Meet the Team

Diana Rivera Macias

d r macias

Past Student

The main reason why I wanted to be part the Rehabilitation Counseling program is because I want to change peoples’ lives. I believe in opportunity and second chances. For this reason, I want to give individuals with disabilities the possibility to achieve their life goals. After going through a difficult episode of my life gave me the passion to help others and be sensitive. I believe that we all need a little push sometimes, and that we all have different abilities. For this reason, I would like to well prepare myself in the field of Rehabilitation Counseling, to be able to serve my community in all I am capable of.

Some of the ongoing projects that I have taken the lead on in Dr. Kosyluk’s Research lab are:

  1. A Randomized Controlled Trial of This Is My Brave, a theatrical contact-based anti-stigma program.
  2. A Pilot Study of Narrative Enhancement and Cognitive Therapy with a Hispanic/Latino Population
  3. A project examining the problem of Assistive Technology Access in the Paso del Norte Region using Positive Deviance and Human Centered Design methodologies.
  4. A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Honest Open Proud to Eliminate the Stigma of Mental Illness Among College Students

I can say that I learn something different each day working with my lab colleagues, which makes me really glad I can be part of this research team. Most of the projects we are working on in Dr. Kosyluk’s research lab are related to stigma and mental illness. Nowadays stigma plays a huge role when it comes to individuals asking for help. My goal is to overcome this obstacle and provide my services as a Rehabilitation Counselor in the future. Finally, part of my plans is to pursue my Ph.D. in the future, and I feel I couldn’t be in a better place, learning from all of the work that we are doing in Dr. Kosyluk’s research lab.