Rachel Curran '06 '09

Why Rachel chose Rider

Rachel knew immediately that she wanted to attend Rider. She auditioned and applied for the undergraduate theatre program and came to Rider as what was then known as an Acting Scholar. She double majored in fine arts and communications. As an undergraduate student, she completed an internship in the Office of Admissions, worked in Residence Life as a residence director and was a campus tour guide. 

While taking part in admissions events, Rachel met many school counselors and became interested in the work they were doing. She knew that becoming a school counselor was the right path for her. After graduation, she applied to Rider’s counseling services graduate program.

Rider's impact on Rachel's career

According to Rachel, Rider’s counseling services program trains students very well on how to work with students struggling with mental health concerns and provides the resources school counselors need to be highly successful in their roles. 

Since earning her M.A. in Counseling Services at Rider, Rachel has been working as a school counselor for 10 years and has an interest in helping students who struggle with eating disorders. She works with students on managing body image issues and is an advocate for their care.

Continued success

Rachel is a trained facilitator and trainer for National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)’s The Body Project, a group-based intervention program that provides a forum for high school girls and college aged women to confront unrealistic appearance ideals and develop healthy body image and self-esteem. Rachel is bringing The Body Project to Rider to train current graduate students how to facilitate body image programs in K-12 settings. Rachel reached out to Julie Buser, Ph.D., professor in the graduate education, leadership and counseling department, who teaches a course in the Rider counseling program on body image and disordered eating, and initiated the idea of offering this training to advanced graduate counseling students. 

Thanks to Rachel’s efforts, Rider students in the clinical mental health counseling and school counseling graduate programs will have the opportunity to take part in a one-day training session. Students complete verbal, visual and interactive exercises that include writing a letter to your younger self, in-the-moment role playing and problem solving. Trainees are prepared to promote body activism and foster positive body image among the students they work with. For example, in collaboration with their teacher, high school dance students in Rachel’s school shared quotes on social media about body positivity and unedited dance photos to show what a “real body” looks like without digital manipulation.

Learn more about The Body Project.

Explore Rider’s School Counseling graduate program.