About Dr. Pamela A. Hays
As long as I can remember, I've had a passion for learning from people of diverse cultures. My interests led me to seek work and education in places where I knew I would be challenged by new languages, customs, and beliefs. My first destination was New Mexico, where I obtained a B.A. in psychology at New Mexico State University. I completed a year of psychology study at the University of North Wales (U.K.), a certificate in French at La Sorbonne in Paris, a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Hawaii (1983-86), an internship at the Portland V.A. Medical Center (1986-87), and an NIMH postdoctoral fellowship in geriatric psychology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine (1987-88). During the latter year, I became closely involved with the Vietnamese, Lao, and Cambodian communities of Rochester for a project aimed at addressing needed mental health services. I also lived in the North African country of Tunisia where I interviewed women about the impact of rapid social changes on their lives.
After my last relocation, I decided I'd had enough moves for a while and settled into a full-time faculty position in the graduate psychology program at Antioch University in Seattle where I worked for 11 years. Although I loved my work at Antioch, family and a new relationship lured me back to my hometown in Alaska where I have been working since 2000 with Cottonwood Health Center (formerly CPCS), and the Kenaitze Tribe's Nakenu Family Center. I am on the Board of the Alaska State Psychological Association (AK-PA), and a member of the American Psychological Association, the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapists, and the International Council of Psychologists. I continue to keep my connection with Antioch University by teaching there one weekend per year. I am grateful to be back in Alaska and to be able to ski and snowshoe in winter, walk the Kasilof beach in summer, and eat my husband's self-caught salmon all year round.