STUDENTS WHO GRADUATED
Sue Adams (Ph.D., 2007)
Clinical interests: how various stressors effect physical and psychosocial well-being; working with children who have chronic medical illnesses, and their families.
Research interests: the effect of chronic childhood diseases, particularly asthma, on children's psychosocial functioning
Master's Thesis: Associations Among Shyness, Life Stress, Asthma-Related Stress, and Anxiety In Urban Children
Dissertation: Complementary and Alternative Medication (CAM) Use, Parental Beliefs, and Communication about Asthma: An Urban Perspective
Practicum (2004-2005): Bradley Hospital, Providence, RI
Internship (2006-2007): Brown University Medical Center, Providence, RI
Awards: NRSA grant in Child Mental Health Research
Mentor: Karla Klein Murdock
Employment: University of Rhode Island, Assistant Professor
Julie AhnAllen (Ph.D., 2006)
Research interests: racial/ethnic identities, Asian American psychology, and ethnic minority children.
Masters Thesis: Relationship Between Physical Appearance, Sense of Belonging, Feelings of Exclusion, and Racial/Ethnic Self-identification Among Multiracial Japanese-European Americans
Dissertation: Development of racial and/or ethnic identities of Asian American women and White European American men experiencing interracial dating.
Practicum (2003-2004): Brookline Community Mental Health Center
Internship (2005-2006): Children’s Hospital Boston
Post Doctoral Fellowship (2006-2007): Adolescent Medicine, Children’s Hospital Boston
Mentor: Karen Suyemoto
Employment: Boston College Counseling Center, Psychologist
Licensure: MA
Chris AhnAllen (Ph.D., 2006)
Clinical interests: schizophrenia
Research interests: neuropsychology of schizophrenia, assessment and testing techniques
Masters Thesis: Assessing Associative Memory in Schizophrenia: A Retrieval-Induced Forgetting Paradigm
Dissertation: Transdermal Nicotine Effects on Cognition in Schizophrenia
Practicum (2003-2004): Cambridge Hospital, Outpatient Department
Internship (2005-2006): Boston Consortium in Clinical Psychology
Post Doc (2006-2007): Brown University, Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies
Mentor: Paul Nestor.
Awards: Manfred Meier Scholarship
Sare Akdag (Ph.D., 2003)
Clinical interests: Pediatric Neuropsychology
Research interests: Neuropsychological correlates of epilepsy and epilepsy surgery
Masters Thesis: Arousal and Schizophrenia: The Startle Reflex, Habituation, and Personality
Dissertation: Memory Change Following Tailored Resection of the Mesial Temporal Lobe
Mentor: Paul Nestor
Practicum: (1998-1999) Shriver Institute
Internship: (2001-2002) Rush Medical Center, Chicago, IL, Neuropsychology Track
Post-Doctoral Fellowship: (2003-2005) Children’s Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, Pediatric Neuropsychology Program
Employment: Neurosciences Program, Department of Psychology, British Columbia’s Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC
Licensure: IL, British Columbia
William Alexander (Ph.D., 2003)
Research interests and Clinical interests:: working with incarcerated African American and investigating their high rate of recitivism.
Practicum: (1997-1998) Roxbury Comprehensive Health Center
Internship: (2002-2003) Edith Nourse Memorial VA Medical Center, New Bedford
Masters Thesis: Homosexual and Racial Identity Conflicts, Alienation, and Depression Among African American Gay Males
Dissertation: The Relationship Between Adult Attachment Styles and Psychosocial Outcomes of African American Males
Post Doc: (’04) Bedford VA, Bedford, MA
Employment: VA Bedford, Staff Psychologist in their 4-month inpatient Domiciliary Program
Mentor: Deborah Brome
Licensure: MA
Leah Harris Altschuler (Ph.D., 2000)
Clinical interests: severe psychopathology, trauma, forensic psychology
Research interests: resiliency in trauma
Masters Thesis: Mediating Factors in the Cycle of Violence: Empathy in Male Survivors of Childhood Abuse
Mentor: David Lisak, Liz Roemer
Dissertation: "Investigating the cycle of violence in men: Psychophysiology of vicarious emotional arousal"
Practicum: The Cambridge Hospital Outpatient Department
Internship (1998-1999): VA Outpatient Clinic in Los Angeles
Post-doctoral fellowship: Wright Institute Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training Program
Employment:: Private Practice
Licensure: CA
Jorge Armesto (Ph.D., 2005)
Clinical interests: Psychological (Forensic and Neuropsych) assessment of children and adults, Group Work, and Couples. I am particularly interested in working with couples around parenting issues.
Research interests: parenting, divorce, sexual identity issues
Masters Thesis: Attributions and Emotional Reactions to the Identity Disclosure ("Coming Out") of a Homosexual Child
Dissertation: Adoptive Gay Fathers: Transformation of Hegemonic Masculinity and the Emergence of the Fathering Self
Practicum Sites: 1998-99 Franciscan Children's Hospital Bilingual Assessment Clinic; 1999-00 Worcester State Hospital/UMASS Medical Center Forensic Services Department.
Internship: (2003-2004) Harvard Medical/Brockton VA
Post Doc: U Mass Medical School Law and Psychiatry Program
Mentor: Ester Shapiro
Employment: Bridgewater State Hospital, Forensic Evaluator
James Aronson (Ph.D., 1998)
Masters Thesis: Pretence: The Young Child's Search for Shared Meaning in Actions
Dissertation: The role of mental representation and action in preschoolers' pretense
Practicum: (1994-1995) MGH Chelsea
Internship: (1997-1998) Tewksbury Hospital
Mentor: Claire Golomb
Employment: Brighton-Allston Mental Health, Associate Clinical Director
Andrea Auxier (Ph.D., 2007)
Research interests: The neuroendocrine and physiological impact of chronic trauma.
Masters Thesis: Childhood Abuse, Adult Attachment, and Intimate Violence
Dissertation: Hostile Attribution Bias and Defensive Aggression in Traumatized College Males.
