College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Doctor of Psychology in Counseling Psychology

My name is Sala Tauanuu Afalava, and I am currently a fourth-year doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology doctorate program here at Northwest University.

Before that, my journey with Northwest started when I attended the Master’s in Counseling Psychology program. But aside from just being a student at Northwest University, I am also a mom to two teenage boys. I’ve been married for 18 years to my amazing husband, and I’m also a licensed mental health therapist—one of very, very few Samoan licensed mental health therapists in the entire state of Washington.

I think when I got licensed, I was one of two. I think right now I’m one of three in the entire state of Washington. So I think it just shows the underrepresentation of providers in my community and being able to be in this field.

When I think about the opportunities, or the educational opportunities, that Northwest has afforded me or provided for me, I think of this proverb in my native Samoan language. It speaks to not being able to minimize the value or the importance of your journey. The journey, the experiences, and the people that you meet along the way are just as valuable as your end goal.

I feel like that really summarizes my experience at Northwest so far. I’ve done my master’s program here, and I’m currently almost done with my doctorate program here. I’ve met so many amazing people.

For example, in my master’s program, being able to not only develop the clinical skills that I needed from the program and doing the schoolwork, but outside of the program being able to meet other clinicians or other therapists who are in the field who graduated from Northwest University—and then being able to be in network with them, or just being able to connect with them and share our similar experiences—that has been very enriching for me. I’m still in connection with these people today.

My current research focus right now for my dissertation is exploring religious beliefs, coping, and psychological well-being among the Samoan community. Faith and religious beliefs are, I would say, an integral part of the Samoan culture. So to be able to have the opportunity at Northwest to study this, to gather data, and to do my dissertation on this topic, I think would be invaluable—not only to my experience, but also invaluable information for my community and how that would contribute to the research or the current literature regarding the Samoan community.

My name is Dr. Edward Suarez Jr. Regarding my career, I'm a licensed psychologist and a research assistant professor at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. I'm also the behavioral health director of IDEA Syringe Services Program, which is Florida's first and only legal needle exchange program. But before all of those things, I was a graduate student at Northwest University. Let me whip out my old jacket, if you don't mind you. But sticking with that career part, I also work with patients living with HIV. I work at the Miami Transplant Institute providing psychiatric evaluations as well. But I'm talking about what I do now. But let me talk about the beginning. So I first heard about Northwest University PsyD program when I was living here where I am now back home in Miami. And the thing that I thought was most interesting about it at the time was its focus on social justice. And then when I got to speak to a few of the professors and understood that they, in their own personal lives or rather careers, well a little bit of both, let's be honest, they chose to advocate for those who are marginalized and living with situations in their own lives when it's related to psychiatric diagnoses or environmental stressors that are a bit complicated. And so once I saw that the professors at Northwest University practiced their own style of servant leadership within the community as psychologists, I learned this through my interview, right? I was like, OK, I want to go to Northwest University.

These professors seem like they're helping the community. And that's kind of what I want to do when I grow up. I guess that was my decision to go to Northwest University. That's why I went. The most influential component of the program again is the social justice piece—to me. It's understanding the multicultural lens which we all view the world through and how that can help you regarding clinical applications. The other piece about Northwest University that I loved so much is that they make sure that you're doing alright as a human being and they have professors that will leave an impact on you. It's just who they are.

I had a very busy schedule, so when I was living out in Washington State, I was working in a Community Mental Health Center full-time, but because the classes were at night, it was doable. And I learned a little bit about psychology, psychiatry, whatever you say during the daytime, right. And then I would learn about the books at nighttime at Northwest University. And so I got my real world experience at work. And when I got the books, at Northwest University. And then year three came about, in year three, that's when you start practicum. And then I got to use both the books and my real world experience and all the professors experience, and I got to use it in the real world and apply my skills.

And it was then that I really started feeling the moment that I could really be somebody who changes the community. And I think if it wasn't for Northwest University, I would have never had that light bulb moment working at the Department of Corrections at a community mental health center. And lastly, a federally qualified health center, again with individuals who are living beneath the margins. I learned that my knowledge, my skill sets, my abilities can add value to the community.

