as a board member for the community-based rape crisis center Rape Advocacy, Counseling, and Education Services.

In my free time, I love to listen to indie music (shout out to Polyvinyl Records in Champaign!), rock climb, practice yoga, run, and go to art museums.

Courses

EPSY 202: Exploring Cultural Diversity (EPSY 202) Introduction to cultural diversity and social justice issues through interdisciplinary readings, discussion, and experiential activities. The course involves a 1-hour lecture and 2-hour lab/discussion section each week. The lecture focus is on raising awareness of key issues, concerns and concepts, providing accurate information on diverse groups, and relating theories and models to critical incidents of social oppression in everyday life. The lab/discussion sections follow a group dialogue and experiential activity format, and focus on relating the readings and lecture material to personal experiences and active learning activities.

EPSY 220: Career Theory and Practice (EPSY 220) Various behavioral science theories will be covered (e.g., person-environment interaction, decision-making, group dynamics, stereotype threat, personality traits). Discussions of research findings to applied career practices will also be included. Students will develop a working-knowledge of these theories through interactive lectures, guided class discussions, case-based readings, and group activities that require them to think critically and flexibly about theory in order to generate solutions for real-world problems.