Counseling Psychology student breaks new ground in race, LGBT research

For Konjit Page, the path from Moreno Valley, Calif., to a Yale University post-doc included a few years in a Ph.D. program at UND.

“I am currently a doctoral candidate in the UND Counseling Psychology program and recently completed my American Psychological Association-accredited internship at the Boston University Medical School/Boston Medical Center’s Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology.” Earlier this month, she started her post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine in its Supportive Housing and Public Health Administration Program.

Page is preparing herself for a career helping people and families, especially those from historically marginalized groups. She also aims to step into the policy arena after completing the post-doc.

“My research interests in race and culture stem from my family background, which was culturally diverse,” said Page. “Ultimately I see myself working in a community-based health center or training hospital, providing services for children and families of Color, with LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) populations and focusing on public policy and advocacy.”

Page said public policy will be a big piece of her career.

“I believe that there’s a lot of wonderful work to be done with clients on an individual level, but also I want to be a part of changing the system,” said Page.

“I’m a first-generation college student,” she said. “I received both my Bachelor of Science in Psychology (1999) and Master of Science in Counseling (2001) from San Diego State University-where I was supervised by Dr. Michael Loewy (former chair of UND Counseling Psychology, now director of the Ph.D. program at Alliant International University, San Francisco) and came to UND after learning how my work and interests would be welcomed and supported by the department.”

For a graduate student, Page has an extensive leadership history.

“I recently served as the chair of the American Psychological Association for Graduate Students (APAGS), representing over 42,000 psychology graduate students nationally,” she said. “I was also the first graduate student to have a voting seat on the Board of Directors of the American Psychological Association, which involved overseeing the management and fiduciary responsibility of the largest professional psychology organization in the world.”

“My professional goal is to establish an integrated career in a community-based health center or training hospital where I can further my commitment to providing services for historically marginalized groups, explore multicultural training for clinicians and organizations, and promote mental health advocacy through increasing levels of leadership in healthcare organizations and the public sector,” Page said.

During her internship, Page worked at Children’s Services of Roxbury, a community-based agency that served predominantly Black families within the Boston metro area.

Page notes that she has been greatly influenced by the agencies “wraparound” and “family systems” approach to working with clients.

“What I have seen and been a part of through my training and work at CSR is how to rebuild family hope,” Page said. “This is not something that can simply be taught during the ’50-minute’ hour in the therapist’s office. It requires the therapist to bend and grow with their families. It requires the therapist to take her training and apply it as it is needed, but consistently guided by the family as not merely an ‘active participant’, but as the director of treatment. It requires the therapist to equally value all voices of the clinical team regardless of degree or specialization.”

Page already has numerous refereed publications and conference presentations to her credit. Page’s Ph.D. advisor is E. Janie Pinterits, a former counseling faculty member at UND who now also is at Alliant International University. Page plans to collect her Ph.D. from UND in December.

Mentorship has played a pivotal role in Page’s academic and professional journey.

“I view mentorship as one of the key components of academic and professional success for those from historically marginalized groups and I try to provide this to others in any way that I can,” Page said.

— Juan Miguel Pedraza, University Relations, 777-6571, juanpedraza@mail.und.edu.