Sara Garrow Ruebelt
Ph.D., Counseling and Family Therapy

"I am a second-year Counseling student at Saint Louis University. I chose SLU for my graduate education because I believe the Counseling Program will provide me with excellent training and support in the area of family counseling, both in research and practice, and especially with my emphasis in Multicultural counseling. My area of interest in counseling is particularly with refugee and immigrant families.

As an Iranian American I have first hand experience of challenges and struggles immigrants face during the resettlement process. As a Mental Health Counselor at the International Institute in St. Louis I have gained great insight into the everyday struggles faced by immigrants and refugees from all over the world. My focus has been primarily with issues such as: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by war trauma, Culture Shock, Assimilation and Acculturation issues, as well as isolation and alienation.

My goal in pursuing this degree is to conduct research in providing helpful counseling techniques with working with a diverse population. Through this research I hope to bring into the field of counseling, the concerns and needs of refugees in America. I also hope to bring into research my clinical experience with middle-eastern refugees and immigrants. I am more interested in Qualitative or Mix-method research. I hope to study and publish the Voices of Afghan Refugee Widows in America."

News : Sara recently presented at the International House of Davis. She spoke on her work with Afghan Refugee Widows and also spoke on her topic on NPR's program "Insight" regarding the process of resettlement and adjustment.