Karley Richard

Using Research to Help

Research on its own can be worthwhile. But if it has a practical use that benefits a community, it’s even better. Some of the students in IUP’s clinical psychology doctoral program can attest to that.

Under the guidance of faculty member David LaPorte, several of the graduate students have been working in medical offices in the surrounding areas to provide mental health treatments to patients who are reluctant to seek help––or didn’t know where to get it.

“You can't quantify what it's like to sit with somebody in a room when they're sharing things with you that they haven't talked through before. I think those experiences are things I could never quantify.”

“It’s been phenomenal,” says Karley Richard, one of the students who has taken part. “What has been eye-opening to me is the amount of trauma that exists in this population. We're talking about generations of people who have never had any sort of mental health services. We know that trauma compounds generation after generation, but seeing it has been very interesting.”

The students are assigned to local physicians who, when meeting with patients and seeing a need for mental health assistance, let the student step in and give some guidance. Programs like this show how research, when applied in beneficial ways, can impact the world. It is the step beyond classroom learning, and it reaches more than just the students who learn from it.

“I love it,” Karley says. “You can't quantify what it's like to sit with somebody in a room when they're sharing things with you that they haven't talked through before. I think those experiences are things I could never quantify.”