2020 Gumbo Final - Book - Page 91
answering any questions. His favorite story, though, is
one he likes to keep short and to the point. “A child that
I treated is now a psychologist,” Gros said.
From what Gros has heard, students typically react very
positively to his class. “They typically find it very helpful
and engaging that I can bring clinical experience to the
class,” Gros said. “Every semester, I do have students
come up to me and tell me they appreciate that I do
clinical work and want to speak with me about a career
in psychology or mental health or graduate work in
those fields.” But Gros believes that interest in the class
is because of the class material itself rather than how he
teaches it. But his students, like psychology sophomore
Felix Harrison, would disagree.
“Considering the fact that it was a long lecture-style
night class, I was always impressed that Dr. Gros
managed to keep the class so engaged in his lectures,”
Harrison said. “Attendance was considerably higher
in his class than it has been in other night classes I’ve
taken.” Gros finds his career highly rewarding. In his
clinical work, Gros said he feels satisfied to see his
patients improving, whether that be seeing improved
grades, lowered depression or deepened relationships.
In his University career, Gros uses his class as a means
of providing an open, honest environment to discuss
mental illness and its stigmas. “He would often open up
the lecture by asking the class for feedback about what
they thought of when they heard the name of a certain
mental illness,” Harrison said. “I generally thought he
was good at humanizing mental illness, especially when
he would tell us about experiences he’s had working in
clinical psychology--without revealing any personal info,
of course.” Gros believes that all too often people fail to
acknowledge their mental illnesses, and he would like
to help students break free from that culture.
“I think for far, far too long, mental illness has been
stigmatized,” Gros said. “People don’t talk about it,
and because of that many people are reluctant to get
treatment. “The research shows that about 20 to 25%
of people will experience a mental illness at some point
in their lives, whether it’s mild depression or ADHD
or something more severe. But, the majority of those
will not seek treatment.” Gros said that he may be
interested in taking on more classes in the future, as
he has no plans of retiring in the next 10 years. He also
encourages any student interested in psychology to
take his class if they want a broad explanation of the
various mental illnesses and psychiatric disorders.
Professor Gros
teaches abnormal
psychology on
Wednesday,
Feb. 5, 2020, in
Lockett Hall.
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