Jessie Goicoechea PhD

Jessie Goicoechea is the current Director of Training of the doctoral program in clinical psychology. She joined the faculty in 2003 as Director of the Psychology Clinic, the primary training facility for the doctoral students, a position in which she continues to serve. She brings a background in community mental health, having completed her pre-doctoral internship at Clinton-Eaton-Ingham CMH in Lansing, Michigan and having worked for six years as a psychotherapist at Persad Center in Pittsburgh, the nation's second oldest community mental health center specifically for the LGBT community. She enjoys the combination of overseeing the community clinic and contributing to the students' training, including teaching graduate courses on assessment, child and couples therapy, ethics, and supervision.

Dr. Goicoechea received a B.A. in psychology from the University of Dallas, a program which fostered in her a deep interest in phenomenology and led her to Duquesne. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from this program. She has conducted qualitative research on psychiatric, diagnostic discourse in patient-staff interactions from phenomenological, discursive, and feminist perspectives. Other research interests include clients' experiences of collaborative assessment, and group psychotherapy training. Dr. Goicoechea is a licensed psychologist with a private practice; clinical interests include child-centered play therapy, therapy with sexual minorities, and couples therapy from an integrative approach that draws on object-relations.