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Educational Foundation Scholarship Recipient Heather Taylor (Read More)
Heather is a second-year Master's student at Pacifica Graduate Institute, focusing her thesis research on fear as a religious control mechanism and the impact of fear-based Christianity on childhood development. She has completed a practicum at a detox recovery site and is currently gaining clinical experience at Maple Counseling. Her particular interests lie in Somatic Therapy and Rogerian theory, both of which emphasize empathy, self-acceptance, and internal healing. In addition to her clinical training, Heather has opened a neurofeedback therapy office to help clients enhance cognitive performance and well-being by transforming brain function. She is deeply committed to multicultural counseling and recognizes its significance in addressing religious trauma across diverse cultural backgrounds. The CAMFT scholarship will provide her with the opportunity to further explore multicultural training and integrate depth psychology, somatic techniques, and Rogerian principles into a comprehensive therapeutic approach that fosters a safe, inclusive, and healing environment.
Ronald D. Lunceford Scholarship Recipient Mullai Sampath (Read More)
Mullai is a South Asian woman pursuing her master's in counseling psychology at California State University, Long Beach. Her foundation in mental health & family wellness education is built on her experience with domestic violence prevention advocacy. Growing up, she witnessed Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), and family violence normalized within her community. As a prevention advocate committed to exploring solutions to end larger cycles of violence, she co-created and co-facilitated culturally responsive healthy relationships psychoeducation workshops for South Asian parents. Her learning is also supplemented by her past experiences working for a social psychology lab, volunteering for a community psychology lab and a parent stress helpline. Currently, she is also a domestic violence advocate providing culturally responsive support services to South Asian survivors of IPV. Looking to her future, she aspires to continue working with the South Asian community whether it is through providing services in languages like Tamil and Hindi or providing culturally responsive mental health literacy. Drawing from a well of community-driven learnings, she hopes to be one of the many agents of change working towards just, equitable mental health care and violence-free futures.
Scott Hamilton and Frank Galassi Scholarship Recipient Scott Self (Read More)
Scott grew up in a deeply religious Pentecostal household as the son of a pastor and learned from an early age that his identity as a gay person was not only unwelcome but was viewed as a sin in the eyes of those he loved most. During his time at an evangelical Christian university, he was subjected to conversion therapy. But it ultimately became a catalyst for his own growth and a defining moment that would later shape his commitment to supporting and empowering others in similar situations. He is using his lived experience as action to facilitate support groups and work directly with LGBTQ+ individuals who are navigating the complexities of their identities and has promoted the CDC's “Let’s Stop HIV Together” campaign. As Scott pursues licensure as a therapist, his goal is to serve the LGBTQ+ community with empathy, insight, and the belief that everyone deserves to live authentically, free from the fear of rejection or judgment. One of his primary intentions upon licensure is to work with The Christian Closet, which provides a vital space for LGBTQ+ individuals navigating the complex intersection of faith and identity.
Clinton E. Phillips Scholarship Recipient hannah checkwicz-grosberg (Read More)
hannah (she, her) is a queer, Caribbean activist and Global Feminist working towards becoming a Marital and Family Therapist and Art Therapist. She was part of WOMANTRA's efforts to pilot the Elma François Legal Clinic for survivors of gender-based violence, connecting two dozen clients to legal counsel and remaining open despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This experience was the main catalyst that led her to pursue Marital and Family Therapy and Art Therapy. She is active in Loyola Marymount University’s Student Art Therapy Association (SATA) and CAMFT. Knowing the shortage of multilingual therapists, she is investing in improving her language skills in Spanish and Sign Language to better serve marginalized communities in Los Angeles. hannah is engaged in an art-based Participatory Action Research project aimed at investigating how collaborative art-making influences identity, belongingness, and empathy development. This research involves adolescents, a population that is often underserved and under-researched, collaborating with LMU researchers and Dr. Louvenia Jackson. They hope to contribute to the MFT field by publishing their findings, showcasing these innovative methods and the transformative potential of art therapy in community settings.
Gerry Grossman Scholarship Recipient Kimberly Hawks (Read More)
Kimberly has devoted her life to supporting the psychological, social, emotional, and academic growth of children. She helped launch a preschool and a K-8 school focused on reducing anxiety in schools. She is a volunteer in early childhood and K-5 programs, and most recently an MFT Trainee School Counselor. After the birth of her first child, Kimberly made the deliberate decision to transition her career in business to working in early childhood programs and preschools. It was following the launch of the K-8 school and working in admissions interviewing parents and children when she noticed the role of anxiety in our community; it was this experience that led her to graduate school in order to support children and their families in managing and harnessing their anxiety in a stressful world. Even with the rigorous graduate school schedule, she has volunteered with children in many capacities, from being a Girls on the Run coach to being a Team Lead for Odyssey of the Mind, to leading support groups for elementary school students experiencing anxiety and grief. It is her ongoing purpose and mission to support young children and their families as she continues her journey to becoming an MFT.
Educational Foundation Grant Recipient Aarthi Ganapathi (Read More)
Aarthi Ganapathi’s research project will explore the biobehavioral mechanisms underlying how couples provide emotional regulation support to one another, and how both the benefits of emotional support and the mental effort needed to effectively support one’s partner may change across the lifespan. Using a novel interpersonal reappraisal experiment to temporally differentiate upfront cognitive effort from downstream arousal responses across romantic partners when providing emotional regulation support to one another. Aarthi will use EEG hyperscanning, or the simultaneous recording of two people’s brain activity, to explore how age influences cognitive effort and emotional response across romantic partners during interpersonal reappraisal. This research will provide foundational knowledge for future research examining how diminished cognition may broadly impair couples’ ability to provide effective emotional support for one another. Similarly, this work may identify key targets for therapeutic intervention in couples adjusting to major life stressors that may disrupt cognitive capacities, such as systemic stressors, grief, or long-term illness.