Kenneth F. Garni, Director, Psychologist

Born and raised in Lima, Peru, I emigrated to the United States in 1959 after completing high school at The American School of Lima.  I graduated from Amherst College in 1964 with a major in History/Political Science and only one course in psychology (Marriage and the Family, and with a very poor grade at that!).  After a somewhat circuitous route for a while after graduation, I ended up completing my doctorate at Boston University in 1972, with practica and internships at Concord-Carlisle High School, North Suffolk Mental Health Clinic in East Boston, and at the Boston University Counseling Center.  My one and only "real" job has been at Suffolk University.  I was hired as a "very green" Assistant Professor of Psychological Services in 1969, but managed to survive my way to becoming the Director in 1975. The rest is a long history!

As I begin my 37th year at Suffolk University and my 30th as Director of the Center, I find myself becoming unusually reflective.  I marvel at the fact that my job continues to energize me and that I look forward to each day and to the challenges it brings.  The perfect antidote to those "difficult" days that happen from time to time has been the ability to recount, and to take pride in, the many accomplishments that have occurred over the past thirty years and to look forward to conquering the new challenges that surely lie ahead.  With the colleagues and interns I have working with me, I am looking forward to the next (and last professional) decade.  It is a good feeling to know that by pooling our collective resources, we can continue to serve the University and our clients as well, if not better, than we have for as long as I can remember.

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Paul R. Korn, Psychologist

As I am completing my thirtieth year with the Suffolk University Counseling Center, I am well aware of the yin and yang of my work. There is so much that is familiar -- comforting and predictable -- and there is so much that is new, exciting and challenging. And I like it that way. At times, I can rely on the familiar; and, at other times I can seek the unexplored. These are sentences written by someone whose life is bracketed by Father Knows Best and the new movie, Sin City.

The University Counseling Center, my colleagues, and the students here have been both my work site and the foundation for my own learning, development, and maturation. That’s not to say that I don’t have a life outside my job. It just seems important to start by saying that I am happy and nurtured by what I do as a psychologist at our school.

The Smiling Juggler is a metaphor for how I live my life. I’m not one of those intense performers, gritting his teeth to keep an astounding number of odd objects in the air, demonstrating both prowess and determination. Nope. Juggling is for fun, for focus, and for rhythmic meditation, paying attention to how I feel and moving with comfort and balance, while I remain curious and interested in getting things done. 

If I have learned nothing else over the years, it’s the lesson from Baba Ram Dass that therapists and teachers can be helpful only as much as they’ve helped themselves. Ram Dass also warned (to paraphrase): Half of what I say is brilliant and half of what I say is B.S., and I don’t know the difference; so be very careful.

My work as a professor of psychological services and a staff psychologist at the UCC is my first and only full-time job, after holding multiple part-time positions through and directly after graduate school at the University of Connecticut. I was an undergraduate on the banks of the Genesee at the University of Rochester. I’ve been pulsing to the education rhythm of the year since nursery school.

What I am currently doing will let the reader know something about my interests and my latest juggling act. The clinical clients I have worked with over the past year range in age from 18 to 52. They include: a first year law student, a Latina, who is the first of her family to get an advanced degree and is suffering from the pressure to succeed; a freshman struggling with questions about the impact of reporting her abuse as a child; an African American who has ADHD and is also battling health problems and depression; a Muslim student, dealing with a raft of phobias as well as financial problems; and a student who is struggling with sexual identity and worries about what is normal.

As we complete another school year, I am looking forward to September. I am eager to develop a working supervisory relationship with one of the three graduate interns arriving in August. I am continually updating the training seminar that I teach, helping our interns develop skills in outreach, training, and consultation, including more focus on co-leading workshops and learning hands-on consultation skills. I am continuing my work with a committee of people from throughout the university to create a series of training sessions for the Safe Zone program which provides information and education about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students. I am working with my colleague at the Center, Lynda Field, to direct the third year of the Suffolk Samaritan Awards Program, which will grant up to $1000.00 to three applicants who develop community-based activities that address student depression. This award program is part of the ADAPT program, Action for Depression Awareness, Prevention, and Treatment, which we have been running for the past three years.

I will continue my 17-year involvement with the Society Organized Against Racism in Higher Education (SOAR), a regional network of professionals and students, which, among other programs, is offering regular meetings to students from member campuses to discuss racism, discrimination and anti-bias activities. I am serving on one of the college committees to develop improved criteria for courses that fulfill the undergraduate diversity requirement. I am planning to continue the work of one of our interns with the Dean of Students Office of the Law School to help students and faculty deal better with stress and depression. And once again, I am teaching for the umpteenth semester a psychology course, "Introduction to Counseling Skills," a skills-based course that is always a pure joy.