Mentor: Sheree Conrad
Practicum (2001-2002): Wediko Children’s Services
(2002-2003): Cambridge Hospital, Latino Mental Health Program
Internship (2006-2007): Jackson Memorial Medical Center, Miami FL
Postdoctoral Fellowship: University of Miami School of Medicine/ Jackson Memorial Hospital Adult Outpatient Clinic
Joe Begany (Ph.D., 2003)
Clinical interests: ethnically valid ecological interventions addressing the cycle of violence in urban children, adolescents and their families, community and public policy advocacy for urban children, adolescents and their families, child and adolescent group psychotherapy, firesetting behavior in urban children and adolescents.
Research interests: ethnically valid ecological study of the cycle of violence as it applies to urban children, adolescents and their families, childhood traumatic stress, children’s' traumatic expectancies, competence, resilience, treatment outcome.
Masters Thesis: Psychological predictors of the self-reported likelihood of sexual harassment
Dissertation: Factors associated with urban youth violence: Childhood traumatic stress, ethnic identity, cultural legacy of violence and intentionality
Practicum site: Wediko Children's Services
Internship (2002-2003): Cambridge Hospital
Post doc: (2003) North Shore Children’s Hospital
Employment: Massachusetts General Hospital Law and Psyschiatry Program - forensic assessments in the Boston Juvenile Court Clinic
Licensure: MA
Jennifer Bender-Berz (Ph.D., 2007)
Clinical interests: Working with at-risk children and families.
Research interests: How parenting style and parent and/or child trauma affect children's pro-social behavior, peer relationships, and achievement.
Masters Thesis: Asthma, Internalizing Problems, and Social Functioning: An Urban Perspective
Dissertation: A longitudinal analysis of asthma, SES, and socioemotional functioning during early childhood
Mentor: Karla Klein Murdock
Practicum (2001-2002): The Walker School
(2002-2003): MGH Chelsea Memorial Health Center
Internship (2006-2007): Boston Consortium in Clinical Psychology
Postdoc: Brookline Center, Brookline, MA
Sara Beszterczey (Ph.D., 2006)
Clinical interests: Forensic evaluations and psychological trauma, from understanding survivors to perpetrators and the overlap between those two groups.
Research interests: Psychological trauma and violence
Masters Thesis: Lessons from Death Row: Examining the Life Histories of Murderers. A Qualitative Analysis of the Cycle of Violence
Dissertation: The Neuropsychology of Risky Decision-Making: The Ecology of Relapse and Recidivism
Practicum (2003-2004): Forensic Services Department, Worcester State Hospital
Internship (2005-2006): University of Massachusetts Worcester
Post Doctoral Forensic Fellowship (2006-2007): Psychiatry and Law, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Mentor: Paul Nestor
Employment: Bridgewater State Hospital
Catherine Birgeneau (Ph.D., 2001)
Clinical interests: Gender Related Attribution of Weight in Infancy
Dissertation: Body Image in Infancy: Adult Body Weight-Related Biases Applied to Infants
Practicum: Brighton Allston Mental Health Center
Internship: Massachusetts Mental Health Center
Licensure: MA
Employment: Powell & Wagner Associates, Cambridge, Psychological Consultant
Esme Blackburn (Ph.D., 1999)
Masters: The Use of Dissociation by Woman With and Without Histories of Sexual Abuse
Dissertation: "Forever Yours": Rates of Stalking Victimization, Risk Factors and Traumatic Responses Among College Women
Practicum: Massachusetts General Hospital-Chelsea and Wellesley College Counseling Center/Stone Center
Internship: Boston VA/Tufts
Licensure: MA
Employment: McLean Hospital Women's Treatment Partial Program, Clinical Team Manager
Esme Blackburn (Ph.D., 1999)
Internship: Boston VA/Tufts
Dissertation: "Forever Yours": Rates of Stalking Victimization, Risk Factors and Traumatic Responses Among College Women
Arne Boudewyn (Ph.D., 1998)
Masters Thesis: Childhood Sexual Abuse Effects on Adult Self- and Social Functioning: An Attachment Theory Perspective
Dissertation: Attachment to Parents During Adolescence as a Predictor of Subsequent Relational Capacities: A Longitudinal Study
Mentor: Joan Liem
Practicum Sites: UMB Counseling Center; Harvard Medical School/ The Cambridge Hospital (OPD)
Internship (1996-1997): San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Employment: EAC Manager, Wells Fargo Employee Assistance Consulting (EAC)
Current Secondary Position: Senior Business Consultant, Wells Fargo Employee Assistance Consulting (EAC)
Current Job Duties: Manage internal employee assistance program for large diversified financial services company with employees in 50 states and some international locations. Manage team of licensed behavioral health consultants: psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists and licensed professional counselors.
Grants:
Post-doctoral Research Grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Principal Investigator
Licensure: CA
Cornelia Brenninkmeyer (Ph.D., 2006)
Clinical interests: doing neuropsychological evaluations on adult patients, working with patients who suffer from PTSD
Research interests: information-processing in people who suffer from schizophrenia, neuropsychology, and neuropathology.
Masters Thesis: Investigating Associative Disturbances in Schizophrenia Using an Information-Processing Model of Cued Word Recall
Dissertation: Investigating the effects of emotional states on social perception and decision-making
Mentor: Paul Nestor
Practicum (2002-2003): Cambridge Hospital
Internship (2005-2006): South Kensington & Chelsea Mental Health Centre, London, England
Rachel Bruno (Ph.D., 2000)
Master's Thesis: Shame and Guilt in the Expression of Depression: Gender Differences Explored
Dissertation: Cultural Differences in the Relationship Between Shame and Anger
Practicum: Tufts University Counseling Center
Internship: Massachusetts Mental Health Center
Licensure: MA
Employment: Children's Charter, Inc, Child/family therapy
Michelle Caya (Ph.D. 2001)
Clinical interests: Working with adults, children, and families from high-conflict families/environments and those living in poverty
Research interests: Sibling support, foster care, social support, adjustment of children in high-conflict homes, poverty issues
Masters Thesis: "The Moderating Effect of the Sibling Relationship on Individual Adjustment in High-Conflict Homes."
Dissertation: " Sibling Support and Sibling Attachment: Promoting the Adjustment of Children in High-Conflict Families"
Practicum Sites: UMass-Boston Counseling Center; Chelsea Mental Health Center - Massachusetts General Hospital.
