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WOC in Psychology Career Panel


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Being involved in I Am Psyched! led to a lot of cool experiences that were offered in addition to the actual museum installation, such as panels and hearing opening remarks by Dr. Shari Miles-Cohen. One such panel included three women of color (Dr. Karen Tao, Dr. Alicia Hoerner, and Dr. Le Ngu) who are mental health professionals within the Salt Lake valley. This panel focused on important topics ranging from representation, which was incredibly important as that was largely what IAP! focused on, to what it looks like to be a therapist, or other form of professional, on a day-to-day scale.

Psychology has traditionally been seen as (and has acted as) a White space, most likely due to the ways in which academia in general is structured, and this is largely reinforced by who has been championed or even mentioned within the field, regardless of the great accomplishments of women of color within the field. This lack of representation can lead to things such as imposter syndrome, or feeling as if one is a "fraud" or do not belong. It was incredibly refreshing to see women of color discuss these issues, as well as give insight as to how it is important to keep cultural context in mind when working with individuals who hold marginalized identities. This made me think about the ways in which diagnoses are made, and the ways we can make sure that therapy is done with an emic rather than etic approach.

Another important note made within the panel about being someone who holds minority identities was how critical it can be to find a therapist you can relate to and feel comfortable with. As someone who is White, I have never had to worry about finding a therapist who I feel would truly understand my worldview or the experiences I have had, and this made me recognize the privilege in that. Overall, these events gave me a lot to think about in terms of creating space for others, recognizing and using my own privilege in ways that are beneficial, as well as working to recognize systemic issues within psychology, as well as academia as a whole.

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