Clinical Psychology

that is so, then diagnosis does indeed become super-
fluous. But if this is the case, then the charge of many
humanistic existentialists that psychoanalysis or behav-
ior therapies are technique-centered can be turned
against them as well. To the extent that everyone
who enters the therapy room is seen as having the

same basic problem, with the“cure”always the

same, such approaches are, in a sense, themselves

technique-centered. Increasingly, however, clinicians

seem to be recognizing the need to develop data that

will allow them to select from among several treat-

ment possibilities the one most suitable for a given

and as a multilingual speaker myself, we had many

conversations about the impact of language in psy-

chotherapy. This resulted in a cross-cultural research

study where I interviewed multilingual therapists

about their experiences.

Looking back, what activities or experiences were the

most important for you in your graduate school

program?

I am very grateful that I have the opportunity to work

with Les Greenberg, who has been both my research

and clinical supervisor. I have been deeply impacted by

the genuine curiosity with which he approaches the

world, his zeal for scientifically analyzing psychothera-

peutic processes, and his determination to have the

scientific community recognize the importance of

working with emotions. I have been involved in

numerous research projects in our lab and have

observed countless hours of therapy sessions even

before I was personally doing clinical work. I learned to

conduct micro-level analyses involving the measure-

ment of fascinating processes like depth ofexperienc-

ing, degree of emotional arousal, vocal quality, and

emotional productivity. Conducting research in this

field has had an immense impact on my clinical skills, as

it has heightened my sensitivity to being attuned to

areas that I otherwise would not have noted.

Moreover, I have received intensive clinical super-

vision from Les both as a practicum student in the pro-

gram and in working as a therapist on the Couples

Emotional Injury Project. The supervision I received from

Les has been essential to my development as a clinician.

I also grew immensely from my experience as both

a practicum student and research analyst in a Border-

line Personality Disorder Clinic, under the supervision

of Dr. Shelley McMain. Working with this population is

challenging but at the same time very rewarding. The

experiences at the BPD Clinic led me to appreciate how

central emotional regulation is to a person’s function-

ing and also how individuals change and grow in both

dramatic and subtle ways.

Any additional hints for those trying to make it

through graduate school in clinical psychology?

1. There is an end to it! Graduate school is like
   running a marathon: you can’t see the finish
   line for a long, long time but I assure you that
   it is there and you will reach it before you
   know it.


2. I’ve come to see learning as a true privilege and
   while graduate school is a very rich experience
   on so many levels (the good, bad, and the ugly
   moments—including those required courses in
   statistics), my hope is that it does not become
   your life. Get your head out of the ivory tower
   from time to time, go for a walk, and get some
   fresh air by doing non-academic things that
   shake you up and help you get some“real”
   perspective.

Catalina Woldarsky Meneses

Photo of Catalina Woldarsky Meneses, M. A.

PSYCHOTHERAPY: PHENOMENOLOGICAL AND HUMANISTIC-EXISTENTIAL PERSPECTIVES 393