天美传媒

Clinical Psychology PhD Reaches Milestone in Long Journey

鈥� Noor Tahirkheli embodies UMass Boston鈥檚 anti-racist, health-promoting mission... 鈥�

Noor Tahirkheli has seen a lot of the American Midwest, immigrating from Pakistan with her family at age 2 to live in Minnesota then Wisconsin before her family settled in Oklahoma, where her father could get a visa for working as a doctor in an underserved area.

鈥淚t was hard,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 was like the only brown girl鈥�. I was always the only one.鈥�

Next week, Tahirkheli will graduate from UMass Boston with a doctorate degree in clinical psychology and will address her fellow PhD and master鈥檚 degree graduates as the student speaker for the Class of 2023 graduate commencement.

Tahirkheli鈥檚 dissertation is titled 鈥�Negotiating Acculturation: A Qualitative Study of Muslim American Immigrant Women,鈥� a focus she says was driven in part by her own immigration experience and story.

鈥淚t was mostly me trying to understand how it is for other women like me to negotiate multiple cultures, having an ethnic culture, an American culture, and then being Muslim, because Islam is its own thing,鈥� Tahirkheli says.

Tahirkheli鈥檚 journey to UMass Boston included attending New York University for her undergraduate studies and then searching for a clinical psychology doctoral program that was rooted in social justice and had research focusing on the impacts of racism in marginalized communities, both on mental health but also more broadly, and a program that emphasized diversity and inclusion. She found UMass Boston during a second round of graduate school searches.

鈥淚t was really Dr. [Tahirah] Abdullah and the program itself that brought me here,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd it has 100 percent pulled through to be everything I hoped it would be.

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have selected a program that more effectively trained me to be a social justice ally and given me the training I needed,鈥� she says.

Associate Professor of Psychology Tahirah Abdullah, who served as Tahirkheli鈥檚 faculty advisor, and Professor of Psychology Lizabeth Roemer nominated her to be this year鈥檚 graduate commencement speaker, an honor reserved for an exceptional graduate. They referred to her as a 鈥�dedicated, wise, compassionate student in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program who has been an engaged, active member and natural leader in our program throughout her time with us.

鈥淣oor Tahirkheli embodies UMass Boston鈥檚 anti-racist, health-promoting mission in her commitment to culturally responsive, accessible, and just mental health promotion for people from marginalized communities,鈥� the professors wrote.

Professors Abdullah and Roemer also highlighted Tahirkheli鈥檚 chairing of the department鈥檚 Psychology Connections Committee, mentoring of students, and providing clinical services at University Health Services Counseling Center following the 2016 election to expand its reach, particularly for students who were being targeted by federal policies and rhetoric, among other activities on campus and in the surrounding communities.

Tahirkheli says she was 鈥渟hocked鈥� to be named the graduate commencement speaker. But she says she will have some advice for her fellow graduates.

鈥淲e have this privilege, we have this degree, we have this capacity to use some kind of expertise to somehow impact the world,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I think鈥擨 may be assuming something鈥攂ut I think so many of us are struggling with impostor syndrome, with self-doubt鈥攁m I doing this good enough, am I doing this well enough, have I achieved what I am supposed to have achieved鈥攁ll of these concepts.

鈥淚 think what I want to do is kind of a call to action that鈥檚 not specifically about serving anyone but actually believing that we are good enough, taking our power, having this degree, having this expertise we have developed here at UMass Boston and believing we are worth it鈥�. We are inherently worthy and good enough.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like in many ways a speech to myself,鈥� she says.

Following graduation, Tahirkheli is planning to enter a post-doctoral fellowship at a private practice as she works toward earning her licensure. In addition, she hopes to continue her relationship with her alma mater by teaching courses at UMass Boston.