By REBECCA WHITE
Dr. Sally H. Barlow will speak at today’s Devotional at 11 a.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall in the Harris Fine Arts Center.
Barlow, a BYU professor of clinical psychology, will speak about the critical transformations that help people find their eternal identities.
“I’ve been thinking about identity for a long time. It seems that when I work with people in therapy, they either think too much of themselves and have a calcified sense of identity or they think too little of themselves and have an underdeveloped sense of identity,” Barlow said.
Barlow came to BYU after earning a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Utah in 1978. She is involved in teaching, counseling and research.
Barlow teaches undergraduate and graduate courses and is known for her teaching ability.
“Dr. Barlow has a wisdom and perspective that has had a profound effect on my development as a psychologist,” said Pam McCollam, a clinical psychology graduate student from Fountain Valley, Calif.
One of her clients, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that as a counselor Barlow helps people to see to the core of their problems.
“After going to three other counselors, I was about to give up on the whole principle of counseling. Then I went to Sally and was amazed at her insight and discernment of my problem. She helped me find hope by showing me that there was something I could do to solve my problems.”
Colleagues in the Clinical Psychology Department said Barlow is an influential member of the faculty.
“Sally is an excellent teacher whose theoretical interest and ability to relate to her students make her both popular and influential,” said Michael Lambert, a professor of clinical psychology who works with Barlow.
Barlow is currently co-writing a chapter about identity for a book. She said this is one of the reasons she will be speaking about identity in her devotional speech.
She has served in a number of professional organizations such as chair of the Utah Psychology Licensing Board, member-at-large for Division 49 of the American Psychology Association and she is a fellow of the Academy of Clinical Psychology.
As a researcher, Barlow has studied and written about topics such as natural helpers versus expert leaders, therapeutic factors in groups, peacemaking skills in children, women and mental health, family enrichment and Mormons.
