Mission & Values
The Reiss-Davis Graduate School offers educational programs to mental health-care providers at all stages of their professional development. These programs integrate psychodynamic, neurobiological, and trauma-informed perspectives, and equip adult learners with the most current theories and techniques to serve the mental health needs of children, adolescents, adults, families, and their diverse communities. Our programs are grounded in contemporary psychodynamic psychology and a commitment to approach everyone served from a position of cultural awareness and humility, while striving for equity and inclusion.
The Reiss-Davis Graduate School aspires to be a leading institution of higher education that offers adult learners transformative experiences while obtaining graduate degrees and professional development certificates. Within a psychodynamic, neurobiological, and trauma-informed framework, we nurture students’ desire for in-depth understanding and their passion for making a difference in the lives of children, adolescents, adults, and their communities through building fulfilling therapeutic relationships, healing trauma, fostering awareness, and supporting psychological growth.
The Reiss-Davis Graduate School exists to guide mental health professionals towards becoming competent scholars and clinicians with the knowledge and skill set to meet each person’s unique psychodynamic, neurobiological, psychosocial, and cultural context. The Reiss-Davis purpose is actualized through educational programs that are grounded in the integration of contemporary psychodynamic theory and practice, an understanding of advances in neurobiology, and trauma-informed approaches. We believe that understanding the developmental process from birth onward guides both clinicians and scholars.
Compassion: A commitment to act toward all in a spirit of empathy, caring, justice, and respect.
Excellence: A commitment to strive for the highest standards in scholarship and clinical practice, marked by accountability, creativity, and contribution to the field.
Inclusion: A commitment to respect the distinct abilities, talents, perspectives, skills, and socio-historical backgrounds of all through awareness of self and others.
Integrity: A commitment to act authentically and ethically with truth, honesty, professionalism, and transparency.
We proclaim that Reiss Davis Graduate School will be best supported in the pursuit of its mission and vision for the future by work that is diverse, inclusive, and focused on equity:
- Diverse: We assert that RDGS will be strengthened in its decision making by drawing on the skills, talents, and perspectives of all stakeholders and their diverse viewpoints that come from different life experiences and broad cultural backgrounds.
- Inclusive: We promote a culture of inclusiveness that ensures that all stakeholders are represented by bringing their perspectives, identities, and life experience to the institution. An inclusive RDGS culture welcomes and celebrates differences and ensures that all stakeholders are engaged, invested, and take part in sharing responsibility for the organization.
- Equity-Focused: We advance awareness of a societal context of inequality and aim at fostering decision processes that best prioritize resources with the goal to provide opportunities to all and avoid unintentional biases that can lead to flawed strategies.
The outcome of the Reiss-Davis Graduate School Mission, Purpose, Vision, and Values is the advancement of professionally competent, culturally aware, self-reflective, and engaged clinicians capable of contributing to significant and lasting change in the lives of children, adolescents, adults, and their families and communities. In these ways, Reiss-Davis is proud to take a leadership role in educating those who serve the complex and unique mental health needs of individuals and communities.
