Philosophy of Teaching

My primary philosophy of teaching is that teaching does not end when class is over. I make it a point to be accessible by phone, email, or in person whenever possible. My students know that I have an open door policy regarding their educational needs, including coursework, research, and their overall professional development. While this style lends itself to a fair amount of openness with my students, they also realize I am direct and honest with feedback (both positive and constructive) which includes areas for improvement. Most of my students will say that I am a supportive, but a "tell it like it is" mentor and professor.

My courses necessitate a wide variation of teaching styles, from seminar and process to didactic, lecture styles. The overarching goal is to not only teach content information, but critical thinking skills. Practicum and Ethics lend themselves to a more seminar style in which the goal is to process practicum therapy experiences as well as teach critical thinking skills through course readings. Substance Abuse and Group tend to combine both theory and practice in order to expose students to enough information to facilitate comfort in these specialties as therapists. Objective Assessment is heavily didactic with a strong emphasis on "practice makes perfect" when it comes to administering, scoring, and interpreting psychological assessment material. This course has many objectively graded assignments that often cause some anxiety in students who are used to the more subjectively graded classes typical of seminar courses. However, this structure and accountability is extremely important in assessment. Finally, the Forensic Psychology course (Psychological Issues in Legal Contexts) is a seminar course that allows students to explore potential ways of specializing and marketing their graduate level training in the legal arena.

Overall, I give a great deal to my students and as such I expect a great deal in return. Each student should put everything they have into graduate school, take every course and responsibility seriously, and understand that graduate school is a privilege, not a right. Students should read all of their assigned readings. They should be curious about their chosen field. In courses where little reading is required or the workload is lessened, students should be self-directed and proactive about their learning and use the time as an opportunity to do extra reading in areas about which they want to know more. They should be appropriately respectful of their professors and trust the process. Each student is selected from a pool of over 150 applicants, many of which were equally as qualified for admission. While I want students to have pride and confidence in this, graduate school is not a place for arrogance or entitlement. Students that have developed or brought with them arrogant or entitled attitudes have not succeeded in graduate school. It is important to be constantly open to feedback and learning as such a stance does not end at graduation. Good clinicians and good researchers are always looking for new ways to learn from themselves and from their colleagues.

As one of my professors used to say, "Graduate school should be the hardest thing you've ever done. If it's not, you aren't doing it right!" In return, I am available for academic, intellectual, professional and emotional support. A good attitude on the students' part combined with consistent support and encouragement will hopefully create an experience that will change you as the student forever.