Meet…
Sara Bielek, or better known as Dr. Bielek, a professor in the department of Psychology who has spent her career using her expertise and knowledge in clinical psychology to treat a variety of patients and to educate the next generation of psychologists.
Why she’s interesting…
Bielek initially grew up on a farm in Ohio, where she participated in 4H horse and cattle shows, hoping to become a veterinarian one day.
She began her undergraduate career at Wilmington College taking some agricultural classes, but she says that after she took Intro to Psychology, she had fallen in love with it.
“I’ve always wanted to know why we think and see things so differently. That’s really what got me hooked. Understanding the uniqueness of us all,” she said.
Once Bielek graduated from Wilmington College with a B.A in Psychology, she attended the Chicago School of Professional Psychology where she received her Master’s and her Doctorate degree, in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in health.
Bielek says that when she was in her Master’s program, her friend’s child was diagnosed with brain cancer and it was really hard watching her go through that without the proper support she needed, which is what inspired her to get a concentration in health.
“When I saw that firsthand I decided that’s where I wanted to put my focus.”
Bielek did her dissertation on parents who had lost their children to cancer and spent the last two years working with cancer patients and those affected by cancer, treating it from a psychological standpoint.
“I did individual, group therapy, hypnosis, meditation; That’s really where my bread and butter is with a more therapeutic, but semi-alternative means of how to approach an individual.”
She says that her passion is understanding a non-psychopharmacology perspective of treatment, seeing “what we can do to heal you physically and mentally. I believe we have a lot of control over ourselves when it comes to that.”
“I did outpatient for a couple of years, working mostly with adults in health psychology, so like chronic pain, diabetes and phantom limb.”
After that Bielek started teaching in addition to her outpatient, which inspired her to start pursuing it more.
“I got into a two-year tech school where I was a program chair for four years and an assistant dean for two years, while I was teaching,” she said.
“I always knew I wanted to work at Sinclair. It’s a very relaxed and open environment that supports student engagement, higher education, diversity and cultural awareness. All of that fit my modality of teaching.” Bielek has now been teaching here for over three years.
In addition to Sinclair, Bielek is also a professor at Wright State University and seven different online schools, teaching psychology classes for associates programs all the way to doctoral programs.
Bielek says that at this point in her life she enjoys teaching so much, that she doesn’t miss clinical.
“I enjoy seeing the lightbulbs go off and educating my students on the disorder and treatments, reducing the stigma around it.”
Bielek says that “educating my students and making an affective change, that’s my ultimate goal. Giving them something that they can’t get out of a textbook.”
Bielek continues to teach Psychology courses both at Sinclair and Wright State University.
Hannah Hamlin
Reporter