About
We are a group of interdisciplinary scholars, researchers, and practitioners who are dedicated to revitalizing philosophical, theological, and psychosocial traditions in psychology in order to augment our moral vocabulary for understanding clinical work within the context of a higher ethical calling.
Director
David Goodman
"To live out versions of ourselves that allow for a more just and loving world, the discipline of psychology must rearrange its borders and become something of a sandbox for ideas to come, play, and create. Our team hopes to cultivate and offer such spaces-- animated by the desire to think anew about the human condition and encounter one another from the depths of ethical concern."
Core Team Members
Sam Aston
Sam Aston is currently receiving his M.A. in Mental Health Counseling through Boston College's Lynch School of Education and Human Development. Sam graduated from St. John's College in Annapolis through their Great Books Program which fostered his love for the deeper philosophical questions in life and a knowledge of how to pursue them. Before entering his master's program Sam spent his time volunteering for the National Alliance on Mental Illness's national hotline in Arlington Virginia where he aided callers in finding resources and in hearing their stories. It was this experience that, in part, pushed Sam to get his masters and pursue meaningful ways to help others in the real world. Through this search Sam found the Psychological Humanities Research Group and has been a dedicated member since.
Research Interests: The melding of philosophy and psychology, especially in reference to the other, time, purpose, and forgiveness. Societal and legislative affects on mental health. The therapeutic alliance. Role playing.
"Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others." -Plato
Matthew Clemente
Matthew Clemente is a Lecturer in the Woods College of Advancing Studies at Boston College specializing in existentialism, philosophy of religion, and contemporary Continental thought. He is Associate Editor of the Journal of Continental Philosophy and Religion and author of Eros Crucified: Death, Desire, and the Divine in Psychoanalysis and Philosophy of Religion.
Research Interests: Philosophy of Religion, Continental Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, Literary Theory
Julia Goetz
After growing up in New York City, I attended Boston College and graduated in May 2020 with a degree in Applied Psychology and Human Development with a minor in Italian. This year, I am volunteering with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Atlanta at an organization that helps with rental assistance called Midtown Assistance Center. I plan on going to graduate school in order to receive a master's in either psychology or social work to one day become a practicing psychologist.
Research Interests: Social Justice, Learning Disorders, Anxiety and Depression, and Feminist/Intersectional Psychology.
Haleigh Creamer
Haleigh Creamer is a senior psychology major at the Woods College of Advancing Studies. Haleigh received her Associates Degree in Psychology from Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California in 2019. She is excited to start her study in the Master of Arts program in Mental Health Counseling at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development. She is a part of the Psychological Ethics and Humanities research group led by Dr. David Goodman and Mookie Manalili. Haleigh is currently working for WCAS providing assistance to the staff located in St. Mary’s Hall South. She is also helping run the @BCWoodsCollege’s social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn).
Research Interests: Transgenerational Trauma and Suffering, Ethics and Morality, Psychotherapy, Addiction, and Mental Illness
A. Taiga Guterres
A. Taiga Guterres is the assistant director of the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies at Boston College. He is currently pursuing his Master of Arts in Theology & Ministry and Master of Social Work at Boston College, concentrating in mental health in the Latinx community. Previously, he has worked as a residential staffer and pastoral minister in Mexico and Belize, working with migrants and indigenous communities. His research and interests include: pastoral theology, inculturation, migration, substance abuse, and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
Research Interests: Pastoral Theology, Inculturation, Migration, Substance abuse, Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola
Michael Mookie Manalili
Michael Mookie C. Manalili is a psychotherapist, researcher, and educator – with interests in suffering, narratives, interpretation, embodiment, and prosociality. He is a psychotherapist in private practice, blending narrative therapy, logotherapy, mindfulness traditions, and neuroscience. He is involved in several projects at Boston College – including teaching at the Graduate School of Social Work, researching for the Morality Lab, and coordinating the Psychological Humanities & Ethics initiatives. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
Karley Peterson
Hello! My name is Karley. I'm originally from the great state of Minnesota, but have found a home in Boston, MA. I currently work as an outpatient clinician, and I have a background in Biology, Theology, and Mental Health Counseling.
My interests are always expanding, but I have a particular interest in women's/gender issues, career development for underrepresented populations, women's reproductive health and well-being, and topics of embodiment
William Hendel
William J. Hendel is a teaching fellow and PhD candidate at Boston College, who specializes in ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics, and contemporary Continental philosophy. Previously, he practiced private equity M&A law in Boston.
Research Interests: Ethics, Political Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Contemporary Continental Philosophy
Sophia Shieh
Sophia is studying Applied Psychology & Human Development, with a combined BA/MSW degree in the Master in Social Work program. She double minors in Medical Humanities, Health, & Culture, and Leadership in Higher Education and Community Settings. Born in NYC, she spent most of her childhood in Taiwan and has also moved around the New England areas to as far as Singapore.
She has experience working in community clinics, adoption agencies, shelters, residential, and psychiatric hospital settings with children, youth, and adults experiencing trauma, addiction, personality disorders, and various mental health challenges. Currently, she serves as the research assistant and MHS at McLean Hospital, and as the Undergrad Research Assistant at the LSEHD. She also serves on several Student Advisory Boards for Active Minds, Student Minds (UK), and the Inclusion Team (Taiwan) that focus on young adult/college mental health. In her free time, she volunteers with Crisis Text Line and several correctional facilities/prison oversight organizations.
She is interested in intersectional issues related to mental health and is passionate about accessibility, cultural humility, and trauma-informed care in higher education institutions and medical settings. Her other interests include complex trauma, Selective Mutism, attachment, adoption issues, Borderline Personality Disorder, and medical humanities.