Finally, I am just finished re-reading The Tipping Point and am ready to begin on Blink. I will soon plant our annual vegetable garden at our home in Gloucester. I am adjusting to the distance I feel from my sons who are growing up and away from me; I am loving the 6 AM walks on the beach with my beautiful black dog, Sheba; and I am working, playing, and dancing with my wife, Sue, who is an independent organization consultant.

And all the time, what’s important is keeping my balance and not dropping any balls as I juggle, but choosing which ones to put down temporarily, as I continue on my merry way.

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Wilma Busse, Psychologist

Wilma received her training in Clinical and Counseling Psychology, as well as in Higher Education Administration, at Western Michigan University. She attended Marquette University as an undergraduate, where her major concentrations were in psychology and sociology. She also obtained certification in Gestalt Therapy from Miriam and Irving Polster in 1985. Wilma is a licensed psychologist. In addition to her clinical work, she is the training director for our doctoral interns, and she teaches a course she designed on "Psychology of Genocide," focusing on the Nazi Holocaust and how individuals and groups become marginalized and/or become perpetrators. This class grew out of her personal experience and her work with an organization called One By One, Inc. A major function of the organization is to offer Dialogue Groups in which descendants of the Holocaust and Third Reich are brought together in an attempt to open dialogue. 

On the lighter side, Wilma enjoys bird watching, nature walks and traveling.

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Lynda Field, Psychologist

Lynda D. Field, Ph.D. received her Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Denver. She subsequently completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Field went on to become a staff psychologist specializing in the field of child, adolescent, and family forensic psychology which also granted her an academic appointment as Instructor of Psychology in the Harvard Medical School. From 1993 until her departure in the summer of 1998 she supervised Postdoctoral Fellows, taught, provided consultation, offered expert testimony, and conducted psychological evaluations in the context of civil, criminal, and juvenile legal matters. Dr. Field developed expertise in psychological testing, the assessment and treatment of individuals who were suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, anxiety, and other serious mental health problems. Dr. Field also brings to her work experience and training in the area of learning disability evaluations. As a Puerto Rican psychologist she is committed to multicultural approaches to understanding human development. Although Dr. Field is not fully bilingual, she comprehends and speaks Spanish. In the past she has conducted research in order to better understand the factors that impact upon the academic achievement of Latino adolescents and the self-concept of biracial adolescents. In her free time, Dr. Field enjoys outdoor activities, spending time with her family and good friends, and trying out new recipes.

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Kathryn Jackson, Psychologist

As a licensed psychologist, I bring to the Counseling Center experience working with individuals, couples and families. Areas of clinical interest include enhancing self-esteem, relationship development, family dynamics, racism’s impact on group and self-identity, career exploration and personality style, and the therapeutic use of poetry, memoir and other creative modalities. I especially value the mutual learning that is inherent in working with "psychologists in training" and look forward to having the opportunity to supervise interns.

In the past I developed and led a graduate ALANA group whose members have continued to meet and expand their circle by reaching out to students from other colleges and universities. I am hopeful that I might be able to share experiences garnered from running this group with students and colleagues at Suffolk.

Educated in the public schools of Brooklyn, New York, I attended and graduated from Goddard College in Vermont where I focused my senior study on the Harlem Renaissance and African American writers of the 1960s. I then went to Reed College in Portland, Oregon where I obtained an M.A.T. in English. After acquiring further work and life experiences, I entered the doctoral program in Counseling Psychology at Temple University, graduating in 1992. Advanced training in family therapy has helped to widen my therapeutic lens by taking into greater account the social context of client concerns.

Nowadays for sustenance, I take yoga and Alexander technique lessons, read and write--more often nonfiction and poetry--and relish sharing stories of laughter and struggle with family and friends.

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Kinga A. Pastuszak, Psychologist

I find myself being especially contemplative about beginning my role as a staff psychologist with the Suffolk University Counseling Center.  I look forward to offering my clinical strengths in ways that will supplement the diverse yet complimentary clinical perspectives that so clearly have made the counseling center a tremendous resource for the University.  I am also looking forward to continued professional and personal growth through dynamic interactions with staff and students alike.

I come to the Counseling Center as a licensed psychologist with a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the George Washington University where I earned concentrations in child and adult psychodynamic psychotherapy.  I went on to complete an APA accedited  pre-doctoral fellowship at Tewksbury Hospital, Hathorne Mental Health Units, where I worked providing short- and long-term individual and group psychotherapy with an adult inpatient psychiatric population.  I pursued intensive training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy and psychodynamic group therapy during my post-doctoral fellowship at the Two Brattle Center in Harvard Square.  Since completing my fellowship, I have worked as a clinical affiliate at the Two Brattle Center and as a staff psychologist in the Women’s Treatment Program at McLean Hospital, where I remain on staff as an instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry of the Harvard Medical School.  Areas of clinical interest include mood disturbances, anxiety, relationship challenges and relational difficulties, as well as affective dysregulation leading to self-harm, maladaptive, or self-defeating behaviors.

