Matthew Valdespino

Matthew Valdespino is currently obtaining his PsyD in Clinical Psychology from the Graduate School for Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University. He was first introduced to Ernest Becker’s work through Denial of Death, which helped ignite his interest in human relationships as an essential means of navigating the anxieties of life and death. He followed this passion into psychiatric social work, where he worked facilitating a non-clinical therapeutic community for individuals with severe mental illness in Bellevue, Washington. He is currently interested in working with individuals with Severe Mental Illness, particularly those in correctional settings, and how applying Terror Management Theory and clinical insights into existential isolation can improve treatment in these settings.