午夜影院福利社 News & Events

Get to know Katherine Tarnoff, MFT - Core Faculty, Counseling Psychology Program

Get to know Katherine Tarnoff, MFT - Core Faculty, Counseling Psychology Program

Shayna Quilty (SQ): You started at the Wright Institute as a student. How did you find out about the Wright as a prospective student?
Katherine Tarnoff (KT):
I was working in advertising before I transitioned into the counseling field. After working for an ad agency for a few years, I started to want something more substantial out of my career and an opportunity to connect more honestly with people. I realized I would need to change fields if I wanted to make that happen.

So I began exploring other career options. I heard about 午夜影院福利社 through an acquaintance and it is the only place that I applied-- I鈥檝e never second-guessed or regretted the decision. The environment immediately felt welcoming and open with opportunity.

Including the Body in Psychotherapy Practice

Including the Body in Psychotherapy Practice
By Angela Porter, MFT, CATC, CMT, Wright Institute Counseling Psychology program graduate



Doing graduate work at 午夜影院福利社 allowed me to assimilate my life experience with my desire to become a clinician capable of navigating the increasingly complex mental health needs of our society. Before becoming a therapist, I was a substance abuse treatment counselor for many years, and I studied Gestalt and Body Psychotherapy as a work scholar at , with some of the great pioneers in the field.

Get to know Bowbay Liang-Hua Feng, MFT - Core Faculty, Counseling Psychology Program

Get to know Bowbay Liang-Hua Feng, MFT - Core Faculty, Counseling Psychology Program

See Bowbay's professional biography here.


Shayna Quilty (SQ): Congratulations on becoming a Core Faculty Member! Can you tell me a bit about your history with the Wright Institute?
Bowbay Feng (BF):
Thank you! I鈥檓 a graduate of the Counseling Psychology program here at the Wright Institute. I was always interested in teaching. I talked with my faculty advisor about it when I was still a student, and she was wonderfully supportive. I have taught at other universities, and I鈥檓 thrilled to have the opportunity to join the faculty at my own alma mater. I have a long history of teaching and developing programs, trainings, and groups. I am an avid learner and am passionate about sharing and helping others grow, develop, and explore.

New study explores impacts of clinical supervisory relationships on supervisees and supervisors

New study explores impacts of clinical supervisory relationships on supervisees and supervisors

to read more about Dr. Rubio's background.
Click here to read about Dr. Rubio's work with Expressive Arts.



The San Francisco Department of Public Health - Behavioral Health Services is undergoing external review by the State. As part of this review, Dr. Ritchie Rubio, Full-Time Faculty member in the Counseling Psychology program, will be presenting on his ongoing study of clinical supervisors of the city.

Dr. Rubio Incorporates Art Therapy and Play Therapy into Instruction

Dr. Rubio Incorporates Art Therapy and Play Therapy into Instruction

Click here to read more about Dr. Rubio's background.


Despite the dominant media representations of therapy, talk therapy isn't universal, and it isn't for everyone. Dr. Ritchie Rubio explains that talk therapy may not come naturally to some people, especially those from cultures or backgrounds that value nonverbal communication. Expressive arts therapy can also be effective with children, youth, or adults who may struggle to put their thoughts and feelings into words, especially when starting therapy. Given their effectiveness for diverse client populations, Dr. Rubio feels driven to introduce and integrate expressive art therapy modalities at 午夜影院福利社.

Leaning into Discomfort: Wright Institute Faculty Member Presents on White Fragility

Leaning into Discomfort: Wright Institute Faculty Member Presents on White Fragility

Lyman Hollins, a member of the adjunct faculty for both the Counseling Psychology and programs at the Wright Institute, recently participated in a fall symposium hosted by entitled: "Understanding White Fragility and its Impact on Clinical Work in a Multicultural Society."

"The symposium allowed white therapists to understand that they do have a position in clinical work when it comes to talking about race," said Lyman, who has collaborated in developing the Wright Institute's Multicultural Awareness & Sensitivity courses for each program. "Oftentimes when talking about race, you find that those who identify as white can't engage unless there is a person of color in the room or unless the person of color broaches it."

Leveraging Duality: Using Humor with Borderline Clients

Leveraging Duality: Using Humor with Borderline Clients

See Dr. Shapiro's professional biography .


Wright Institute faculty member Dr. Lauren Shapiro is conducting research on the use of humor as an intervention with clients diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).

鈥淔rom what I鈥檝e learned about borderline clients, something they struggle with is integrating multiple seemingly contradictory thoughts or feelings,鈥 Shapiro explained. 鈥淔or example, they often engage in splitting鈥攖hey鈥檒l undervalue someone, and then switch to overvaluing them.鈥

Since the essence of humor is the presence of two contradictory meanings simultaneously, Shapiro wondered if humor could be an effective tool with borderline clients. Anecdotally, she had heard from therapists about using humor in sessions, but she couldn鈥檛 find very much if anything written about it in the literature.

Lessons from Darkness

Lessons from Darkness

to read Dr. Anita Barrows's professional bio.


Longtime Faculty Member, Dr. Anita Barrows, has published one of her poems in an anthology called , Grayson Books, Hartford, Connecticut (2017), and has been nominated for a , which is a major national prize for an individual poem.

Here鈥檚 the Poem:

Lessons from Darkness

"I鈥檓 afraid of the darkness, and the hole in it,
and I see it sometime of every day!"

- Martin Luther, in Luther

Does losing a parent help us develop gratitude?

Does losing a parent help us develop gratitude?

A recent Wright Institute graduate, Dr. Nathan Greene, recently published an article with exploring how the experience of losing his mother to cancer when he was a teen shaped his development as a more grateful person. This experience and his article serves as a platform for him to share to a broad audience his dissertation research findings about parental loss, gratitude, and resilience. to read Dr. Greene's article.


Click to learn more about the Wright Institute鈥檚 Doctor of Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) program.
Click here to learn more about the Wright Institute鈥檚 Master of Counseling Psychology program.

Faculty Members Active in Asian American Psychological Association

Faculty Members Active in Asian American Psychological Association


Wright Institute faculty members Alicia del Prado, PhD and Ulash Thakore-Dunlap, MFT hold leadership roles within the , a national organization dedicated to Asian American psychology and mental health issues and training and education of Asian American mental health professionals.

In 2016, del Prado, a faculty member in the Wright Institute鈥檚 , co-founded the AAPA division on . Recently, she was elected chair of the division鈥檚 inaugural committee.

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