And so if I had one thing to say to someone who's considering enrolling at Northwest University in our PsyD program, I'd have to say go for it. I have to say, if you really want to grow, if you want to be taken out of your comfort zone so you can grow, if you want to learn a little bit about the other, go to Northwest University. Obviously, they're going to train you in everything that you need to know so that you become a licensed psychologist. I'm a product of that, I promise. But beyond the clinical applications, beyond learning how to diagnose the idea of psychopathology, the therapeutic modalities, all those things, you will be helped by those who in their own lives are centered. And that will leave you centered and you will be able to do more for the community because you went to Northwest.

My name is Evelia. I am in the PsyD program. I will be graduating in 2025, and with my degree I plan on working with the immigrant community. From the beginning of the program, when I applied, I knew that we would be going on a cultural immersion trip and I was apprehensive about that. But you know, it's something that has to be part of it and I'll do it. But it was really incredible to just connect everything that up until that point, we had learned in class in textbooks and articles about culture. And I knew that a big focus of the trip was to highlight the emphasis of the university has with culture and cultural competencies—and that it was important. But it's not until you're there that you really get a sense of that, that you really step out of your day-to-day comfort zone, environment, and you're coming into an environment where you're just, in a way, an outsider, you're observing. And that's where you start connecting everything that you have learned until that point. So it's in a way a pinnacle of everything that you've experienced. The information in readings and all the papers that we wrote on culture, on theology, on spiritualism, and all these different values that impacts us as human beings and just seeing everything come together was very incredible.

So for me, the biggest highlight was seeing the different value systems in culture. In books and readings, we always hear, OK, the individualistic cultures versus collectivist, but we all experience, in our day-to-day probably aspects of both. But we don't really ever get a clear picture of what it really is to see it from a distance, from our own lenses of perspective and experiences. So being there, just seeing the native Alaska community, how those individualistic values have acted on oppression and historical trauma and seeing those consequences. We visited a homeless shelter, we visited the Heritage Center, and all those experiences really highlighted how individualistic values have, in a way, imposed on those collectivist value systems. And it's created this gap where everybody works to coexist. But it's hard. It's hard because it's communities coming from different perspectives and different experiences and reconciling both. It's not easy, it's challenging, and it's a big task. So I think in summary, just experiencing that firsthand and feeling those emotions and what all that meant throughout the trip really was a strong, strong experience for me.

So a big interest of mine in psychology and in the research that I'm working on and that I plan on doing in my dissertation is cultural values. And it's based on my experience of being an immigrant and assimilating to the host culture and now having a model in my life, where I'm part of both cultures. Where I value both.

So that experience from the trip, I think, really set roots for me and how I want to approach my research. Focusing on what factors from both cultures we use as protective factors to have a healthy wellbeing, to be successful, to lead us to where we are healthy, not just in body, but also in mind. There's so much research on how just having that incongruity with feeling like you're not a whole person, the impact that it has on your health and your mental well-being. Much of my research and my interest was reinforced by that experience and I really want to explore the factors, the positive factors that can come from two cultures coexisting. And not just looking at the negative, because that's a lot of the research that we see and information of how, you know, the negative aspects of it all. But there are positives, too. And I've experienced those positive factors as well.

My name is Nikki Johnson and I am one of the professors at Northwest in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. I teach in the PsyD program, which is a graduate program for doctoral student study and counseling psychology. I also teach in the master's program for Counseling Psychology.

Something that distinguishes the Northwest program is that it really emphasizes multiculturalism, diversity, and social justice. Those lenses will be integrated into how we see our clients, how we understand cases, and it's really a fundamental part of the curriculum. And I think that distinguishes it from a lot of other programs in the area. The faculty are very accessible to explain concepts and meet and have office hours and talk to students about what they're experiencing and are open to feedback. We really are invested in our students on a personal level. We want to know if you're enjoying the education and learning and how can we supplement you in achieving your career goals.

In the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences it is really important for us that we are minding best practices, staying current with research, but also being active and invested in the communities. So we would like to know and focus on how can we translate what we're learning in the classroom to real life application, real social justice, real community service, and real jobs outside of the walls of the classroom.

The faculty is unique in that they are very supportive, they're very accessible, and the cohorts tend to become very close. We're not interested in creating a competitive environment, but an environment where all students can thrive and they can lean on their classmates and colleagues for support. Not only are you learning, but we hope that you're fostering relationships with colleagues and connections and various networks that you can utilize down the road when you're building your career.