What the PGSP did for my career in Clinical Psychology by Brigitte Khoury

In the fall of 1992 I left Beirut, Lebanon, for Palo Alto, California, to do a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology (PGSP).

At PGSP, there were faculty members who offered me their expertise and knowledge without limit. Their diverse backgrounds and various research interests provided a wide range of opportunities in different areas of psychology. In addition, the PGSP student body’s various ethnicities and nationalities allowed for a rich exchange among students, an educational experience deeper than that which can be found in books alone. Their differences in culture, values, tradition, even language, became my support system and my family away from home.

One of PGSP’s main attractions is its close relationship to Stanford University and the Palo Alto VA, both of which facilitate training and research opportunities. Another benefit is the San Francisco Bay Area — a physical, cultural, and ethnic environment that makes it an even more rewarding educational experience.

After graduation in 1996, I obtained my licence from the California Board of Psychology and returned to Beirut, where I joined the Department of Psychiatry at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, a leading academic institution in the Middle East.

PGSP’s scientist-practitioner model program helped my career immensely. Not only did I acquire the necessary theoretical knowledge and clinical skills but also the basis of scientific research for a career as a practitioner as well as an academician in a university setting. In time, because I found it important to share that knowledge with other colleagues in Lebanon, I established the Lebanese Psychological Association to promote the field of psychology and organise its practice.

If you are interested in more information on study opportunities at PGSP or have other questions, contact a counsellor.

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