Paige Hover, PsyD is a recent graduate of the Clinical Psychology Program at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Hover has dedicated much of her professional training career to substance use treatment and prevention in various settings throughout the nation. Dr. Hover began co-leading therapy groups with patients in a psychiatric inpatient hospital on their chemical dependency unit. This group employed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help group members identify values and goals to sustain their treatment progress beyond the initial stages. Dr. Hovers training then shifted gears to focus on providing individual and group therapy to adolescent males in a medium security prison who had been identified as having had problems with substance use. This was a rewarding and educational experience from which she came to understand some of the unique challenges clients can encounter in conjunction to managing their recovery. Dr. Hover was then able to draw upon these skills in her role in the intake department at a renowned residential rehabilitation facility specializing in substance use and mental health treatment. Dr. Hover served on the front lines, gaining valuable assessment skills as well as getting first-hand accounts of the raw emotion associated with the decision to seek help.
For the past three years, Dr. Hover has worked and trained in various college counseling centers. It is here that her passion and enthusiasm for her work truly blossomed; she recognized the challenge in promoting and providing substance use treatment in an environment where social norms can desensitize students to the dangers of substance abuse. Cultivating her natural enthusiasm, she collaborated with Jonathan Beazley, LMFT, LADC to educate as many people as possible about substance use and mental health issues on campuses and to inspire discussions about ways various university representatives can all work together to help students succeed, despite the challenges they face. She is currently completing her post-doctoral fellowship at Eastern Michigan University, and she aspires to develop and implement effective substance use prevention and treatment and recovery programs in universities nationwide.
