Laurel O’Connor graduated from the Antioch University Santa Barbara MA in Clinical Psychology program with an emphasis in Healthy Aging in summer of 2015.

Laurel was one of Antioch’s adult learner students. Even though she became successful in her career before attending Antioch, she still thought about her future and the next phase of her life. “As a teenager, I knew I wanted to be a therapist but life took me another direction,” she said.“Despite finding success, professionally I was unfulfilled.”

Laurel decided to come to Antioch in order to pursue her goal of becoming a therapist. “I chose Antioch because it was known for its experimental learning environment and small class sizes,” she said. “The Healthy Aging emphasis appealed to me because I am interested in working with the older population, and this is an area where I think there will be a significant need for professionals.”

After graduating from Antioch, Laurel began a traineeship at the Community Counseling and Education Center. Laurel plans to stay in Santa Barbara in order to help others by counseling. “I plan to always be involved with the amazing nonprofits we have in town,” she said. “At some point, I would like to be in private practice as well.”