A JOURNEY OF SELF-DISCOVERY

GINA CHRISTOPHER

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES ALUMNA

Clinical Mental Health Counseling major

t is no small feat to move to another country, much less one where people primarily speak a language you don’t understand. Gina Christopher’s journey brought her from her home country in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to Ghana, and eventually to U.S. to attend the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Christopher graduated from UNO in 2018 with a master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She previously earned her undergraduate degree in General Studies with a concentration in Psychology.

Initially, however, Christopher wanted to work in Nursing, taking pre-nursing classes and working at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) for more than a decade. After complications occurred, she struggled with continuing her nursing studies.

“To be honest, counseling wasn't the first thing in my mind because med-school, at least health care system, was always the first thing on my thought. So, I decided to pray about it. It was more like, ‘God, what's my path? So, what is it that you want me to do? I enjoy going to school. I enjoy learning, but I don't know what I’m supposed to do in America.’”

Her plans changed from seeking a future in nursing to instead focusing on counseling. She came to UNO to finish her undergraduate and graduate schooling. A native French speaker, she was concerned about her ability to speak English, especially during her graduate school admissions interview.

“I was speaking to all these people in the room with ‘Ph.D.’ after their names, and I was just like shaking. I was sweating after the interview,” she said. “I asked [former chair] Dr. Kissinger at the time, ‘Sir, I feel like I did horrible in this interview. Do I even have a chance with my accent and the level of English I have?’ and he was like, ‘You are the kind of person we need in counseling.’ I just felt a sense of relief.”

She found her studies to be challenging. Yet she also found faculty in her counseling program were not only accommodating, but fully supportive when she needed assistance. “I would say to anyone, whether you are from here or coming from another country, and you have anxiety for grad school or higher education, do not be ashamed of your anxieties or your fears. You have to own it,” she said.

Christopher is now working with Lutheran Family Services, a non-profit, as a therapist and practices privately on the side. She has certificates in adoption therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy, as well as training in trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy.

“Going through the [graduate counseling] program here really helped me, I'll say, realize or recognize myself and my value and my worth as a woman. As an individual, I'm a person, whether I'm a female or male... All that was born here by going through the program.”