Internship (1998-1999): May Institute (outpatient care [children and families] and an early intervention rotation)
Mentor: Joan Liem
Employment: Assistant Professor
Emily Cohen Cavell (Ph.D. 2005)
Clinical interests: working with depressed adolescents as well as young adults- particularly negotiating and transitioning to adult roles, grief therapy
Research interests: depression and identity formation in adolescence, predictors for positive coping mechanisms during high school
Masters Thesis: Contextual Effects of Parenting on Adolescent Depression: Exploring Identity Formation as a Potential Mediator
Dissertation: Bereavement During the Adolescent to Young Adult Transition: A Developmental Resilience Model
Mentor: Joan Liem
Practicum Site (2002-2003): Cambridge Hospital
Internship (2004-2005): St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York
Post doc: St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital, NY
Fellowship: Research/Clinical Fellowship, The Addiction Institute of New York and the Behavioral Science Research Unit, St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital, Columbia University
Adam Conklin (Ph.D., 1999)
Master’s Thesis: Object Relations and Social Cognition in Adult Male Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Dissertation: Shame, Anger, and Perpetration Outcomes in Male Survivors of Childhood Abuse
Practicum: (1995-1996) Cambridge Hospital – Out Patient Clinic
Internship: (1997-1998) Cambridge Hospital
Mentor: David Lisak
Employment: Staff Psychologist, Private Practice
Licensure: MA
Carolyn Zittel Conklin (Ph.D., 2002)
Dissertation: Subtyping Borderline Personality Disorder
Practicum: (1997-1998) Cambridge Hospital – Out Patient Clinic
Internship: (1998-1999) Cambridge Hospital
Mentor: Joan Liem
Employment: Staff Psychologist, Private Practice
Licensure: MA
Susan Carmody Culman (Ph.D., 2005)
Clinical interests: gender issues, trauma, family therapy, HIV counseling
Research interests: role of gender in development, intervention programs targeted for new mothers
Master’s Thesis: Gender and Well-Being Across the Transition from High School to Young Adult Life
Dissertation: Understanding Women's Emotions: Breadth or Distress?
Mentor: Susan Gore
Courses taught: Personality
Practicum Sites: UMass-Boston Counseling Center; Boston Evening Clinic
Internship (2004-2005): Danielsen Institute, Boston University
Post doc (2005-2006) Danielsen Institute
Licensure: MA
Naomi Oornstein Davis (Ph.D. 2007)
Clinical interests: evaluating children with developmental disabilities and working with their families around issues of adjustment to diagnosis of disability in their child.
Research interests: studying social-emotional development of young children and also studying children with developmental disabilities.
Masters Thesis: Child-Family Functioning and Developmental Disability
Dissertation: Working Alliance & Well-Being: Raising Toddlers with Autism
Practicum: (2002-2003) U Mass Counseling Center, (2003-2004): Angier School and Boston University Medical Center
Internship: (2006-2007) U of N Carolina at Chapel Hill/UNC School of Medicine
Mentor: Alice Carter
Awards: Division of Mental Retardation and Development Disabilities APA research award
Postdoctoral Fellowship: Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina
Colleen O'Neill Dillon (Ph.D., 2003)
Clinical interests: community based interventions with low income families and children/adolescents; adolescents in the juvenile justice system and other mandated residential systems; psychological assessment
Research interests: using tenets of ecological-developmental and social capital theory to define protective and disruptive factors in “high risk” adolescent trajectories; efficacy and development of gender-specific mental health programming in the juvenile justice system; evaluating utility and feasibility of empirically supported treatments in ‘real world’ community settings
Masters Thesis: Disrupted Transitions from Adolescent to Adult Roles: A Study of High School Leavers
Dissertation: Navigating Disrupted Transitions from Adolescence to Adulthood: Cumulative Adversity, Social Capital, and Psychosocial Outcomes
Mentor: Joan Liem
Practicum Sites: UMass Counseling Center (1997-1998), The Brookline Center (1998-2000), The Walker School (2000-2001)
Internship (2001-2002): University of Washington School of Medicine, Division of Public Behavioral Health and Justice Policy, Child/Adolescent Community/Corrections Track.
Employment: University of Washington, Department of Family and Child Nursing/CHDD
Jennifer Dyl (Ph.D., 1999)
Clinical interests: Child and adolescent development and pathology
Research interests: Personality development (i.e., ego development)
Masters Thesis: “Relation Between Ego Development and Eating Disorders in Adolescent Girls”
Dissertation: Individual Differences in Traumatic Experiences: Antecedents of Ego Development in Adulthood
Mentor: Jill Rierdan
Practicum Sites: Chelsea Memorial Health Center
Internship (1998-1999): St. Francis Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA (Child-track)
Post-doctoral fellowship: Brown University School of Medicine/Bradley Hospital
Employment: Bradly Hospital, Brown Medical School, Providence, RI, Staff Psychologist, Assistant Professor
Licensure: RI
Florance Farrell (Ph.D., 2000)
Masters Thesis: Consequences of Suicidal Ideation for the Adolescent's Social Environment
Dissertation: The Consequences of Depression for the Transition to Adulthood
Internship: (1998-99) Franciscan Children’s Hospital
Employment: Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown Clinic, Staff Psychologist
Licensure: MA
Gretchen Fischer Felopulos (Ph.D., 1994)
Dissertation: Object relations and social cognition in sexually abused children: An apperception test analysis
Practicum: (1990-1991) Children’s Hospital
Internship: (1993-1994) MGH
Employment: Massachusetts General Hospital, Child Psychologist, Private Practice
Andrea Flores (Ph.D. 2005)
Clinical interests: Adult psychopathology, particularly eating disorders, trauma, and depression.
Research interests: Eating Disorders; Gender Socialization; Shame; and Trauma.
