Program Manager, Strengthening Bridges Project

At the Graduate School of Professional Psychology, our goal is to transform the way we think about and approach mental health and wellness. We do so through groundbreaking academic programs and experiential training that aims to ensure we can better meet the needs of the communities we serve. We are dedicated to developing exceptional practitioners and scholars by offering a well-rounded approach to education. Every single one of our programs blends valuable academic offerings, intensive field-based training, cutting-edge applied research, and constructive community engagement. Our academic programs are rooted in our history of service and have developed over time to meet the growing needs of society. For more information, please visit http://psychology.du.edu. 

The University of Denver (DU) is a top-ranked university in a thriving city at the base of the Rocky Mountains. The Denver Metro area includes a Latino/Hispanic population that represents about a third of the population, a strong and visible African American community, Southeast Asian refugees and immigrants, and similarly a population of refugees and immigrants from East Africa. The Graduate School of Professional Psychology (GSPP) at DU was created in 1976 to house one of the first Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) programs in the country, under the Vail training model (practitioner-scholar). The PsyD program has been continuously accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) since 1979.The School also has a partially affiliated, APA-accredited internship consortium and several in-house and satellite psychology training clinics that serve Denver and the surrounding communities. As a professional school, GSPP promotes and utilizes high-level pedagogy that integrates applied practice, advocacy, theory, research, and scholarship. Our strategic plan Innovation and Impact: Psychology for a Complex World outlines how we are building on our academic strengths to expand our community reach.

The University of Denver (DU) has a long history of supporting the Veteran and Military population through education and by improving direct services to this vital community. DU is clearly committed to being a preferred educational destination for the Veteran/Military population and has followed through by reducing or eliminating financial barriers to a university education and creating specific resources and services, such as vocational, legal and behavioral health supports in order to help these well-deserving students and their families to succeed and find community on-campus and off-campus.

The Graduate School of Professional Psychology (GSPP) has been a leader in this movement by developing the Military Psychology specialty in 2015, which was designed to increase the number of psychologists trained to deliver culturally-competent and evidence-based behavioral health care to Military-affiliated populations. Additionally, GSPP established the Sturm Center in 2016; this clinic provides behavioral health services to Veterans (no matter discharge status, combat status, or era), Service Members (including Guard and Reserve) and their families. The Sturm Center is the only Veteran/Military specific clinic in the Denver metropolitan area that accepts clients from all of these categories, thus helping to fill the gaps in services that this population often faces.

GSPP’s Perinatal to Five Mental Health (P-5) programming also addresses growing needs of our community by significantly increasing the number of graduates trained to provide the highest quality of service to perinatal caregivers and their children from birth to five, generating new applied knowledge in this area, and supporting interdisciplinary partnerships that promote health for young children and their caregivers. Specifically, the program focuses on addressing the needs of underserved populations, particularly Spanish-speaking and rural caregivers across the state as well as perinatal mothers, fathers, and parenting partners experiencing trauma, anxiety, depression, substance use, and other mental health difficulties experienced during the transition to parenting.

All GSPP programs promote comprehensive academic and applied training within an environment that values cooperation and collaboration and fosters critical thinking and self-determined functioning. The program is committed to educating students to provide culturally competent services to clients and the community. Knowledge of multiculturalism and inclusive excellence guides GSPP in the mission to be as welcoming and inclusive as possible to all students, staff, and faculty. GSPP has developed a collegial atmosphere with significant opportunities for creativity, teamwork and innovation. We are committed to building an inclusive educational environment and encourage applications from individuals with marginalized identities.

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