Kristina Esopo has earned The Donald R. Atkinson Diversity Enhancement Award for 2022-23. The award honors Professor Emeritus Donald R. Atkinson for his 30 years of service to the profession of counseling psychology. During his tenure, Atkinson was dedicated to making the Gevirtz School one that is affirming to all. The award is given to support student research or a dissertation in multicultural counseling psychology.
Kristina Esopo (she/they) is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology working with Dr. Tania Israel. Their mentoring, teaching, clinical, and research interests focus on using intersectional, relational-cultural, and liberatory social justice approaches to resist and dismantle systems of oppression, heal ancestral and intergenerational trauma, and enhance joy and thriving among primarily marginalized individuals and collectives, especially within the queer and trans community. Kristina currently serves as a member and steward of The Blacker the Brain, a collective committed to systemic and cultural change through decolonizing mental health and co-creating ecosystems of liberation. She is also integrating decolonized and liberatory content and praxis into the teaching of counseling psychology as a student affiliate of the APA Division 17, Society of Counseling Psychology, Intervention Curriculum Committee and Continuing Education Committee.
