My Academic Story

PhD in Counseling Psychology

Reflections on the Journey

“The teacher is of course an artist, but being an artist does not mean that he or she can shape the students. What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves.x” – Paulo Freire

Training to be a psychologist has allowed me to explore my depths to meet clients at theirs, which has ~full circle~ allowed me to draw deeper emotion into my art, become more of myself, and bring it all into the classroom.

Tbh, I'll probably always have a complicated relationship with my PhD. As many of you know, I’ve felt grief around this fragmented sense of self because my inner artist was at war with the academic. But the universe, with love and pain, constantly reveals that it's all in the name of identity integration and intergenerational healing. It seems obvious that the thread of creativity would inevitably weave itself through my teaching pedagogy and therapeutic practice.

Four unexpected gifts I received from grad school: my love for teaching college students, my love for providing therapy, my fire for co-creating spaces to bridge the campus-community gap, the healing that occurred for me to create art that is deeply personal and visionary.

As bell hooks said, “The function of art is to do more than tell it like it is – it's to imagine what is possible,” and with this degree, I’m able to work with students to creatively move from theory to praxis. I definitely entered a flow in grad school. I loved the hustle and bustle of waking up in the morning to teach a class, walking to the shop to get prints of my art, seeing a few clients, meeting with a mentor or mentee, grading papers, going to the art supply store, and heading to my art studio to finish a painting that I’d showcase later that week. The tao, the tantra, the light was always guiding me. While I lament the rebel-artist life I could have lived, I do see that no part of me has been left behind. This degree is a celebration of my seeking & finding and the fruit of my parents’ labor that helped me acquire the tools needed to climb the mountain that Andy talked about. Other things I learned along the way -

  • I thought I thrived in chaos, but I realized it’s just avoidance

  • I wish I started caring for and nurturing my body earlier

  • Falling asleep to Pema Chodron, Alan Watts, & Krishnamurti lectures at 18 y/o = vital

  • Creating art teaches my inner perfectionist to lean back. Ego dissolves, soul remembers.

  • I’m more likely to burn bridges/avoid accountability when stressed; self-care = community care

  • I become what I consume

  • I get jealous of others when I rob myself of opportunities they may have taken. My haterism/jealousy decreases when I honor what my heart yearns for

  • Whatever it is, sing/write/dance about it

So, here’s to reconciling, integrating, healing, and complicating what it means to have this degree. Also, doesn’t Dr. Bini have a nice little ring to it?

Biography

Bini Sebastian completed her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri, where she also received her M.Ed. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of North Texas. Bini currently works at UC Berkeley, where she serves as a psychologist to support student mental health.

Bini’s research focuses on the role of mindfulness and psychosomatic practices in the development of identity and critical consciousness. Bini has provided 50+ workshops and facilitated discussions on the role of mindfulness/psychosomatic practices at local and national conferences. Bini has experience in teaching undergraduate classes on diversity, and she has co-facilitated multicultural labs for graduate students.

Bini views mental health through a multicultural, biopsychosocial-spiritual lens. She integrates mindfulness and psychosomatic practices with transpersonal approaches in her clinical work. She has experience working in university counseling centers, integrative behavioral health settings, and community mental health centers. Bini enjoys collaborating with local leaders, healers, educators, and artists to co-create decolonized spaces for mind-body-spirt healing. She has offered consultation on mindfulness and psychospiritual practices to nonprofit faith communities, businesses, and health departments. Bini most enjoys working with college students and hopes to co-create with students to bring liberatory, consciousness-raising practices to higher education.

Bini interweaves her identities as a counselor and visual artist to create art that is reflective of healing, liberation, and transcendence, a.k.a. artivism.