对艺术(治疗)的热爱:世界杯官方app毕业生格蕾丝·约翰逊梦想着新的项目

MAY 8, 2024 — Double major Grace Johnson will cross the stage this month — twice. 她将在世界杯官方app健康社区与政策学院攻读心理学学位时穿越一次, and again for her degree in art from the 世界杯官方app College of Liberal and Fine Arts.

Johnson, who is also an Honors College graduate, 追求这个不同寻常的专业组合，以进一步实现她成为一名艺术治疗师的雄心.

“Art therapy is a proven, research-backed science, but there are no academic programs for it in Texas. My goal one day is to change that,” said Johnson, 谁将报名参加今年秋天在纽约雪城大学的艺术治疗理学硕士课程.

For Johnson, art therapy is personal. 像许多其他人一样，她在大流行期间挣扎，在高中学习上也很困难. She found painting to be a way to cope and work through those issues.

“It would be amazing if I could come back, maybe with a doctorate or research credentials, and start the first art therapy program.”

约翰逊于2020年高中毕业，并计划搬离她的小镇西利, Texas, to study music. The pandemic, 是什么促使所有大学在几年的时间里向混合式学习过渡, threw a wrench into those plans. 相反，她通过奖学金进入了一所大专，学习音乐.

“I was raised by a single mom and maybe because of that, I always put 101% into everything I do,” Johnson said. “But soon it became clear that this was not the right path for me.”

在她的大专教授和母亲的鼓励下，约翰逊决定转到德克萨斯大学. 她把自己的专业从音乐转到了心理学——这个新项目提供了一个足够广泛的研究领域，涵盖了艺术治疗, but scientific enough to learn the methodology behind it.

世界杯官方app还为约翰逊提供了从一个成熟的机构获得学位的机会，并且离家很近.

“A lot of my extended family lives in San Antonio,” she said. “Being away from home for the first time, I wanted to be near family.”

During her time at 世界杯官方app, Johnson served as a mentor for the First Generation and Transfer Student Programs, 他是退伍军人经历创伤与健康研究实验室(THRIVE)的研究员，也是世界杯官方app学生心理学协会的主席. 

Always an ambitious person, Johnson knew she wanted to get involved in as many groups and clubs as possible. However, she approached research with trepidation.

“数学从来都不是我的强项，我也不知道研究需要什么，”她说. “但我找到了THRIVE实验室，参与所有这些研究真是太棒了.”

Researchers in the THRIVE lab study trauma psychology, particularly in the context of veteran support. Johnson found this research particularly helpful for her future plans. That experience also prompted Johnson to present at various research conferences.

“I’m proud of Grace,” said Sandra Morissette, lab director and chair of the 世界杯官方app Department of Psychology. “她为THRIVE实验室做出了贡献，并获得了重要的研究经验，成功地竞争进入一所顶尖研究生院，这将帮助她专注于艺术和心理学.”

约翰逊最关心的是她与第一代和转学生项目的合作. 世界杯官方app 45%的本科生是第一代大学生，40%是转校生.

然而，约翰逊认为这些项目是一种既未充分利用又被忽视的资源.

“I wouldn’t have been able to adjust to college without this resource, and I wish more students knew about it,” she said. “The office can help students navigate through college, but it also offers on-campus employment, which is huge for students like me that needed to stay on campus to work.”

通过所有这些活动，约翰逊还设法在4月份举办了她的第一个展览. Comprised of 26 pieces, 13 in the Student Union and 13 in the art building, her pieces were all mental-health themed. At the opening, 与会者收到了世界杯官方app艺术治疗重要性和如何成为一名艺术治疗师的信息小册子.

She selected art therapist Sarah Peters to serve as juror of the show. 两人相识于几年前，彼德斯在学生心理学协会担任客座演讲者.

约翰逊说，这个完整的循环时刻是她在世界杯官方app职业生涯结束的一个有意义的方式.

In the coming years, Johnson plans to complete her master’s program, to earn her licenses and certifications, to start a career in New York and to return to Texas once she’s established.

“I really don’t want to leave my home to practice my chosen career,” she said. “It would be amazing if I could come back, maybe with a doctorate or research credentials, and start the first art therapy program.”

And her top destination for that innovative degree program?

“我希望有一天能回到世界杯官方app，看到一个为学生实施的艺术治疗项目,” she said. “In the meantime, 我已经准备好获得尽可能多的知识，这样我就可以帮助别人，做出改变.”

— Amanda Cerreto