Master’s Thesis: Cultural Factors in the Development of Eating Disorders
Dissertation: Trauma and Culture in the Etiology of Disordered Eating
Mentor: Sheree Conrad
Practicum (2001-2002): Cambridge Hospital’s Outpatient Psychiatry Department
Internship: (2003-2004) Cornell University/Payne Whitney/NY Hospital
Employment: Fordham University Counseling and Psychological Services, Supervising Psychologist
Licensure: NY
Leona Franklin (Ph.D., 1996)
Dissertation: Skin color, self-esteem, and group identity among African American adolescent girls and adult women
Internship: CMTP Boston Medical Center
Katia Fredriksen (Ph.D., 2006)
Clinical interests: neuropsychological assessment, children and adolescents
Research interests: health behaviors and effects on adolescents (e.g., sleep, substance use).
Master’s Thesis: The Importance of Getting a Good Night's Sleep: Tracking the Effects of Varying Sleep Pattern During the Middle School Years
Dissertation: The Gateway Theory and Adolescent Substance Use
Practicum (2003-2004): Cambridge Hospital Child Assessment Unit
Internship (2005-2006): Cambridge Hospital
Post Doc (2006-2007): Children’s Evaluation Center, Newton, MA
Mentor: Jean Rhodes
Michelle Friedman (Ph.D., 2004)
Clinical interests: Individual and group therapy with individuals with severe mental illness (especially schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) and their families.
Research interests: impact of family psychoeducation on client and family outcomes, neuropsychology and neurophysiology of schizophrenia
Master’s Thesis: Perceptual Asymmetries in Schizophrenia Subtypes: A Dichotic Listening Study
Dissertation: The Facing and Coping Together (FACT) Program: A Brief Psychoeducation Program for Relatives of Individuals with Schizophrenia
Practicum and other experiences: Bipolar and Psychotic Disorders Partial Hospital Program at McLean Hospital, Intensive Outpatient Bipolar Disorder Program at McLean Hospital, Behavioral Neurology Dept. at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Neuropsychology Practicum, U Mass Boston Counseling Center, previously employed at the New York State Psychiatric Institute--Schizophrenia Research Unit
Internship: (2003-2004) Harvard Medical/Massachusetts Mental Health Center
Post docs: Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. NIMH fellowship program.
Mentor: Paul Nestor
Employment: Massachusetts General Hospital & Mass Mental Health Center Public Psychiatry Division, Deaconess Medical Center, Freedom Trail Schizophrenia Program
Licensure: MA
Jennifer Anne Lantz Gavin (Ph.D. 2008)
Clinical interests: Neurodevelopmental assessment. Treatment programs for children with developmental disabilities. Clinical work with children and families coping with medical conditions.
Research interests: Early detection in children at increased risk for autism spectrum disorders. Neurodevelopmental profiles fo children prenatally exposed to neurotoxins.
Masters Thesis: Children Exposed to Isotretinoin During Embryonic Development: Connections Between Neurocognitive Profiles and Psychosocial Functioning
Dissertation: Neurobehavioral Outcomes in Infants Prenatally Exposed to Valproic Acid
Practicum Sites: (2001-2002) Children’s Hospital, Developmental Medicine Ctr., (2002-2003) Cambridge Youth Guidance
Internship: (2007-2008) South Shore Mental Health Center
Postdoc: Children's Hospital Boston
Publication:
Adams, J., Janulewicz, P. A., and Gavin, J. A. L. (2006). The Structural and Functional Teratology of Antiepileptic Medications. In: Human Developmental Neurotoxicology, D. Bellinger (ed), Taylor and Francis, New York, p 103-131.
Awards: National Alliance for Autism Research Predoctoral Grant, Spayne Memorial Grant for Master's
Mentor: Jane Adams
Kim Gratz (Ph.D., 2003)
Clinical interests: working with survivors of childhood and adulthood physical and sexual abuse (especially women); working with individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder
Research interests: trauma, dissociation, attachment, deliberate self-harm
Master’s Thesis: The measurement, functions, and etiology of deliberate self-harm
Dissertation: A Theoretically-Based Etiological Model of Deliberate Self-Harm: The Role of Childhood Maltreatment, Affect Intensity/Reactivity, Emotional Inexpressivity, and Emotion Dysregulation in Self-Harm Behavior
Mentor: Liz Roemer
Practicum: (2000-2001) McLean Hospital – Mood Disorder Unit
Internship: (2002-2003): McLean Hospital
Fellowship: McLean Hospital/Harvard University
Employment: University of Mississippi Medical Center, Director of Personality Disorders Research
Debra K. Gustafson (Ph.D., 2006)
Clinical interests: Child therapy and family/community interventions; Art and play in therapy with children; Psychodynamic theory
Research interests: Early developmental disruptions including trauma, loss, child neglect and abuse; Emotional development within the context of primary relationships; Clinical applications of attachment theory; Childrearing across cultural contexts (including parental goals and beliefs)
Master’s Thesis: An Exploratory Analysis of Attachment Representations and Behavioral Adaptation in Preschool
Dissertation: Children’s Worries and Anxiety, Experience of Life Stress, And Coping Responses in the Context of Social-Economic Adversity
Practicum: (1998-1999) The Brookline Community Health Center
Internship: (2003-2004) South Shore Mental Health Center/Child Psychology Internship
Mentor: Ester Shapiro
Post doc: Cambridge Eating Disorders Center
William P. Haddad (Ph.D., 1995)
Dissertation: Multimodal Assessment of Vietnam Veterans' Reactions to Simulated Interpersonal Situations
Internship: Boston Regional Medical Center
Post Doc: Boston VA Medical Center, National Center for PTSD
Courtney Hale (Ph.D., 2002)
Practicum: (1998-1999) Shriver Institute
Internship: (2001-2002): Franciscan Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, Rap
Dissertation: Social Communication in Autism: The role of theory of mind in discourse development
Employment: Assistant Professor, University Of New England
Licensure: MA & ME
Jacob Ham (Ph.D., 2003)
Masters Thesis: "The Developmental Nature of Commitment to Identity."
Research interests: Child behavior problems, especially Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Mentor: Deborah Brome
Dissertation: The Association Between Child Behavior Problems, Parenting Practices, and Dysfunction in Sensory Integration
Internship (2001-02): Harvard Medical/Mass General Hospital, Boston, MA, Child – Adult Track
Mentor: Deborah Brome
Practicum Sites: Brighton Allston Mental Health Center
Internship: (2001-2002): Massachusetts General Hospital (Child/Adult)
Employment: Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, Supervising Psychologist in the Multicultural Child and Family Training Program
Licensure: NY
S. Duke Han (Ph.D., 2004)
Clinical interests:: Neuropsychological assessment, neuropathology, coping with neurological disorders, behavioral medicine, mental health issues of physical illness.
