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Biography

Dr. Sovereign specializes in working with women, young adults, LGBTQ populations, nontraditional families, and developing clinicians. She also specializes in dealing with grief, relationship issues, and sexual abuse.

Areas of Expertise (11)

Personal Values

Healthy Sexuality

Counselor Development

Group Therapy

Qualitative Meta-Analysis

Qualitative Methods

Consensual Qualitative Research Methodology

Existential Approaches to Psychotherapy

Clinical Supervision

Gender Issues

Social Justice

Education (1)

University of St. Thomas: Psy.D., Counseling Psychology

Affiliations (9)

• Mentor, American Psychological Association of Graduate Students LGBT+ Graduate Student Mentoring Program, 2017-present
• Member, Minnesota Psychological Association (MPA) Diversity Committee, 2017-present
• Accreditation Site Visitor, Accreditation for Doctoral Programs in Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2016-present
• Member, Institutional Review Board, SMUMN School of Graduate and Professional Programs, 2016-present
• Faculty Liaison, PsyD Program Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity Awareness (ASGDA), 2015-present
• Member, LGBTQ+ Therapists Network, 2013-present
• Item Writer, Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP), Research Domain, Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards, (ASPPB), 2012-present
• Member, Minnesota Psychological Association, 2010-present
• Member, Minnesota Women in Psychology, 2010-present

Links (1)

• Psychology Today Bio

Recent Event Appearances (5)

Building a bridge to the professional world: Mentorship in the academic curriculum

Seventh International Symposium on Lasallian Research  Minneapolis, MN - 2018

Gatekeeping aspirations, ambiguities, and angst: Graduate program practices and policies

American Psychological Association Annual Convention  San Francisco, CA - 2018

Gatekeeper duty and doubt: Addressing problems of professional competence

American Psychological Association Annual Convention  Denver, CO - 2016

One innovative model for formal mentorships in a Psy.D. curriculum: The mentoring program at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota

National Council of Schools and Programs in Professional Psychology (NCSPP) Annual Conference  Atlanta, GA - 2016

The Minnesota counselor development and master therapist research studies: Findings from 1985 to 2015

Minnesota Psychological Association’s Annual Convention  Plymouth, MN - 2015

Recent Articles (1)

Nine Ethical Values of Master Therapists

Journal of Mental Health Counseling: January 2005

Len Jennings, Ashley Sovereign, Nancy Bottorff, Melissa Pederson Mussell, and Christopher Vye

2005 This study employed the Consensual Qualitative Research method (Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997) to reanalyze interview data from a previous qualitative study of the personal characteristics of master therapists (Jennings & Skovholt, 1999). Previous research has demonstrated that therapists utilize a variety of resources when making ethical decisions, including professional codes of conduct and their own values. The current study's analysis of 10 master therapists' interviews resulted in the identification of nine ethical values related to their clinical practice: (a) relational connection, (b) autonomy, (c) beneficence, (d) nonmaleficence, (e) competence, (f) humility, (g) professional growth, (h) openness to complexity and ambiguity, and (i) self-awareness. Conducting oneself ethically is a critical task of the competent therapist (American Psychological Association, 2002). Making the best ethical decisions can be extremely challenging for most therapists due to the multitude of complex ethical situations that arise in practice. The goal of this study is to examine the ethical values of therapists considered to be "the best of the best" by their professional colleagues. It is hoped that such an examination will help to illuminate the ethical values that these master therapists seem to draw upon in their work.

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