This month the NCAL Kaiser Mental Health Training Program is honored to highlight the exciting work and amazing career of Patrizia Meunier, MA, PhD (she/her). Dr. Meunier’s early excellent academic success during high school earned her a university scholarship and the opportunity to choose an academic career in math or science. She chose science and embarked on a career in physics. Dr. Meunier also received several stipends and scholarships to complete her PhD in astrophysics while studying in Rome. She worked as a scientist in Italy, Germany, and Switzerland for a few years after completing her doctorate. She was then recruited by the University of California Berkeley and immigrated to the United States, where she taught and worked as a staff scientist for 8 years. Pursuing an ongoing area of interest, she then turned her attention toward psychology, earning a master’s degree in counseling psychology and embarking on her second career in mental health. In her current work as a Clinical Supervisor, Dr. Meunier acknowledges that she is allowed to align her profession with her values in a new way, “not just through direct service to patients but also by forming new therapists and developing new programs, working on small, humble steps for more equity in the mental health system”.
Dr. Meunier has been a supervisor for master level trainees since 2016, and she served as the Training Director in Oakland for the Post Masters Fellows, while still working as a bilingual therapist. In 2016 she also started the Bilingual Spanish Program for trainees in Oakland, which has since grown to reach other training sites across NCAL. Her work has focused on expanding a high-quality Spanish Bilingual Program for the trainees, and to improve the access of psychotherapy and quality of service for the Latinx community in North California. Dr. Meunier has been a Clinical Supervisor with the MHTP for the past two years, and her projects have centered around teaching and organizing the Bilingual Spanish Specialty Training for trainees and acting as a certified consultant for EMDR Therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy). EMDR is an effective and evidence-based treatment that can also be very expensive to learn. Dr. Meunier has been passionate about developing ways of providing this specialized opportunity to trainees who want to dedicate themselves to learning these skills at no cost to them. Professionally, this role has been specifically important to her goals of giving “a small contribution towards a more equitable system in mental health.” She is also proudly one of the three EID officers for the MHTP and continues to supervise master level trainees.
Dr. Meunier has acknowledged that “this year has been also to further develop myself as a supervisor and a consultant, certifying myself in my roles, and soon being able to certify other clinicians in peer recognized systems.” She has put extensive effort into becoming certified both as a clinician and a consultant with the International Association for EMDR and developed coursework and materials that follow international recommendations for an imminent high quality training program in EMDR for our trainees. Dr. Meunier wisely states that “investing your time and efforts in solidifying your competencies in your job is important and will bring you forward…at the same time, being humble and tolerating being just a beginner for a long period of time while you form as a therapist will allow the best of you to develop”.
Dr. Meunier is passionate about flamenco music and dance. She enjoys swimming with her husband regularly and supporting her kids in their creative projects. Recently her family has begun an adventure with caring for chickens, with four new additions to their family coop in their backyard.
Contributed by: Chelsea Vilinskas, PsyD