Research interests: Neuropsychology, neuroimaging, neural network computer simulation, health psychology
Master's Title: Word Association Neural Network: Computer Simulation of Recall in Control and Schizophrenic Subjects
Dissertation: Semantic Priming in Schizophrenia: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Investigation
Mentor: Paul Nestor
Practicum (2001-2002): Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Neuropsychology Program
Internship: (2003-2004) University of California San Diego Medical Center– Consortium/VA Medical/VA Neuropsychiatric, La Jolla, CA
Practicum and Other Experience:
Duke University Medical Center; Durham, NC - Neurological Outcomes Research Group; Research Technician; various studies involving the neurological and neuropsychological decline of cardiac surgery patients post-surgery.
Columbia Michael Reese Hospital; Chicago, IL - 1997 Student Research Fellowship; Primary Investigator; study involving consistency of specific thought disorder manifestations.
John Umstead Hospital; Butner, NC - Day Treatment; Volunteer; assisted with treatment classes for many people afflicted with a variety of major psychological disorders.
Post Doc UCSD Biological Psychiatry and Neuroscience postdoc fellowship program, 2 year NIH T32 mechanism.
Employment: San Diego VA Healthcare System, Psychology Service
Other Information: I love to play and write music, specifically folk, alternative, rock, and blues.
Licensure: IL
Abigail Heitler Hirsch (Ph.D., 2006)
Clinical interests: Child, couple, family therapy with an integrative/eclectic stance (with an emphasis on systemic approaches) and teaching marital skills courses.
Research interests: Child development, particularly as it relates to family functioning, statistical methodology, and marital relationship.
Masters Thesis: Parenting Style: Relations to Risk, and the Emergence of Child Competence and Behavioral Problems.
Dissertation: Examining Trajectories of Marital Quality: A Longitudinal, Risk, and Resiliency Approach
Dissertation Mentor: Ester Shapiro
Practicum (2001-2002): South Shore Mental Health/Bay View Clinic
Internship: (2004-2006): The Children’s Hospital, Denver, CO
Past work: Taught elementary and middle school.
James Hopper (Ph.D., 1997)
Clinical interests: Psychological trauma, applied psychophysiology
Research interests: Psychobiology and treatment of PTSD and Complex PTSD, traumatic memories, neuroimaging, neural regulation of emotion and its cardiovascular components
Masters Thesis: Perpetration Outcomes in Men Abused as Children: The Roles of Emotional and Gender Constriction
Dissertation Title: Child Abuse and Masculine Gender Socialization: A Study of Emotional Incompetencies Associated with Perpetration
Mentor: David Lisak
Courses Taught: Trauma, Personality Theory, Abnormal Psychology
Practicum Sites: New England Conservatory of Music Counseling Center; Harvard Medical School / The Cambridge Hospital (Outpatient Psychiatry Dept.)
Internship: (1996-1997): University of Massachusetts Amherst, University Health Services, Mental Health Division
Employment: Behavioral Psychopharmacology Research Laboratory NeuroImaging Center, McLean Hospital
Licensure: MA
Grants:
Co-Investigator, Treatment Outcome of Fluoxetine vs. EMDR in PTSD, National Institute of Mental Health (1999-2002)
Co-investigator, Neuroimaging the Effects of Treatment for PTSD, Industry Sponsored (2000)
Stephanie Ellen Howard (Ph.D., 1996)
Masters Thesis: Effects of Separation and Divorce on Fathers and the Father-Child Relationship
Dissertation Title: Post-Divorce influences on fathering and their implications for children’s well-being
Practicum: (1990-1991) Dimock Street Health Center
Internship: (1994-1995) Beaverbrook Guidance Center
Employment: Director, Project “We Can Talk About It”, Children’s Charter Inc
Stephanie Howard (Ph.D., 1996)
Dissertation: Post-Divorce Influences on Fathering and Their Implications for Children's Well-Being
Internship: Beaverbrook Guidance Center, Waltham, MA
Post Doc: Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Braintree, MA
Terri Jung Huh (Ph.D., 2005)
Clinical interests: Adult neuropsychology, psychiatric and neurological disorders, families coping with chronic medical illness
Research interests: Neuropsychology and neurocognition in schizophrenia and neurological deficits
Masters Thesis: Working Memory in Schizophrenia
Dissertation: An Auditory-Verbal Levels of Processing Task using FMRI
Mentor: Paul Nestor
Practicum Sites: Umass-Boston Mental Health Counseling Center
Internship: (2003-2004) University of California San Francisco/Clinical Psychology
Carol Ivan (Ph.D., 1996)
Dissertation: Big Boys Don't Cry: Socialization of Emotional Displays and Emotional Empathy in Males
Internship: McLean Hospital
Matthew Jakupcak (Ph.D., 2003)
Clinical interests: Clinical interests: domestic violence, masculinity, social phobia
Research interests: masculinity, gender socialization, emotions and trauma
Masters Thesis: The Role of Masculine Ideology and Masculine Gender Role Stress in Men’s Perpetration of Violence
Dissertation: Emotionality and Shame in Men: Linking Emotional Suppression and Shame to Men’s Aggression and Violence
Mentors: David Lisak and Liz Roemer
Practicum (2000-2001) Boston VA Hospital
Internship: (2002-2003): VA Medical Center, Seattle
Employment: Staff Psychologist, Post Deployment Clinic
Licensure: WA
Karen Hoffman Jimenez (Ph.D., 1997)
Masters Thesis: The Relationship of Autonomy and Intimacy to High Risk Behavior Among Adolescents
Dissertation Title: Development and psychopathology in adolescent psychiatric patients: A longitudinal study of outcome.
