Meet Reji Mathew
What is your name?
Reji Mathew, Ph.D., LCSW
What’s your official job title?
Senior Clinical Social Worker, Counseling & Wellness, NYU Student Health Center
Adjunct Assistant Professor – NYU School of Social Work
Years/Months at NYU:
15+ years
What’s your hometown?
Rockland County, NY
What kind of projects do you work on?
- Provide mental health counseling to undergraduate and graduate students
- Conduct Wellness Workshops
- Conduct Counseling Groups
- Train and mentor graduate-level mental health interns
- Provide lectures throughout campus on mental health wellness topics.
What’s your role in the AMC?
I am an AMC Mentor which is a joy. I also have presented workshops on wellness and coping for the AMC Educational Series. This is the article I wrote for PBS: Next Avenue back in March 2020 which is the basis of the workshops I have recently conducted on-campus related to coping with pandemic stress.
Any advice for new administrators?
I am thinking of the impactful writing by David Brooks, a New York Times Op-Ed columnist, who speaks often about committing to the “Attached Life”. One of the challenges of the large campus in a city is that we can live and work in silos resulting in a narrow experience of each day.
I would encourage everyone to keep up with what is happening in various programs at NYU. This can be as easy as spending 2 minutes reading an announcement email. I stay current with the NYU Ability Project, Center for Multicultural Education and Programs (CMEP), Center for Disability Studies, Grunin Center for Law and Social Entrepreneurship, and the arts-based research being conducted at the Department of Art Therapy for persons with neurodegenerative disorders. Keeping my mind open to worlds outside my particular division gives me a broader experience of my work life, I gain perspective, learn new things, and it also helps with stress resilience.
Commit to whatever setting you work for, but also stay open to connecting to the countless resources & happenings on-campus.
What is your fondest memory in your time here?
It is hard to pin down a specific memory, but I never take for granted what an incredible experience it is to be connected so closely to the pulse of culture. Whatever happens in the world shows up in counseling, mentoring or teaching students. It is a humbling opportunity to both engage with and contribute to our collective social history in real-time and it is a great honor to be a part of that process.
Name your favorite spot on campus.
A while back, I wrote an article about the amazing work at the Nordoff-Robbins Center world-renowned for the study of music therapy. I am a passionate expressive arts advocate, and music therapy was the first modality I learned about. The work they do at the center through musical improvisation with people of all ages and abilities is just magical.
One cherished value I always encourage people to think about in their wellness journey is to find an additional expressive mode: movement, sound, storytelling, or mindfulness activities to serve as a bridge to words. The world is evolving with such complexity in the digital age at a pace unimaginable in decades past, it can be helpful to have multiple expressive modes to go to when we need to make sense of our experiences.
Do you have a hidden talent?
In addition to being a social work psychotherapist, I have committed to building a varied work life. I am a professional freelance journalist (member of the American Society of Authors and Journalist), Graphic Design Artist, and an expressive arts advocate.
Doing different things outside of NYU helps me come back to my clinical work during the day with more vitality & creativity.
I am also completing my training to become a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT) at the Center for Creative Arts in Chicago. This is a long-awaited goal of mine and I enjoy infusing an arts approach to all my work on campus.
What are you currently reading?
Trying to get better at cooking – vegetarian cookbooks of any kind.
What is your go-to app on your phone right now?
I am a foodie and love Instagram!
If you were a superhero, who would you be and why?
I like everyday superheroes. People who make each day better through their acts of kindness.
Coffee or tea?
Mint tea with ginger- I am a tea artisan fan.
Favorite travel destination?
I would love to travel to Maui, Hawaii. I have been following a painter there for several years now, Moses Hamilton. He is an exquisite master of seizing the moment with mindfulness art practice, I would love to learn from him.
LinkedIn profile link:
Glad to connect with anyone in the AMC community.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rejimathewphd
Do you have any digital artwork or medial you would like to share? Include link(s) below.
My Website of My Expressive Arts Work: https://www.rejimathewphd-writer.com/
Last December, I launched an art fundraiser through my Graphic Design Artwork toward the goal of modifying my van for wheelchair accessibility. Once I am fully mobile again, I hope to go back to supporting community-based expressive arts activism work.
https://www.rejimathewphd-writer.com/graphic-design-artwork.html
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