“What I like most about St. John's University is the positive
and helpful attitude among its students and faculty,” says Alison
Tebbett ’13Ph.D. Alison chose to pursue her graduate degree at
St. John's because of the esteemed faculty and
small class sizes that facilitate professor-student
interactions.
As a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology specializing in
child psychology, Alison is gaining experience working in
the Center
for Psychology Services for the Preventing Adverse Reactions To
Negative Events and Related Stress (PARTNERS). This program
offers mental health services to children and adolescents who have
been through stressful or traumatic events, “We offer children
alternative ways to cope with the thoughts and feelings related to
traumatic events and give caregivers different methods of
increasing their ability to gain their children's cooperation.”
Alison volunteered for the PARTNERS program before she became a
full-time employee and graduate student and says that her
experience working for PARTNERS is what motivated her to pursue a
doctorate in psychology, “When I volunteered for a year with the
program, I learned a lot about
clinical psychology from the amazing people I worked with, and
most of them had been doctoral graduates from St. John’s.” Alison
is now a graduate student in St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences and feels that the individual attention faculty members
give students is a beneficial part of the program, “I love that my
classes are small enough that the faculty can divide their
attention among all of the students in the class.”
After graduation, Alison plans to continue working with children
who have suffered from traumatic events, “After graduation I plan
to keep working with children and their families to help them deal
with difficult life situations in a changing and uncertain world.”
Alison believes anyone interested in pursuing a graduate degree in
psychology should gain experience through volunteering or interning
before they make a decision on what graduate program they should
enter, “It is beneficial to have a broad range of experiences
before you chose a graduate program,” advises Alison.
Alison believes the location of the Queens campus is ideal for
reaching out to diverse communities and giving back to those who
can benefit from the services of the clinical psychology program,
“Queens is extremely diverse, ethnically and culturally, so you
constantly meet people with different experiences, religions, ages
and genders. I love the fact that I am helping all of these
people.”