Practicum: (1992-1993) Children’s Hospital
Internship: (1996-1997) Mailman Child Development
Employment: Consultant, Pennington Montessori School
Licensure: NJ
Robert M. Joseph (Ph.D., 1996)
Clinical interests: child neuropsychology, learning disabilities, developmental disorders
Research interests: developmental neuropsychology, neuropsychology of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, face perception and recognition in normally and atypically developing children
Masters Thesis: Affect and Attention in the Social Interactions of Autistic Children
Dissertation Title: The Development of a Mentalistic Understanding of Intention in Preschool Children
Mentor: Helen Tager-Flusberg, Ph.D.
Practicum Sites: The Children’s Hospital (1991-1992), The Cambridge Hospital (1992-1995)
Internship: (1995-1996): The Cambridge Hospital (1995-1996)
Post-Doctoral Fellowship: The Cambridge Hospital (1996-1997, in clinical child neuropsychology)
Current Positions: Assistant Scientist, Center for Research on Developmental Disorders, Shriver Center, Waltham, MA; Private practice in child clinical neuropsychology, Belmont, MA
Grants: Principal Investigator, Face Recognition Processes in Autism, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1999-2001)
Chivi Kapungu (Ph.D., 2003)
Clinical interests: Adults and children, trauma
Research interests: Trauma, cross-cultural issues, gender issues
Masters Thesis: Pre- and Post- Migration Variables Associated with Psychological Functioning in Southeast Asian Refugee Students: A Pilot Study
Dissertation: Political Efficacy and Psychosocial Adaptation of African International Students in the United States: An Ecological Approach
Mentor: Cass Turner
Teaching Assignments: T/A, Intro to Psychology (Jane Adams)
Practicum Sites: Chelsea Memorial Heath Center
Internship: (2002-2003): Beth Israel Medical Center
Post Doc: (’04) Bedford VA, Bedford, MA
Employment: Veteran Community Care Center, Program Manager/Psychologist
Mary Kiely (Ph.D., 1998)
Master's Thesis: Rape and culture: Research toward scale construction in the assessment of cultural messages
Dissertation: The meaning of sexual desire: An exploratory analysis of women's narratives
Licensure: MA
Grace Kim (Ph.D., 2006)
Clinical interests: working with minority individuals, especially Asian-American families
Research interests: ethnic identity, acculturation, international/transracial adoption of Asian children and youth
Masters Thesis: Belonging, exclusion, and construction of racial and ethnic identities among adult Korean transracial adoptees.
Dissertation Topic: race, culture, mental health, and racial and ethnic identity co-constructions in Asian American youth: Effects of belonging and exclusion
Mentor: Karen Suyemoto
Practicum (2001-2002): Brookline Community Mental Health Center
Internship: (2004-2005): Harvard Medical/Cambridge Hospital
Employment: Wheelock College, Assistant Professor
Julie Klunk (Ph.D., 2006)
Child clinical work and Research interests: Interests are in both the socialization and social skills of school-age children, as well as the development of internalizing disorders in this age group. Also particularly interested in the development of internalizing disorders in children with Tourette's Syndrome.
Masters Thesis: The Relationship of Parental Depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Family Functioning and Child Social Competence to Child Outcomes: A Pilot Study
Dissertation: Parent-Child Interaction, Child Effortful Control and Emotional and Behavioral Functioning in Children At-Risk for Tourette's and/or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Mentor: Alice Carter
Practicum Site (2002-2003): Walker School
Internship: (2005-2006): Boston Consortium In Clinical Psychology, Child Psychology
Susanna (Susan) Ko (Ph.D., 2001)
Clinical interests: working with minority individuals and relevant issues (broadly), Asian gangs and urban/inner-city populations
Research interests: acculturation, intergenerational conflict, intergroup conflict
Master's Title: "The Conflicting Cultural Worlds of Korean Immigrant Parents and Their Korean-American Adolescent Children: An Explanatory Model"
Mentor: Joan Liem
Dissertation Topic: Investigating the relationship between juvenile delinquency, self development, and ethnicity.
Courses Taught: Psychology and Culture
Practicum Site: MGH Chelsea
Internship (2000-01): Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, NY
Employment: Director, Service Systems Core, National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital & Private Practice
Licensure: NY & CA
Regina Kuecks-Morgan (Ph.D., 1999)
Master’s Thesis: Transition Choice & Experience of Motherhood
Dissertation Title: A Transactional Dyadic Intervention for Foster Providers and Infants Prenatally Exposed to Illegal Drugs
Practicum: (1991-1992) Rhode Island Women’s and Children’s Hospital
Internship: (1997-1998) May Institute/May Mental Health, Norwood
Employment: Private Practice, Staff Psychologist, Infant Development Unit, Women & Infants Hospital, RI
Licensure: RI
Jennifer Kuhn (Ph.D., 2007)
Research interests and Clinical interests: Autism, coping with illness or disability, family
Master’s Thesis: Maternal Self-Efficacy and its Associations with Agency, Guilt, and Autism Knowledge in Mothers of Children with Autism
Dissertation Title: The Influence of Maternal Synchrony on Joint Attention and Language Gains in Children with Autism
Mentor: Alice Carter
Practicum: (2004-2005): Cambridge Youth Services
Internship: (2006-2007): Children’s Hospital at Stanford, Palo Alto, CA
Awards: (2003-2006): National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR) Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
Postdoc: Children’s Health Council, Palo Alto, CA
Jennifer Kymalainen (Ph.D., 2007)
Clinical interests: schizophrenia and autism/developmental disorders
Research interests: schizophrenia and the family, Expressed Emotion and Communication Deviance, attribution theory
Master’s Thesis:: Family Members' reactions toward patients with mental, physical and substance abuse disorders
Dissertation: Expressed Emotion and Communication Deviance in Anglo-American, Latino-American, and African-American Families with Schizophrenia
Mentor: Amy Weisman
Practicum: (2001-2002): McLean Hospital, The Psychotic Disorders Partial Hospital Program
Internship: (2006-2007): Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Medical Center
Postdoctoral Fellowship: Bedford VA Medical Center
Amaro Laria (Ph.D., 1998)
Clinical interests: integrative treatments (mainly psychodynamic & behavioral medicine), cross-cultural, trauma & dissociation (hypnosis & biofeedback)
Research interests: dissociation, somatization, cross-cultural, integrating qualitative & quantitative research methods
Master’s Thesis: "Poverty, Resiliency & Academic Success among Latino Students"
Dissertation Title: "Dissociative Experiences among Cuban Mental Health Patients & Spiritist Mediums"
Mentor: Alan Harwood
Practicum: The Cambridge Hospital - Outpatient Psychiatry Dept & Behavioral Medicine Program
Internship: (1995-1996): Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Courses Taught: The Psychology of Cross-Cultural Relations
Current position(s): Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Department of Social Medicine / Harvard Medical School; Staff Psychologist Behavioral Medicine Program / The Cambridge Hospital; and Clinical Psychologist The Behavioral Medicine & Psychotherapy Group (private practice).
