Dr. Michelle Drapkin was an honors student in high school, yet she did not graduate with her class. Why? She had cut so many classes that her attendance record disqualified her from graduating. Michelle was lost. Her mother was ill with cancer (she survived!), and no one was paying attention to her activities, or lack thereof. To get her diploma, Michelle was sent to summer school, where the teachers had nothing to offer an honors student. After two days, they let her go. Michelle attended college on schedule.
Michelle studied psychology and Spanish at Franklin and Marshall with the goal of becoming a Spanish-speaking psychologist. She studied abroad to develop her language skills and aspired to get a PhD in clinical psychology. Michelle hit a roadblock when she was not accepted into any of the graduate programs she applied to. She points to this experience as “failure being part of the process.” While deeply disappointed, this did not stop her. She applied to be a Fulbright Scholar, for more graduate programs and various jobs, all of which were highly competitive. Nothing came through, except Michelle received some helpful advice to get more research experience to strengthen her chances of getting accepted to graduate school. She landed a research role at the University of Pennsylvania and applied to graduate school two years later. By then, Michelle knew exactly what she wanted to do.
Today, Michelle is a board-certified Clinical Psychologist who has dedicated her career to using psychological research to help people. She is the Owner/Director of the CBT Center. Michelle provides individual and couples therapy, consults with healthcare tech startups, and delivers training on communication/motivation and health/wellbeing at work and in life.
In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Michelle’s journey:
- Michelle is the author of The Motivational Interviewing Path to Personal Change: The Essential Workbook for Creating the Life You Want from New Harbinger Publications
- She held a nationwide role at the Department of Veterans Affairs and was on faculty at the University of Pennsylvania.
Learn more and connect with Michelle here:
https://cbtcenterofcentralnj.com/
https://twitter.com/michelledrapkin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelledrapkin/
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