Anita McLean Photo: Denise Applewhite
Anita McLean has been named director of Counseling and Psychological Services in University Health Services after serving as interim director since February. Her appointment was effective Sept. 1.
McLean joined Counseling and Psychological Services in 2004 as a staff psychologist. She was named training coordinator in 2005 and urgent care coordinator in 2007. McLean also served as interim coordinator of the Sexual Harassment/Assault Advising, Resources and Education Office in 2005-06.
As director of Counseling and Psychological Services, McLean oversees a staff of psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers offering a wide range of services to undergraduate and graduate students, including urgent care and crisis intervention; individual, couples and group counseling; and mental health education. She will serve as the key liaison with University departments on mental health policy and practices.
McLean succeeds John Kolligian, who was named executive director of University Health Services in February.
"I am delighted that Anita McLean has agreed to take over as director of Counseling and Psychological Services," Kolligian said. "She is a terrific choice and, I believe, is uniquely qualified to lead our Counseling and Psychological Services at this moment in time. Anita is a high-impact professional, a gifted clinician and a fine manager and supervisor; she has a superb track record of clinical results and collegial relations across departments.
"Anita knows Princeton students well -- their hopes, talents and struggles. Anyone who knows and has worked with Anita is impressed by her clinical sophistication, dynamism and the excellence that she routinely brings to all aspects of the mental health enterprise," Kolligian said. "Anita is firmly committed to reducing stigma about mental health care seeking, to increasing student access to care, to measuring the gains of mental health treatment and to finding creative ways to continuously improve what we do and contribute to the mental health and well-being of our students. As a recognized expert in the area of cultural psychology and culturally informed psychotherapy, Anita is committed to serving all students whose sense of differentness might compromise help-seeking attitudes and behaviors."
McLean maintains a private practice, and serves as a lecturer and contributing clinical faculty member at Rutgers University's Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. Before joining the Princeton staff, she was a senior staff psychologist at Rutgers.
A graduate of Delhi University in India, where she earned bachelor's and master's degrees, McLean holds both a Ph.D. in economics and a Psy.D. in clinical psychology from Rutgers.