Get to Know Aliesha Smith, PsyM (She|Her)
Practicum Trainee
Aliesha Smith (she/her/hers) is a 20-hour therapy practicum trainee located at the UC CAPS Calhoun location. She has a master’s degree in psychology and is currently in her fourth year pursuing her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the Wright State University School of Professional Psychology. She has experience volunteering for student advocacy and crisis hotlines, and has prior clinical experience working with children with behavioral concerns, providing ADHD/LD/ASD assessments for adults, and providing long-term therapeutic services to teens and adults in Dayton, Ohio. Aliesha is working on gaining more experience working with students to provide effective short-term services as she completes her doctoral degree requirements.
Aliesha’s therapeutic approach is client-centered, where the focus is collaborating with the student on their therapeutic goals and serving as a guide to help the student reach their goals. Aliesha’s interventions are informed by cognitive behavioral therapies, affirmation therapy principles, and feminist therapy. She has an interest in helping students working through anger/anxiety management, internalized perfectionism, coping with depression and self-harm, processing trauma, general adjustments to life changes, relationship concerns, and people who come from groups which may feel largely unsupported by their environment. Aliesha’s main goal is to provide a nonjudgmental, compassionate safe space for students to reflect and process their thoughts and emotions around various concerns while providing coping strategies and resources that students can use to further support and empower themselves.
In Aliesha’s free time she loves to go on adventures and hang out with her friends and her husband. She loves having time to be creative and indulge in artistic endeavors, such as painting and sewing. Her favorite pastimes are hiking, gardening, trying out new flavors of foods, watching chaotic reality TV, and playing Mario Party.
Currently, I am listening to this podcast: Emotionally Online by Maddie Dragsbaek. I love this podcast because I love to see individuals who have felt disadvantaged by societal norms feel empowered to embrace themselves and deeply accept their unique strengths.
A book that has impacted me: Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. This book inspires me because I too feel spiritually impacted by the beauty of nature. Additionally, I enjoy the messaging in this collection of stories which encourages us to embrace uncertainty, be flexible with ourselves, and reflect on how to live true to our values.
What I do to take care of myself after a challenging day/time/situation: I feel the most recharged when I get to drink hot jasmine green tea and just lay on the couch with my husband, Andy, and/or pet my fur babies, Church and Elvira (a Russian Blue and a black cat named after 80’s horror characters).