About
NaYeon (NY; she/her) is a doctoral candidate in Counseling Psychology working with Dr. Karen O’Brien. NaYeon earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Asian Languages and Literatures from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities and a master's degree in Counseling from Korea University.
NaYeon’s primary research and clinical interests include (a) grief and loss, (b) career development, and (c) multiculturalism and social justice issues. For her doctoral dissertation, NaYeon conducted a cross-national study to advance the understanding of U.S. and Korean bereaved individuals’ universal and culturally unique aspects of psychological adjustment, specifically focusing on the influences of meaning-making, continuing bonds, and social support during the grieving process. NaYeon received several distinguished research grants and fellowships, including The New York Community Trust’s the Fahs-Beck Doctoral Dissertation Grant, the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS) Psychological Science Research Grant, and the Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Fellowship, to conduct her dissertation research. NaYeon has also contributed to several research projects on grief and loss during her doctoral studies, with the aim of advancing grief counseling education. One of the projects focused on developing an online grief counseling intervention (available in English & Korean). For her master’s thesis, NaYeon developed the Meaning Making in Grief Scale that assesses the meaning-making processes of Korean bereaved individuals.
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During her master's studies, NaYeon primarily delved into how planned happenstance skills promote college students' career development during the school-to-work transition while also addressing the influences of demographic factors, specifically focusing on privileged and underprivileged identities. Furthermore, during COVID-19, NaYeon strove to address the issues faced by minoritized individuals. Specifically, NaYeon and her colleagues investigated the psychological effects of racism and internalized racism on East Asians and East Asian Americans amid COVID-19. Additionally, NaYeon and her colleagues assessed the needs of international graduate students and the barriers they were facing during the pandemic, with the intent of addressing their needs and identifying ways to better support them.
NaYeon is currently completing an APA-accredited Predoctoral Internship in Health Service Psychology at the University of Maryland (UMD) Counseling Center during the 2023-2024 academic year.