Licensure: MA
Martin LaRoche (Ph.D. 1996)
Master's Thesis: Latina Mothers and their toddlers' Behavioral Difficulties
Dissertation: Self-orientation and depression level among Dominicans in the United States
Practicum: MetroWest Youth Guidance Center 1992-1993
Internship: McLean Hospital 1995-1996
Mentor: Cass Turner
Licensure: MA
Employment: Martha Eliot Health Center, Director of Internship Training
Patrick Latham (Ph.D. 2000)
Master's Thesis: Racial Identity and Interpersonal Trust Among Black and White College Students
Dissertation: Counselor and client factors affecting black students' counseling expectations
Practicum: Cambridge Hospital-Behavioral Medicine 1995-1996
Internship: CMTP Boston Medical 1997-1998
Mentor: Cass Turner
Licensure: MA
Employment: Cambridge Hospital, Child and Adolescent Outpatient Department (Staff Psychologist),. Harvard Medical (faculty), Private Practice
Jennifer Leigh (Ph.D., 2003)
Clinical interests: Utilizing emotion focused and mind-body techniques to foster self-regulation.
Research interests: Researching the mind-body connection.
Master’s Thesis: The relationship between alexithymia, emotional reactivity, bodily sensation awareness, and physical health
Dissertation: Outcome assessment of Boston's Emerging Leaders Program: Evaluating effectiveness of training in collaboration and diversity
Mentor: Liz Roemer
Practicum: UMass Boston Counseling Center, Behavioral Medicine at Boston VA Medical Center
Internship Site (2002-2003): May Institute
Fellowship: Research Fellow, Center for Health Quality, Outcomes, and Economic Research
Licensure: MA
Benedict Anthony Lim (Ph.D., 2000)
Master’s Thesis: Emotion as an Indicator of Acculturation Among Asian Americans
Dissertation: The role of experience and integrative complexity in ethnic identity development
Practicum: (1995-1996) Cambridge Hospital, Behavioral Medicine
Internship: (1998-1999) Mass Mental Health Center
Employment: Psychologist, Kaiser Permanente Medical Group
Licensure: CA
Ben Lim (Ph.D., 2000)
Dissertation: The Role of Experience and Integrative Complexity in Ethnic Identity Development
Internship: Mass Mental Health Center
Jonathan Liss (Ph.D. 2007)
Clinical interests: The relationship between physical health and mental health; Traumatic stress
Research interests: Impact of early experiences on later functioning and behavior; emotional displacement
Master’s Thesis: Affect Displacement Theory and Sexual Harassment: The Role of Childhood Punishment
Dissertation: The role of displaced affect in response to mortality salience
Practicum: (2003-2004) U Mass Counseling Center, (2004-2005): Cambridge Hospital, Cambridge
Internship (2006-2007): Beth Israel Medical Center, NY
Mentor: Michael Milburn
Postdoc: Fellowship in addictions, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hosp 07-08
Joshua Loewenstein (Ph.D., 2002)
Clinical interests: Psychodynamic psychotherapy with children and adults
Research interests: Mother-infant interaction, infant social and emotional development, dynamic systems theory
Master’s Thesis: From mutual regulation to attachment: relations between mother- infant mutual regulation at 6 months and attachment classifications at 12 months
Dissertation Title: Conflict From the Word Go: Ubiquity and Influence of Affect Regulatory Conflict in Mother-Infant Interaction
Mentor: Alice Carter
Practicum Sites: 1998-99 UMASS Boston Mental Health Counseling Center, 1999- Brookline Community Mental Health Center, 2000- Cambridge Hospital (Psych Testing Apprenticeship)
Internship Site: (2001-02) Harvard Medical/Mass Mental Health Center, Boston, MA, Psychology Internship
Employment: Private Practice, Learning Specialist
Licensure: MA
Cathy Louie (Ph.D., 1998)
Master's Thesis: Asian-American Assertiveness
Dissertation: Self-construal and empathy in Asian Americans
Licensure: MA & CA
Meg Manning (Ph.D. 2008)
Research and Clinical interests: Diagnostic and psychoeducational assessment of children, especially children with autism and children with emotional and behavioral problems; Child psychotherapy
Master's Thesis: Let's Pretend! Pretend Play and Anxiety as Predictors of Later Social Functioning in Autism
Practicum: (2004-2005) U Mass Counseling Center, (2005-2006): Walker School
Internship: (2007-2008) Children's Hospital
Postdoc: Children's Hospital, Surgical and Cardiac ICUs
Mentor: Dr. Laurel Wainwright
Jacqueline McKinney (Ph.D., 1995)
Dissertation: Status Inconsistency: Implications for the Psychological Health of African-Americans
Internship: Howard University Hospital
Post Doc: Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
Marie Mesidor (Ph.D., 2004)
Masters Thesis: The Effect of the Family Environment, Coping, and Spirituality on Academic Performance of Black Children: A Pilot Study
Dissertation: Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) and Adult Sexual Risk Taking Behavior: The Influence of Sexual Possible Selves and God Image
Practicum: (2000-2001) Wediko Children’s Services
Internship (2003-2004) Albany Consortium/Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY
Mentor: Deborah Brome
Employment: Global Evaluation & Applied Research Solutions, Inc., Senior Research Associate, Boston, MA
Echo Meyer (Ph.D., 2003)
Clinical interests: Child and family therapy
Research interests: Imaginative play as a resiliency factor in recovery from trauma. Social skill development in children with PDD.
