President's Welcome
Sheila Park, President
1st Year PhD Student
The Association of Traumatic Stress Studies (ATSS) of Palo Alto University is a student organization dedicated to furthering trauma knowledge within our professional community. We are an outgoing group that is eager to provide resources and facilitate more opportunities to learn about and grow within the trauma field. Trauma-informed clinical and research practices are becoming more of a necessity during these uncertain times, and we are here to promote awareness of relevant trauma topics as well as we can. If you are interested in learning more about or joining ATSS, we are open to receiving your inquiries at trauma@paloaltou.edu. Thank you for taking the time to look into our student organization. We look forward to serving you and seeing you at one of our upcoming events.
Meet Our Officers
Sheila Park, President
1st Year PhD Student
Sheila Park received the Undergraduate Trauma Award from ATSS and her B.S. in Psychology and Social Action with honors from Palo Alto University in 2020. Post-graduation, she began volunteering as a research assistant with the Peace and Human Rights Lab at Palo Alto University and the Human Rights in Trauma Mental Health Program at Stanford University. She is currently a first-year Ph.D. student at Palo Alto University's Clinical Psychology program where she plans to complete the Trauma Area of Emphasis. Her clinical and research interests include trauma, complex trauma, and post-traumatic growth with adult underserved populations. Sheila is a student affiliate of the American Psychological Association (APA), Divisions 36 (Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) and 56 (Trauma Psychology).
Kayleigh Watters, Past President
4th Year PhD Student
Kayleigh Watters received her B.A. in psychology with a minor in applied statistics from Sonoma State University (2014). She went on to receive her M.A. in clinical psychology at Pepperdine University (2017). From 2015-2017 Kayleigh worked at West Valley Counseling Center providing psychotherapy. She started at Palo Alto University’s Ph.D. program in 2017. Her clinical and research interests include sexual assault outcomes and reporting barriers. She currently works at the Women's Enrichment Program, an intensive outpatient program for women with dual-diagnosis mental health and substance use disorders, and at the San Francisco Veterans Association Women's Clinic.
Jeea Yang, President Elect
2nd Year PhD. Student
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Jeea is a rising 2nd-year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student. Her areas of emphasis are in Trauma and Diversity and Community Mental Health. She taught middle school Math for 10 years before switching careers to Psychology. Her research interests are in increasing access and quality of mental health services for refugees and immigrants while responding through a dynamicized cultural lens. She hopes to work with governmental agencies to implement evidence-based interventions, teach about cultural responsiveness, and provide psychotherapy to the most vulnerable populations.
Virginia Arlene Suarez, Secretary
3rd Year Psy.D. Student
Kamini Kannan, Treasurer
2nd Year PhD Student
Virginia Arlene Suarez is a 3rd year graduate student in the PGSP-Psy.D. Consortium. She is currently a Psychology Extern at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. There she works within the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Recovery Team to provide psychological support to Veterans experiencing serious mental illness. She is interested in trauma, ACEs, and mood disorders as well as adults who identify as POC. She is also passionate about advocating for underserved communities..
Kamini Kannan received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego and continued her education at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she received her M.S. in Counseling and Clinical Health Psychology. Kamini began the PhD Program in 2019 and plans to complete the trauma area of emphasis. She is currently a member of the ADDRESS Mental Health Lab led by Dr. Alayna Park and is a student therapist at the Gronowski Clinic. Her research interests include traumatic stress, veterans, and evidence-based therapy implementation and adaptation. She is passionate about bridging the gap between practice and research to improve access to effective mental health services. She is a student affiliate of APA Division 56 (Trauma Psychology).
Sabryna Zhang, Undergraduate Liaison
Undergraduate Student
Shuangshuang (Sabryna) Zhang entered Palo Alto University in 2019 to pursue her B.A. in Psychology and Social Action (class of 2021). She works as a research assistant under Dr. Janice Kuo at the Borderline Personality Disorder, Emotion Science, and Treatment Lab (BESTLab). She serves as the undergraduate student council president at PAU for the 2020-2021 academic year. Shuangshuang is passionate about clinical psychology with many areas of interest, including trauma, community mental health, and family systems therapy. In the future, she hopes to further develop her interest in research and clinical work through pursuing a Ph.D.
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Ashley Sarghese, Secretary
2nd Year Psy.D. Student
Ashley Varghese graduated from Villanova University in 2014, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Upon graduation, she worked at Columbia University's Psychiatric Institute as a research coordinator in the child and adolescent psychiatric research department. She continued her education at Columbia University Teachers College, and received a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology. She is currently a second-year student in the Stanford-PGSP Psy.D. program and a psychology practicum student at the Palo Alto VA - Mental Health Clinic. Her clinical interests include trauma, PTSD, and minority stress.
Association of Traumatic Stress Studies
