Faculty - Science and Humanities

Dr. Christine Selby received a Bachelor's of Arts in psychology from Carthage College (1992). From there, she pursued her combined interest in psychology and athletics (she was a competitive distance runner and still is an avid sports fan) by receiving a Master's of Science in Counseling and Psychological Services with an emphasis on Athletic Counseling from Springfield College (1994). Finally, Dr. Selby was awarded a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of North Texas (2000) where she minored in Marriage and Family Therapy and continued to conduct research in the area of Sport Psychology. She has taught at two different area colleges, including Husson, as an adjunct instructor since 2000 until the 2007-2008 academic year when she was hired as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Husson. Additionally, Dr. Selby works as a clinician at an area community mental health center where she works primarily with adults and has a specialty area in Eating Disorders.

Husson is a wonderful educational facility that offers a wide range of areas of study, but is small enough to allow for personal attention from professors if students avail themselves of that opportunity. My undergraduate education was at a college very similar to Husson and I still appreciate the opportunity I had to get to know my professors. One of my undergraduate professors became my professional and personal mentor and that relationship significantly influenced who I am, how I think, and my desire to teach. One of the most important things he attempted to instill in all of his students was the importance of self-examination ("The unexamined life is not worth living" ~Socrates). My own experience with self-examination (i.e., understanding who I am and why I do what I do) has led me to try to instill this skill in my students as it was instilled in me. I encourage my students, whether they are undergraduate or graduate students, to use what they are learning as an opportunity to learn about themselves. I frequently pose questions or statements to my classes about what they personally think about a topic area, how it might apply to them, or what their opinion is (including considering how they might vote in an election relevant to a topic area like assisted suicide). When we discuss "controversial" areas (e.g., Freud's theory of personality development, assisted suicide, etc.) I encourage students to put aside what they think they might know and allow for the possibility that our discussions just might change their minds - or at least get them thinking!

I also carry the value of self-examination to my work as a psychotherapist. Although there are varying degrees with which individuals are willing to or capable of engaging in this process, I encourage clients to at least think about what they are doing before they do it. For some this leads to further questions and areas of exploration and others become more intentional about their actions (rather than reflexive). For those who have an interest in becoming a mental health clinician, my theoretical orientation is eclectic. Eclecticism in this day and age is often considered "suspect" in terms of how a person practices eclecticism. I do not simply pick and choose from a "menu" of techniques. Rather, the theory behind my approach involves specific uses for the Person-Centered, Cognitive-Behavioral, and Psychodynamic approaches. In my opinion, this combination of approaches, used in an intentional and thoughtful way, allows for the greatest possibility of beneficial change.

I look forward to seeing you in class!

Rachelle Smith received both her B.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Maine, Orono. Rachelle teaches a variety of psychology courses and specializes in child development. Her dissertation centered on the development of recursive awareness of intentionality: The development of theory of mind across middle childhood. Her major areas of interest are cognitive, social, and emotional development and developmental biology. Rachelle has been the recipient of the Owen Aldis Award for her dissertation research and is a member of the International Society for Human Ethology and the Society for Research in Child Development.

As a new faculty member here at Husson University I am excited by the prospect of meeting and working with a diverse student population. I believe that to develop professional abilities, students must participate in the process and be active learners. This means that students must not only learn to listen, read, and write effectively, but also to think about new material and discover how it applies in their own lives. Psychology provides a wealth of opportunities for such self-exploration and I hope to assist students with this endeavor throughout my career here.

Tom is a native Mainer, having been raised in Newport and graduating from John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor. He received his commission as a Naval Officer after graduating with a B.S. in Physics from the United States Naval Academy in 2000.

He completed his M.S. in Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before reporting to Charleston, South Carolina in 2002 for nuclear power training. Tom became a fully qualified submarine officer and nuclear engineer, spending four years aboard the USS Annapolis (SSN 760) and the USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720). After leaving the Navy in 2007, he resumed his PhD studies the University of Maine in the area of statistical physics. He completed his PhD in 2010, with his research focusing on how spreading processes (such as epidemics) are influenced by different network topologies, outbreak control strategies and phase transitions within these systems. Tom joined the Mathematics department at Husson University in the fall of 2009.

Tom and his wife Melissa reside in Veazie with their son Noah and two dogs. Depending on the season, Tom can be found either riding his bicycle on the roads around Bangor or skiing at Sugarloaf. He and his wife also enjoy gardening and hiking.