Get to Know Professor St. Onge
by Charlotte Peak
Professor St. Onge, a Psychology Professor here at 4C’s, has given us a little taste into her teaching career and love for her work. Stated below is a bit about her and how she has grown into the professor she is today.
What first drew you to teaching?
“Teaching and connecting with others are my 'love languages'. I had a knack for being able to engage with those that I am working with in an authentic, respectful, and non-judgmental way, and encouraging self-determination. Throughout my career I worked with individuals, groups, and communities to support change that included the development of interventions, programs, and policies."
How long have you been teaching?
1. Education for individuals that were incarcerated: 11yrs
2. Community coalition: Communities/public health: 30yrs
3. Higher Education: 9yrs
4. Psychotherapy: 13yrs
What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
"Teaching: I enjoy encouraging students to think more deeply about how social constructs have contributed to their understanding of their world and challenging them to think 'how come'. Connecting and encouraging students to connect with the content of the material and think critically."
"Psychotherapy: I ascribe to a psychodynamic theory the therapeutic relationship is most important to me."
"Addiction treatment: I am a harm reductionist. I believe in maintaining connection with individuals with a substance use disorder, even during active use. I believe in "reducing the harm" Harm reduction is a set of policies, programs, services, and actions that aim to reduce the harm to individuals, communities and society related to drugs, including HIV infection. Harm reduction is key in the prevention of HIV infection among people who inject drugs (PWIDs) and their sexual partners."
What are the challenges/how do you overcome these?
Working in private practice with individuals can be isolating. I belong to a number of groups with other colleagues in the field to discuss clinical case studies. I enjoy connecting and receiving support from my peers.
How does psychology differ from other social sciences
"Psychology is a social science that is concerned with the behavior of individuals. Social science is a general term which includes a variety of people-related areas such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, and other ways of looking at human activity. The social sciences are academic disciplines concerned with the study of the social life of human groups and individuals including anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, social studies, and sociology."
By training I am a clinical social worker that also focuses on macro work (policy).
Do you learn new things while teaching?
"All the time! I enjoy reading student's research. I often pull my summer reading articles from some of the areas of research from students writing."
Who do you look up to most, almost like a mentor when you were getting your own college degree?
“Dr. Martha Stark [psychologist] made themselves available to me to further explore ‘working with resistance’.”
“Dr. Judith Kirwan Kelley [sociologist] was my undergraduate academic advisor and still acts in the role of mentor.”
Categories: Professors, People