First, I want to say I feel honored to write in this wonderful blog created by Christina! What a neat idea. My name is Dr. Lau and I was recently hired to teach the Developmental Risk and Resilience (EDP 603) course. I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at University of California, Los Angeles and also completed three minors in Applied Developmental Psychology, Disability Studies, and Education. There was absolutely no need to do three minors but there is a lot of things in life you do not necessarily need right? I just really love school and learning new things (really, I do). If I could be paid to be a life-long student I would absolutely do it. After college, I went to graduate school at UC Santa Barbara in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology. I loved UCSB; I was truly able to take advantage of the combined aspect of the degree. My emphasis was School Psychology, but I was also interested in Clinical Psychology. As such, instead of completing a traditional internship within a school setting, I entered the APA and APPIC match process (an extremely competitive process for counseling, clinical, and school psychology PhD students applying for a pre-doctoral internship). I matched at a children’s hospital in Boston and loved it. I provided outpatient therapy services at a Boston Public School and the hospital. I also completed psychological and neuropsychological testing, and worked in the residential unit at the hospital. That, in a nutshell is my graduate training. I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Trauma Clinic, and I also work at the TIES for Families, South Bay (based on the UCLA TIES for Families model) community mental health center, which focuses on adoption and foster-care specific treatment. I love the field, and truly am passionate about it and appreciate others who share the drive for the work we do. To de-stress, I teach Zumba on the side, which I love, exercise is important. So is self-care, so make sure you are all doing it. I am always happy to chat with students about any questions.
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