What is the psychological impact of an incurable sexually transmitted disease (STI)? How do you get past the stigma and shame often associated with having a STI? How do you help clinicians understand the experience of living with an incurable STI?
"I hope that people are able to take all the information we give and have a more open-minded and broad understanding of what it looks and feels like to live with an incurable STI."
Melissa Peters
These are questions Melissa Peters (she/her), a student in PCOM’s MS in Mental Health Counseling program and Sarah Fox (she/her), a PsyD in Clinical Psychology candidate at PCOM, hope to answer as part of an upcoming presentation at the 56th Pennsylvania Counseling Association (PCA) conference.
Peters and Fox were selected to present a 60-minute educational session on counseling women with incurable STIs during the PCA’s October meeting in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
“Our audience is going to be counselors and educators and psychologists and people within the field and adjacent to the field,” Fox said. “We want to help them—give them the tools—to be able to talk about this with their patients, with their students, in a way that puts stigma aside.”
“Overall, I hope that people are able to take all the information we give and have a more open-minded and broad understanding of what it looks and feels like to live with an incurable STI,” Peters added.
Both Peters and Fox emphasized they are passionate about this topic and excited about presenting at the conference.
“Starting and continuing the conversation is important,” Fox said.
The upcoming presentation is a cross-program collaboration facilitated by Dr. Lisa Corbin, chair and director of the MS in Mental Health Counseling program at PCOM. The joint effort highlights PCOM's commitment to interprofessional education (IPE).
“I'm very interested in health psychology—working on an integrated clinical care team—and our interprofessional education program here at PCOM drew me to both the master's program and the PsyD program,” Fox said.
According to Peters, the IPE program and PCOM’s holistic focus were a major factor in her choice of programs.
“I always took a holistic approach to medicine,” Peters said. “That's one of PCOM's core values and I appreciate how they integrated IPE to have all the programs come together.”
Being able to learn about other medical disciplines provides valuable experience, she explained.
“They start integrating this holistic approach right from the beginning of your education which I think is very important,” Peters added.
Now Fox and Peters will have a chance to take what they have learned and work together as a future counselor and future psychologist to make a difference in the lives of the populations served by conference attendees.
“It’s an honor to represent PCOM at a conference,” Peters said. “I would say for anyone at PCOM or just starting out in their profession—whatever that may be—take the opportunities that you can and don't let lack of confidence or imposter syndrome stop you from chasing your passions or doing things that might be out of your comfort zone. It is very fulfilling to be able to do these things and you’re very much capable and PCOM is very supportive. They prepare you very well to handle things like this.”
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