These experiences strengthened my decision to pursue a career in health-related profession that mainly focused on serving the underserved community.
However it was not until I moved to California seven years ago that I realized that lack of cultural diversity in the field of psychology was actually hurting the victims from other ethnic backgrounds. For the past three years, I have been working with a minority group that helped me better understand the need for cultural diversity in this field. I have come to realize that there are strong traditional and cultural barriers that prevent patients of African-American background to open up and voice their feelings. They usually express their emotions believing that family issues and problems must remain within the family alone. A person from a different ethnic background may not be able to fully comprehend these psychological and cultural barriers and hence the need arises to have more people from minority groups in this field. The victims of other cultures suffer when the practitioner fails to understand their concerns, their inability to express themselves and their traditional...
To meet the cultural-specific needs of African-American women I developed a Creative Art Therapy which helps women cope with stress. Through art, music and written expression the women gave voice to their pains, sorrows, and joys. They learned how to process their thoughts and feelings in a way that was non-threatening and liberating.
I am currently working on my dissertation in the area of biofeedback and major depressive disorder in underserved populations (CalWorks Welfare to work). I am aspiring to establish my own clinical psychology practice in California, to work in a hospital setting as a health psychologist, and to work as a health educator in the community. I hope my interests, experience and goals, mentioned above clearly illustrate why I am interested in the CPA program. My goals are aligned with the objectives of CPA and I hope scholarship will help me realize my dreams which I feel are very realistic.
