“This program has been a truly transformative experience. I’m constantly surrounded by insightful faculty and fellow students in an inspirational, open, and interactive community. Loyola’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling program has prepared me to become a capable and compassionate clinical mental health care professional.”

Patricia grew up in New Orleans and received her bachelor’s degree from LSU in 2013. She entered Loyola’s counseling program in Fall 2015, and is now the head graduate assistant and the secretary of the Alpha Phi Chapter of the Chi Sigma Iota Honor Society. She is also a teacher’s assistant for the counseling theories class, and co-facilitates the FemSex group, where female-identified students explore social messages about and diverse experiences of female sexuality. Patricia recently presented her work on Gestalt Play Therapy with early adolescent victims of high betrayal trauma at the Loyola Graduate Symposium, the American Mental Health Counseling Association Conference, and the Louisiana Counseling Association Conference.She also led an education presentation with Dr. Foster and classmate Cassidy Fischer on various Trauma Models at the 2016 Louisiana Counseling Association Conference. She received the Loyola University Play Therapy Center Scholarship to travel to Louisville Kentucky and present her original work on integrating Gestalt Play Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing at the annual Association for Play Therapy International Conference. She has also been accepted to present at the Hawaii International Conference on Education in Honolulu, HI. and for two presentations at the American Counseling Association 2017 Annual Conference in San Francisco. She is currently working on two manuscripts for publication.