September 19, 2016

Welcome Lana Kim

We are pleased to welcome Lana Kim, PhD, associate professor of counseling psychology in the Marriage, Couple & Family Therapy program.

We are pleased to welcome Lana Kim, PhD, associate professor of counseling psychology in the marriage, couple & family therapy program.

What prior experience do you bring to this new position?

For the past four years, I served as a core faculty member in the Valdosta State University Marriage and Family Therapy Program where I was responsible for both teaching and clinical supervision of MFT graduate students, and providing opportunities for engaged scholarship by including students in my research. Some of the courses I taught were on Postmodern and Constructionist theories in MFT, Diversity, Inclusion, & Social Justice, Professional Ethics, Treatment Issues, & Clinical Practicum.  As a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT), I was also clinically active and worked with individuals, couples, and families.

Previous to my work at VSU, and while I completed my doctorate in which my concentration was Medical Family Therapy, I worked as a research associate at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine’s Medical Simular Center. I collaborated as a member of an interdisciplinary team to develop an approach to training medical personnel in the task of Breaking Bad News. This approach was founded upon ideas used in family therapy clinical practice and training, and was called: Collaborative Reflective Training.

I also have ten years of clinical experience working with individuals, couples, families, and groups, and have in the past, served as a clinical coordinator to facilitate a collaborative partnership between the Riverside County Office of Education and Loma Linda University MFT Clinic to offer clinical programming to support transitional aged foster youth.

How do you see yourself contributing to the work and mission of your department and the Graduate School as a whole?

Because I share a belief in the educational benefits of diversity and the importance of being able to understand and hold in tension multiple perspectives, I will strive to foster a culture of engaged scholarship that enables open and critical dialogues to take place both in and outside of the classroom and training contexts. I also see myself continuing to engage in scholarly inquiry that expands the ways in which Asian Americans and other ethnically underrepresented groups are currently represented in the family therapy literature, and developing clinical supervision approaches that help therapists in training learn to integrate contextual consciousness in their clinical work.

What drew you to the Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling (GSEC)?

The GSEC and CPSY mission statements which I saw enacted through the faculty and students I met.

What work and projects lie immediately ahead of you upon your arrival at GSEC?

I have served as one of the principal investigators for a multi-site study that is interested in better understanding how therapists learn to address societally based power imbalances in couple relationships. I have assembled a research group to continue this work and feel very excited to work with a curious and talented group of graduate students to better understand how therapists learn to practice sociocultural emotional attunement in their work with conscious consideration to how this is done uniquely based on each person’s unique, intersecting identities.

How do you foresee this position challenging you professionally?

Oh, where do I even begin! To be honest, this position has already challenged me in many ways professionally. Through my interactions with both colleagues and students thus far, I have encountered ideas and questions that have pushed the limits of my thinking and knowing. My curiosity about relationships and human experience has been richly stimulated, and I look forward to the ways in which my thinking will continue to expand over time as a member of the L&C community. Oh, and I hope that in the midst of the most difficult moments, I will be able to maintain a sense of openness, accountability, understanding, humility, and a good ol’ sense of humor.

What do you find especially unique about the graduate school and/or what do you see as its greatest asset?

Bar none, its people - the faculty, staff, and student body it attracts.

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A personal note…

I grew up in Vancouver, BC, so moving to Portland has an air of familiarity, but it’s also a new experience. I love what I have seen so far and really look forward to exploring the diversity of ecology, food, and culture in Portland. With fall just around the corner, I find myself eager for hot drinks, walks in one of Portland’s many parks, and listening to the rain.