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Anders Goranson
Doctoral Candidate in Clinical Psychology
Anders Goranson is a PsyD candidate in the Department of Clinical Psychology who expects to finish in 2010. While at AUNE, Anders has worked in the Gulf Coast after hurricane Katrina supporting traumatized residents, counseled inmates at the Cheshire County Jail, run group therapy at the Antioch Family Therapy and Psychological Services Center, and worked in Acute Psychiatric Services at New Hampshire Hospital. Currently, Anders is working at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction, Vermont. Here Anders writes about his AUNE experience.
Student Searching for Personal Satisfaction Follows Parent's Lead
I chose Antioch University New England because of its location and the warm, non-coercive, and encouraging people I met when I visited the school. I have never regretted my decision to study at AUNE. I am proud and continually surprised by the quality of training I have received, especially when I compare it to programs at other schools. Both of my parents work in mental health: My mother is an ARNP (Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner) and my father is a psychiatrist. So I've grown up with a particular way of thinking about problems and people - it's just always been a part of my personality and approach to the world. I spent my twenties working in the business world. The experience was financially fruitful, but it didn't offer the professional and personal satisfaction I was looking for. I realized that I wasn't going to be happy until I became the person I was born to be and followed the career path that I find truly fulfilling. Antioch University New England is giving me the skills to follow that path.
My degree will open doors and create opportunities. It should allow me to help people change their lives and fulfill my own life in the process. I'm looking forward to having a counseling practice. But I am also fascinated by the idea of working with persons suffering from severe and persistent mental illness, especially psychosis. I'd like to do some work in the areas of forensic treatment and assessment and I have a dream of working with treatment theory and doing some writing in that area. I'd like to explore ways to reintroduce the components of relational theory into the treatment of psychosis. Many therapists treating psychotic patients today try to minimize their personal relationship with the patient which, in my opinion, is a fundamental mistake. There's good work to be done in that realm.
The experiences I have had and the people I have met at Antioch have been valuable far beyond merely earning a diploma. My professors are magical, passionate, and have provided opportunities and direction that have really helped me along my path. And so have all the patients I have had the pleasure to work with. I've had outstanding experiences working on the Gulf Coast after hurricane Katrina (an experience that I presented on at APA), working at Cheshire County Jail, running group therapy at the Antioch Family Therapy and Psychological Services Center, working in Acute Psychiatric Services at New Hampshire Hospital, and at outpatient services at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction, Vermont. I can't imagine a more complete education than the one I'm receiving at Antioch.
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