Counseling Service Staff
Sylvia R. Balderrama, Director
Sylvia R. Balderrama, EdD, a licensed psychologist, is the director of the Vassar College Counseling Service. She graduated from Harvard College, received a MEd in Psychological Education from Boston University, and a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Columbia University. She was a Staff Psychologist at SUNY-Purchase and an instructor at Columbia University-Teachers College prior to coming to Vassar in 1992. Dr. Balderrama also worked at the Queens College Counseling and Advisement Center and at the Yale College Undergraduate Admissions Office. Dr. Balderrama has served as a consultant on diversity issues and on working with college students.
Dr. Balderrama has specialized training in disordered eating, group process, multicultural counseling and diversity. Additionally, Dr. Balderrama has received training in organizational dynamics, including issues of authority, diversity, and power. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Division for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues (Division 45), the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17), the National Latina/o Psychological Association, the New York State Psychological Association, the Hudson Valley Psychological Association, the Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors, the American Counseling Association, and the American College Health Association. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Mental Health Association of Dutchess County and maintains a private consultation practice.