I also enjoy maintaining a diverse private practice in Cambridge assisting adults, adolescents, and families with promoting adaptive change and mastery of problems through identifying and understanding difficulties and competencies in diverse aspect of daily living.

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Peter Adams, 2007/08 Doctoral Intern

I am a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. After living in Columbus for the last 9 years, I am ready to explore all Boston has to offer.  Professionally, I enjoy individual counseling, group counseling, teaching, and outreach.  I have a strong interest in multicultural counseling.  This passion is largely fueled by my mixed heritage - I proudly identify myself as biracial - half Korean, half Caucasian.  Growing up in a bicultural environment has greatly affected my experiences and my worldview.  One of my favorite things about counseling is the opportunity to meet new people and become exposed to different worldviews.

I am a strong supporter of maintaining a "balanced" life.  I believe when one works hard and plays hard, life is full of happiness.  I can be found exercising, playing poker, reading fiction, walking to the movies, enjoying a club with friends, entertaining my fiancée and many more things, all in an attempt to live happily in the moment.

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Rebecca Duckworth Forkner, 2007/08 Doctoral Intern

I am a doctoral student at George Mason University’s clinical psychology program in Fairfax, VA.  I have spent the past four years enjoying work with ethnically and financially diverse individuals and groups in both college/university counseling centers and community mental health centers.  In general, therapeutic focuses have consisted primarily of depression, anxiety, grief, loss, trauma, weight, and relationships.  The root of my training at George Mason University began in traditional psychopathology and diagnosis, and then moved into strengths-based and positive psychology, with a focus on client relationships, building strengths and resources, and the therapist-client relationship.  With most clients I utilize an integrative theoretical orientation, namely psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, and client-centered. 

Outside of the therapy room I hold firmly to the maxim "variety is the spice of life."  I spend a lot of time outdoors, adore both city and country, and cherish traveling, though it also makes me a little nervous.  I have an ongoing list of creative hobbies - none that I do too well, but that keep me entertained nonetheless.  I think a lot, sometimes a little too much for my own good, but find ways to balance it with long periods of outright silliness.  I have a penchant for anything antique or vintage, and can find no better way to spend the last hour of my day than reading in bed.

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Bryan Mendiola, 2007/08 Doctoral Intern

When recently asked why we do this work, my supervisor responded simply, sincerely, "Because we wanted more."  He was not referring to material achievement; he was talking about living more fully.  I have long been someone continually driven to seek more from life.  I was blessed with a family that valued achievement, religiosity, and responsibility.  And at the same time, my family and upbringing allowed me a deep sensitivity to the struggles of life.  Often I assumed this to be a curse.  But the ability to tune into the suffering of others is what I believe makes us human and enables us to transcend ourselves and our feelings of separateness.

During much of my life, art and religion represented an opportunity to see life more clearly, to explore the range of living.  While in art school, I began a practice of meditation and self-reflection that fostered my interest in both psychology and Eastern spirituality.  But especially influential at this time were my close relationships with loved ones who showed me how profound pain and anguish can be.

What I eventually found in both Zen Buddhism and clinical psychology was yet another way of looking at the world and the problem of suffering.  I became intimately concerned about freedom; not freedom from pain, but the freedom to live life more fully.  And the paradox became clear; perhaps freedom comes when we don’t have to be more, when we don’t have to be any different than how we are, when life is exactly how it is.  And maybe in that space, there is nothing "wrong" with any of us, nothing "wrong" with what we go through; and maybe we are free to be more.

Those people in my life who have shared their struggles so intimately gave me a rare gift; the gift of seeing life more completely.  Pain is what makes life full; it tells us that we are alive and that we care passionately.  I see now that one of the greatest gifts you may give to someone is to sit with their pain, honestly and naturally.  I believe psychology is an opportunity to be present to life; to wake up to life’s realities and possibilities; to understand life’s limitations as well as the transcendence of limits.

I am a native of Milwaukee, WI, where my parents emigrated to and from the Philippines.  I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2001.  After years of interest in art, art education, and art history, I changed fields and began studying clinical psychology.  I am currently pursuing my doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the University of Denver.  My areas of interest include anxiety disorders, crisis intervention, and substance abuse, working from an acceptance-, exposure-, and mindfulness-based approach.

(revised 7/24/07)

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