Jenn Staples ’09, a fifth-generation Vermonter from Morrisville, began her college career at Hofstra University. But Long Island wasn’t the right cultural fit, so she transferred to ̽̽ her sophomore year. Staples gravitated to psychology, largely through her experience growing up with an older gay sister who now identifies as genderqueer (an umbrella term for those whose gender identity falls outside the masculine/feminine binary) and uses "they/them" pronouns. “They were my role model and my hero, so I was used to standing up for them. I saw psychology as a discipline that would give me the tools to be a good ally and advocate.” A first-generation college student—following in her sister’s footsteps—Staples found a mentor early in her ̽̽ career: clinical psychologist Dr. Alessandra Rellini, who studies human sexuality including revictimization of adults with a history of childhood sexual abuse. She recognized Staples’ gifts as a researcher and advocate. Rellini helped her complete her application to a Ph.D. program at the University of Washington—Staples graduated in 2017.
Stops along the way included Durham, N.C., where she completed an internship at the Durham VA Medical Center, and San Diego, where she completed a postdoc fellowship in LGBT mental health. “I really credit Dr. Rellini, and the three years I spent in her lab, as the catalyst for my career path in clinical psychology,” she said.
Now a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor at Alliant International University in San Diego, Staples is a practitioner of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), a treatment designed to help clients learn skills to tolerate distress and build a life they experience as worth living. She studied under the developer of DBT, Dr. Marsha Linehan, at the University of Washington, and applies DBT to LGBTQIA+ clients to help decrease their distress and empower them to cope with stigma and discrimination. Staples finds herself on the cusp of a rapidly developing field where there is a dearth of studies on gender identity, particularly non-binary identities.
“About 40% of transgender people attempt suicide,” she explains. “I’m very passionate about improving mental health treatment for gender diverse individuals and understanding health disparities that inevitably arise in a society that’s not accepting and inclusive.”