2004 POINT SCHOLARS

John Pachankis

State University of New York at Stony Brook

Concentration: Clinical Psychology

John was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana.  The conservative environment of his childhood forced him to consider the predicament of developing of a healthy, albeit stigmatized, identity in a social and religious environment that supported shame, guilt, and secrecy around issues of sexual orientation.  John graduated summa cum laude from Loyola University in New Orleans, while providing HIV testing and counseling at an inner-city HIV/AIDS services organization and completing his senior thesis on the framing of HIV risk-reduction messages.  He is now completing his final year of Ph.D. studies in clinical psychology at SUNY-Stony Brook with a focus on understanding the ways in which social context shapes LGBT individual’s views of themselves and their community and testing effective interventions to promote greater self-acceptance for LGBT individuals.  Some of the constructs he has applied to the psychological experiences of LGBT individuals include social anxiety, rejection sensitivity, and disclosure/secrecy.  His research attests to the important impact of social support and disclosure of sexual orientation on the mental health of LGBT individuals.  At this point in his career, John has published and presented numerous papers and finished a two-year psychology externship providing therapy to gay and bisexual men with HIV-related concerns in New York City.  He is currently completing his predoctoral internship at McLean Hospital / Harvard Medical School and plans to continue a research career focusing on the mental health and well-being of stigmatized populations.