“We need to do something. We need to put our advocacy into action. Everyone can be an advocate.”
These were the words of Dr. Lovely Lucky Evarretta, De La Salle Lipa (DLSL) Psychology professor, when asked about mental health concerns and her advocacies. She mentioned about the need for more like-minded individuals and groups to support mental health programs in the province and in the country.
Having made it in the October 2019 Psychologist Licensure Examinations, Dr. Evarretta emphasized her aim to promote awareness on the role of psychologists: assessing, diagnosing, and treating psychological challenges and the behavioral dysfunctions resulting from or related to mental and physical health.
With the widespread concerns on mental health recently, stressed by the Department of Health’s statistics showing 3.3 million Filipinos experiencing depressive disorders as of 2018, she also pointed out her hope for Batangas, for it to become more proactive and to hopefully end the stigma in line with mental health issues.
Dr. Evarretta graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology at the First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities, earned units in the Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology program at the Philippine Women’s University, finished her Master of Arts in Psychology degree at Lyceum of the Philippines University – Batangas, and Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology degree at Lyceum of the Philippines University – Batangas. Aside from teaching, she is passionate about clinical psychology per se such as dealing with severe psychotic cases. She also encourages more psychology students to take up their graduate studies and later take up the Psychologist Licensure Examinations to advance the province and the nation’s call for stronger mental health.