Hi! My name is Joanna Kuang, and I am a junior from New York City. I am majoring in psychology and minoring in chemistry and business administration. Since high school, I have been fascinated by the biological and psychological underpinnings of human behavior and how those can never truly be separated.
I have worked as an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Anna Bardone-Cone’s eating disorders lab for three semesters investigating implicit weight bias among minority groups and are finishing up an extensive study on the recovery process from eating disorders. I also spent a summer at the New York State Psychiatric Institute under Dr. Joanna Steinglass, who conducts clinical research on the mechanisms underlying anorexia nervosa.
Because my background has centered around eating disorders, I was very excited to explore new areas of psychology through the Gil. I currently work at AHB Center for Behavioral Health and Wellness, a comprehensive treatment center for children, couples, and families providing a combination of traditional therapy techniques and innovative care for trauma, learning disabilities, custody cases, and much more. I am currently working on a variety of projects, including putting together a resource on nontraditional schooling options in the Durham-Chapel Hill area, troubleshooting scoring spreadsheets for the BRIEF assessment on executive function, and participating in developmental/play therapy sessions for children with developmental disorders. By the end of the semester, I hope to have a greater understanding of developmental and forensic psychology.
In terms of post-grad plans, I am torn between working in healthcare as a direct provider or addressing issues from a corporate angle. I can see myself as a child and adolescent psychiatrist with an emphasis on talk therapy or working in the healthcare consulting industry working in hospitals and other clinical settings from a more macro level. I know I definitely enjoy working with people and using my soft skills, so I would like to pursue something with a high level of human interaction.
I am very grateful to the Gil program for providing me with this opportunity to grow as an intern, psychology student, and a person.
