Georganna Sedlar, PhD is an assistant professor in the UW Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and a licensed clinical psychologist. She provides clinical consultation for community health providers as well as the Harborview Medical Center’s Foster Care Clinic and provides clinical supervision of psychology graduate students and psychiatry fellows. She is involved in workforce development with both the Integrated Care Training Program (ICTP) and with CBT Plus, a statewide program to train community-based mental health providers in delivering evidence-based practices for children in cognitive behavioral therapy for trauma, anxiety and depression.
What do you find most satisfying about working in integrated care or on the Integrated Care Training Program (ICTP)?
Working with incredibly smart, innovative, and collaborative people.
What are your ideas about new programs and/or new directions the ICTP project should develop?
Being a child psychologist, I love the idea of ICTP being involved with integrated care for children and adolescents.
What led you to where you are today professionally?
I was always interested in helping people, particularly children, and so I knew my career would involve something along those lines. All my professional endeavors have centered on that notion. I attribute good timing in part to my joining the faculty at UW. Valuable teaching, program development, and training opportunities here have helped shaped my current professional interests in workforce development.
What is the best praise or advice you’ve received?
It’s not really a piece of advice but I like the idea of “failing forward” – that we can learn and grow just as much, if not more, from the things that didn’t turn out as expected or desired, than from those experiences we deem “successes.”
Describe your perfect day outside of work (real or imagined).
Waking up without an alarm. Savoring a delicious cup of strong (and I mean strong) freshly brewed coffee and some yummy brunch. Going for a hike or doing something in nature – maybe exploring an area I haven’t yet discovered. Spending the day with people I care about. Ignoring my to-do list. Topping it off with a great movie.
Who was your favorite teacher and why?
I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of great teachers in my life but one that stands out is my graduate school advisor. He was so supportive of me from the minute I started graduate school. He expressed belief in me when I had doubts about myself and that really shaped my professional path. He provided the right amount of guidance and support of my autonomy. He also lives his life with incredible integrity. I’ve tried to emulate that in my relationships with my students.