Introduction
Dr. Malindi 'Mindi' Gowen completed her Ph.D. in counseling psychology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. A narrative therapist by orientation, her clinical work has primarily involved working with Veterans, and she completed her doctoral internship at the Montana VA. Her time in Montana and within the VA developed her continued interest in both evidence-based practice and holistic approaches to mental health and well-being. Dr. Gowen is also a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, and her experiences during her service shaped (and continue to influence) her clinical, teaching, and research interests.
Dr. Gowen greatly enjoys qualitative research, and her research experiences have broadly focused on the experiences of women, including immigrant and refugee women. Her dissertation examined the use of narrative coherence in assessing the well-being of Congolese refugee women, and she strongly believes in the importance of involving community stakeholders throughout the research process. Dr. Gowen is also a co-author on a chapter in the upcoming edition of the Counseling Psychology handbook focused on refugees and immigrants in the United States.
As a professor, Dr. Gowen greatly enjoys teaching and mentoring students. She believes in being transparent about both the joys and challenges of working in the field of psychology and works hard to model genuine and sustainable work/life balance. She also intentionally seeks out ways to encourage and advocate for students, as they are the future of the profession. Dr. Gowen works to recognize each student's unique learning context and create a safe and inclusive environment that fosters respect and empowers students to show up as their true selves, knowing they can ask questions and wrestle with ideas. Given her qualitative research background, she loves supporting all student research questions that may benefit from this approach.
In her spare time, Dr. Gowen enjoys traveling, used book stores, coffee, and sweet treats. She has also recently taken up biking so she can bike to more places with said treats. Newly relocated to Minnesota, Dr. Gowen will be cultivating her outdoor winter interests, and she welcomes any suggestions that will help her embrace Minnesota winters.