Nicole Ramspacher is a licensed professional counselor and program director at the Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County. In addition to providing direct support to victims of domestic violence, she also oversees the counseling, advocacy, safehouse and outreach departments. Additionally, Ramspacher collaborates with other areas within her organization to seek out grant opportunities, analyze best practices and provide supervision to leadership staff.
Ramspacher graduated from Temple University with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Cognitive Neuroscience. During her freshman year at Temple, she joined Dr. Philip Kendall's Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders Clinic (CAADC) as a research assistant and worked closely with staff on research projects exploring the connection between sleep and anxiety in youth, which culminated in a research award that allowed her to travel to Nashville, Tennessee to present her findings.
Through more time working with Dr. Kendall, she was able to move into the role of clinic coordinator, facilitating intakes and managing schedules. In her final year, she served as a diagnostician and worked directly with families seeking services. This was Ramspacher's first experience working directly in a clinical setting, and it allowed her to explore her passion for supporting clients, which led to the pursuit of her master's degree in Temple's Counseling Psychology program.
During her senior year, Ramspacher also became a Diamond Peer Teacher for Dr. Isabelle Chang's Psychopathology course. She credits this experience for giving her the opportunity to teach and facilitate study sessions with other students. Ramspacher was also president of the Psychology Majors Association, which helped her develop key leadership skills and learn more about the variety of psychology careers.
Throughout graduate school, Ramspacher completed an internship working with survivors of sexual violence, and this provided her with more insight into victim services and the nonprofit sector. She later pursued full-time employment at a domestic violence nonprofit agency and through years of clinical experience, she developed leadership skills and found herself gravitating toward management opportunities. Ramspacher always knew she was interested in pursuing a career in a helping profession, but her coursework and internship experiences gave her hands-on experience which confirmed her interest.
Ramspacher is grateful for the opportunities she was able to obtain in and out of the classroom because they prepared her to become a leader and make changes in her community. She encourages current students to get the most out of their time at Temple by getting involved in internships, research or just connecting with professors.
"A Temple degree will teach you so much," says the proud Temple alumna," and there is just as much to learn outside of the classroom if you seek it out."