Member of Adelphi University’s 10 Under 10
Clinical Intern at Nassau University Medical Center
“I believe that Adelphi has provided me with the educational and professional opportunities that have allowed me to pursue my dream of becoming a clinical psychologist. I would not be where I am today without Adelphi.”Timothy McGowan ’15, MA ’17 spent his early years at Adelphi seeking a profession that would allow him to help other people. “While starting my college career as a criminal justice major, my father, a school psychologist, convinced me to take extra psychology courses—and I have never looked back,” he said. “After taking Abnormal Psychology, I declared psychology as my second major and was convinced that this was the path I should take.”
Today McGowan, currently pursuing his PhD at Adelphi’s Derner School of Psychology, is completing his clinical internship at Nassau University Medical Center. “I am currently working on both an inpatient and outpatient basis, providing psychotherapy and psychological assessment to clients with a wide variety of clinical presentations and life circumstances, under the supervision of various well-regarded clinical psychologists,” he said.
Throughout his training, he has had a variety of clinical experiences that have shaped him as a clinician and person. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with both culturally and diagnostically diverse clients,” he said. “I fully intend for my professional clinical work to continue to be with ethnically, socioeconomically, and culturally diverse populations.”
As an undergraduate student at Adelphi, he found various mentors who helped steer him to his specialty and set him on his current trajectory. “Dr. Stephanie Lake was an influential person who took the time to help me identify a career path that would combine my interests and skills. Dr. Francine Conway helped educate me about and guide me towards the field of clinical psychology, for which I am very grateful,” said McGowan. He also said Drs. Robert Bornstein and Robert Mendelsohn impacted him and offered invaluable support during his research and clinical practice.
“Adelphi provided me with a foundation and a variety of important professional connections that I truly believe I would not have been able to get anywhere else,” he said.
McGowan is currently teaching psychology of criminal behavior in the College of Professional and Continuing Studies at Adelphi. “Teaching is something that I really enjoy and I am fortunate to have the opportunity to do so at the university that has provided me with so much,” he said.
Of all his achievements, McGowan says being a father is the greatest: “Fatherhood has taught me so much about life, and I can confidently say that this is what I consider to be my greatest accomplishment.”