Ashleigh is entering her senior year at Douglass College, where she is a Psychology and women’s studies major. Ashleigh’s research interests include social theory and race/gender issues. Her summer project explored the effect of racial/gender differences in socialization practices on depressive symptoms in adolescents.

Ashleigh plans to attend a Psy.D. program that will allow her to learn different treatment approaches and therapeutic interventions to work with diverse adolescents and their families. She is looking for a graduate school with an interest in diversity and multiculturalism, and one that uses a variety of therapeutic approaches.

Ashleigh feels that Project L/EARN was a very beneficial experience for her. This summer, she gained valuable experience and knowledge regarding research and statistical analysis. She hopes to continue exploring issues of race/gender and mental health in research, and ultimately apply them to clinical practice. She really enjoyed working with her mentor, Dr. Sarah Rosenfield, who “allowed me to grow as an academic and a researcher this summer.” Before being offered a Project L/EARN internship, Ashleigh planned to focus on studying for her GREs this summer. In retrospect, Ashleigh feels that “this experience was much more valuable than obtaining the perfect GRE score.”

Currently she works at the Carrier Clinic mental health facility . This has given her the opportunity to work with a variety of populations. Through this experience she has found that she especially likes working with adolescents.