Psychology In Seattle Scholarship Winner! (Patreon)

Violet Tehrani is the winner of the 2022 Psychology In Seattle Podcast $3,000 Scholarship, which is awarded to mental health students who have already made the world a better place and have firm plans to continue making a positive difference. Violet is currently pursuing her PhD in Clinical Psychology at University of North Texas.

Violet’s early life had many challenges that motivated her to help others, including being a survivor of domestic violence, frequently moving to evade the stalking perpetrator, experiencing trauma, poverty, and stigmatization. Despite this, she and her family persisted to excel academically and worked several jobs to pay for rent, food, college, and books.

After years of health struggles, Violet was diagnosed with a rare lung cancer, which resulted in several months of hospitalization and treatment, including the removal of one of her lungs. However, she was determined to not give up. She worked hard to regain her health and can now run a mile again.

This scholarship will allow Violet to afford her life-saving health insurance. The money will also help her purchase a vehicle which will be critical in providing transportation to her cancer treatment, to her clinical externship several miles from her residence, and to her clients’ homes who cannot make it to her office.

In her past efforts to make the world a better place, Violet has volunteered as a suicide prevention hotline counselor. Also, during her master’s, she provided therapy for adult and child survivors of DV/IPV at a nonprofit organization. She became facilitator of several positive parenting groups. As the facilitator, she made every effort to create a safe and validating environment for my clients by providing unconditional positive regard, delivering positive reinforcement for their efforts in applying positive parenting techniques, and answering questions genuinely and non-judgmentally.

Currently, she is a clinical psychology PhD student studying attachment, teaching, and providing clinical services. She has been given the honor of teaching multiple courses on human development. She is dedicated to empowering her students by encouraging them to ask questions, motivating them to challenge assumptions or biases they may hold, and helping them become more knowledgeable and aware of healthy and unhealthy interpersonal styles.

Ultimately, her motivation to aid others is rooted in the help her family received from others when they survived domestic violence. In her essay, she wrote: “Had it not been for the psychologists, social workers, lawyers, community volunteers, and friends who devoted their lives to ensure that people like my family and I were safe, I would not be here today. I truly believe it is my duty to give to those what was so generously given to me and my family.”

Regarding her future career, Violet is committed to help make the world a better place through teaching and community service. Specifically, she intends to teach courses on personality pathology and development.

Additionally, given her love for animals and passion to assist victims/survivors of violence, she hopes to collaborate with a nonprofit organization to help foster animals for abuse survivors who are escaping their abuser. In her essay, she wrote: “Unfortunately, several survivors are unable to leave their abuser since many shelters do not accept pets. Leaving a pet behind is not an option for a number of individuals, and leaving one’s pet with a trusted friend can still be a risk… As a result, I not only want to participate in fostering animals for abuse survivors, but I intend to spread awareness and teach others on how to care for and foster pets. Providing such resources might make more people feel confident enough to foster a pet for a survivor.”

It is our pleasure to award Violet with the 2022 Psychology in Seattle Podcast Scholarship, so she can continue to make a positive difference in the world.