Victoria Guinn
Current affiliations:
- Palo Alto University (Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program)
Educational Path:
- BS in Psychology and Religion from the Furman University – Greenville, South Carolina
- MS in Psychology from the Palo Alto University – Palo Alto, California
- Doctoral Student in Clinical Psychology (PhD) Psychology from the Palo Alto University – Palo Alto, California
Why is aging important or meaningful to you?
Aging became important to me while I was working as a clinical research coordinator on industry-sponsored clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease. Before working there, I found the aging population intimidating in some ways. However, I quickly learned that working with older adults is some of the most fulfilling work I’ve been a part of. While doing this work, I started to recognize how health disparities in older populations showed up in everyday life and their ability to access services to treat and/or monitor neurodegenerative diseases. I started to think about the older adults in my family who had diagnoses of dementia or experienced prejudice during their time in hospice, and it motivated me to learn more about why these things happen and what I can do to prevent other families from experiencing what my family did.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic made the general public aware of the harsh reality that our older adults are largely ignored in society. I remember being really disturbed by the “survival of the fittest” narratives that people used to justify the disproportionate death rates for older adults. It seems to be a product of ageism, ableism, classism, and other close-minded perspectives that influence how we view and address the needs of others. It’s important to me that as we start to create a new normal that equity for older adults continues to be in the conversation.
In what areas of aging work are you involved (research, teaching, clinical, leadership etc.)? And how much time/effort do you devote to each?
I’ve dedicated most of my efforts to research and clinical work for older adults and aging populations. I spent three years after undergrad working as a clinical research coordinator (CRC) and psychometrician on clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease. For the last two years of that work, I was earning my master’s degree, where I started doing my own research. My research since the master’s program has been almost exclusively on aging populations. I started out examining differences between older Black and White adults’ performance on verbal compared to visual memory tasks. Then, to better understand the impact of trauma and adverse life stressors, I co-wrote a book chapter about the unique challenges that older adult refugees face and considerations for US immigration policy. I am still sorting out my dissertation topic, but it will certainly focus on an aging population and likely posttraumatic growth and resilience.
In terms of clinical work, much of my job as a CRC was clinically oriented and I also administered neuropsychological assessments for initial and follow-up evaluations for our clinic’s clinical patients. This set the foundation for my interest in working with aging populations clinically. I’m currently a neuropsychology practicum student at the Palo Alto VA Memory Clinic, working with Dr. Lisa Kinoshita. In just the first couple of weeks, I’ve learned so much more about the nuances and individual cultural considerations associated with memory-related complaints and cognitive changes. I’m grateful that my first official practicum with older adults and my first neuropsychology supervision experiences have kept equitable care at the forefront of my training.
I am heavily involved with APA Division 20, Adult Development and Aging. I have participated as a student representative, supporting primary with the division-specific mentoring program, which pairs students with mentors from a different institution than their own. Mentoring has been instrumental in my career, so I’ve participated in this program as a mentee in addition to program coordination. I am also a research assistant on the Putting Age-Friendly Principles into Practice: Supporting and Engaging Later Stage Career Psychologists in APA project funded by the Committee on Division/APA Relations (CODAPAR). Through the CODAPAR grant project, I’ve learned more about how program evaluation efforts can support older adults at an institutional level to enhance their experiences in a professional organization such as APA.
Lastly, education has always been my source of empowerment, and so when I’ve had opportunities to teach or present psychoeducation presentations, I am eager to help. In the summer of 2020, I helped present two presentations on mental health and coping with the COVID-19 pandemic to a local assisted living community. The coolest part about this opportunity was that the presentations happened over Zoom; therefore, I could participate from Boston, where I was living at the time, even though the older adults were in the Palo Alto area. It was exciting to see how many older adults were able to join, despite the stereotypes about older adults’ ability to use technology. I also TA for the Adult Development and Aging first-year PhD course. As I gain more teaching experience, I hope to also teach a similar course in my school’s undergraduate program.
What resources (including people, books, web sites, etc.) have been the most useful in developing your career, and why?
Mentorship has been the most crucial aspect of my developing career. Early in my master’s program, I connected with Dr. Rowena Gomez, who offered to mentor me. She helped me navigate graduate school as a woman of color, develop my first independent study with neuropsychological variables, helped me develop professional communication skills, and introduced me to APA Division 20, specifically the Division 20 Mentoring Program. She helped me stay focused in a way that allowed me to hit the ground running once I was in the PhD program. Once I was in the PhD program, I matched with Dr. Lisa Brown to be a member of her Risk and Resilience Lab. One of the main reasons I gravitated toward her lab was because of her mentorship style. Like Gomez, she respects her mentees as junior colleagues, which teaches us how to make fully informed, autonomous professional decisions. Brown helped me better understand my strengths and professional boundaries. She is teaching me how to say “no", despite my eagerness to be a part of any opportunity that is offered to me. In this way, she also helps me stay grounded and focused. I tell everyone who will listen about how useful mentorship can be.
I would also say that focusing on personal emotional growth has been useful. I’m an experiential learner, so clinical work and navigating professional relationship dynamics have taught me much. I have my own therapist who helps me further manage countertransference, speak openly about inequities I’ve experienced, and problem solve how to address the inequities without putting my career at risk. Having an outside, unbiased person to be able to do this has been extremely useful in my career development.
What has been a challenge (academic, clinical or research-based) you faced and how did you overcome it?
My biggest challenge is focusing on myself. I am an eager learner, and everything interests me to an extent. It’s been difficult to find exactly where my passion lies within aging and geropsychology. Again, mentorship and therapy have been the primary ways I’ve overcome this. I also find informal or one-time mentorship useful. Sometimes all I need is to hear someone else’s story or career journey and think about how I relate to them. There have been times when I’ve realized that even though I’m interested, I’m not as passionate as the other person and therefore wouldn’t be able to put my best foot forward. There have been other times when I’ve had visceral reactions that let me know this is something I need to pursue further.
Another challenge for me was the amount of reading that graduate school requires. I’ve never been strong with reading comprehension and so reading to understand takes me a bit longer than my peers. The Office of Accessible Education at PAU was extremely helpful. They offer audiobooks for all of my courses and helped me restructure my schedule so that I was using my time more efficiently. The audiobooks were a resource that I didn’t know schools had available to students, so this was like unlocking the next level of learning for me.
What is one bit of advice you would give students entering the field?
Network early; don’t be shy. Professors, especially in the field of psychology, are often eager to support students, especially with shared identities and/or interests to them. I’ve never been told no when I’ve asked for just a 30-min chat about their career. Also, people love talking about themselves and feeling heard! If you can connect with other about their professional journey or see yourself in their journey, they’re much more likely to connect with you and feel motivated to help you. Also, if you are looking for a mentor, say that explicitly. Worst case, they may say they don’t have the capacity for formal mentorship, but you may get referred to a colleague of theirs who does. It can be scary at first to start networking. Attending social hours at conferences, where networking is more normative or expected, can be a great place to start.
What’s next for you?
I am coming into my third year, so dissertation and practicum are my focus. I plan to continue working with APA Division 20 and learn more about the administrative roles in psychology. Lastly, I hope to continue teaching and developing psychoeducation resources to help others feel the same empowerment that education in psychology has given me.