Masters Thesis: "Theory of mind development in preschool children"
Dissertation: Variability in the Development of Social Behavior Among Children with Autism
Mentor: Helen Tager-Flusberg
Practicum: Autism Program Project, Cambridge Hospital Child Inpatient Unit
Internship: (2001-2002): UNC Chapel Hill in Community Child and Family
Employment: Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, University of North Carolina
Licensure: NC
Paul Miller (Ph.D., 2000)
Clinical interests: Working with victims of trauma (among other groups), as well as psychotherapy integration issues
Research interests: Trauma, coping with childhood abuse, the transmission of interpersonal violence, and masculine gender socialization issues.
Masters Thesis: “Psychological Distress, Abuse Histories, and Perpetration in College Males”
Mentor: David Lisak, Liz Roemer
Dissertation Title: Differences in cognitive-emotional functioning as a mechanism in the cycle of violence among college males abused as children.
Courses taught: Abnormal Psychology
Practicum: Counseling Center, Umass; Martha Eliot Health Center; Boston Medical Center (Testing)
Internship: Boston Clinical Psychology Consortium
Employment: Clinical Psychologist, Psychological Care Associates
Licensure: MA
Daphne Koinis Mitchell (Ph.D., 2003)
Clinical interests: working with children and families from low-income, urban settings, utilizing a transactional, culturally and ecologically sensitive approach; developmental psychopathology; particularly interested in working with children who have chronic medical illnesses
Research interests: children's coping strategies and promoting resilient outcomes in children at risk, with a particular interest in how children cope with chronic illness
Masters Thesis: The Road to Resiliency: Competencies and Coping in Children with Asthma.
Dissertation: Building Roads to Resiliency in Urban Children with Asthma: Linking Research with Intervention
Mentor: Karla Klein Murdock
Practicum: (2000-2001) Martha Eliot Health Center
Internship: (2002-2003): Brown University
Employment: Assistant Professor of psychiatry and human behavior, Brown Medical School
Licensure: RI
Silvina Moncho (Ph.D., 2003)
Clinical interests: Working with Latino adults and children in individual or group settings.
Research interests: Neuropsychological functioning of individuals with major mental illness; information processing and thought disorder in individuals with schizophrenia; drugs and their effects on neuropsychological functioning.
Masters Thesis: "The effects of antipsychotic and anticholinergic drugs on the neuropsychological functioning of patients with chronic schizophrenia”
Mentor: Paul Nestor
Dissertation: Patterns of Excitation and Inhibition in Patients with Schizophrenia.
Dissertation Chair: Paul Nestor
Practicum: UMass Boston Counseling Center; The Latino Clinic at Cambridge Hospital
Internship: (2001-2002): Cambridge Hospital, Latino Mental Health Clinic
Post doc: (2003) University of California – San Francisco
Licensure: CA
Lynda Morris (Ph.D., 1998)
Master's Thesis: The Role of Christian Principles and Values in the Alcoholism Recovery Process
Dissertation: Psychosocial well-being among the siblings of schizophrenics
Practicum (1991-1992): Brookline Community Mental Health Center
Internship (1994-1995 ): Yale Medical Center
Mentor: Jill Rierdan
Employment: Boston University Danielsen Institute, Senior Staff Psychologist
Licensure: MA
Vinai Norasakkunkit (Ph.D., 2003)
Clinical interests: East Asian and South-East Asian refugee and immigrant mental health; and depression and anxiety.
Research interests: Exploring the cultural construction of self with implications for cross-culturally divergent psychological processes (i.e., social cognition, complex emotions, self-relevant motivations, and psychopathologies) and social cognition of depression and anxiety
Masters Thesis: Culture, Ethnicity, and Measures of Emotional Distress: The Role of Self-Construal and Self-Enhancement
Dissertation: Self-Construal Priming and Emotional Distress: Testing For Cultural Biases in the Concept of Distress
Mentor: Don Kalick
Practicum Sites: Counseling Center, U Mass; Brookline Center (formerly known as Brookline Community Mental Health Center)
Internship: (2001-2002): University of Pennsylvania Psychology
Employment: Assistant Professor, Psychology Department of Minnesota State University – Mankato
Roberto Olivardia (Ph.D., 2000)
Clinical interests: Eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, Men's Issues, Body Image Disturbances, Sexual Abuse, Repressed/Recovered Memory, Borderline Personality Disorder, OCD
Research interests: Eating Disorders, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Men's Issues, Body Image Disturbances
Masters Thesis: "Reverse Anorexia Nervosa" in Male Bodybuilders
Dissertation Title: Body Image and Masculinity in Male College Students
Mentor: Cass Turner
Courses taught: Abnormal Psychology
Practicum Sites: Counseling Center (Umass); McLean Hospital (Mood, Anxiety and Personality Disorder Partial Program, MAPP)
Internship: (1999-00): McLean Hospital
Employment: Private Psychotherapy Practice, Arlington, MASS
Licensure: MA
Michelle Deaneen Owens (Ph.D., 1995)
Masters Thesis: A Comparison of Social Support, Perceptions of Family environment and Psychological Symptoms Among Early African American Grandmothers
Dissertation Title: Perceptions of emotional autonomy, teenage pregnancy, and mother-daughter relationships among African-American mothers and daughters
Practicum: (1991-1992) Dimock Street Health Center
Internship: (1994-1995) CMTP Boston Medical
Employment: Behavioral Scientist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Diabetes Translation
Licensure: PA
Michelle Owens (Ph.D., 1995)
Dissertation: Perceptions of Emotional Autonomy, Teenage Pregnancy, and Mother-Daughter Relationships among African-American Mothers and Daughters
Internship: CMTP Boston Medical
Post Doc: Children's Hospital/Judge Baker Child Guidance Center/Harvard Medical School
John Arthur Pearson (Art) (Ph.D., 2007)
Clinical interests: Psychopathology in young adulthood; Etiology and manifestation of Axis II disorders; differential assessment of Axis I and Axis II disorders; forensic assessment; cultural mediation of the symptomatology of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Research interests: Psychological factors in social vs. antisocial behavior; Neurobiological bases of personality and personality development; Non-conscious processing of emotional stimuli and its effect on behavior; assessment of Axis II Disorders; methods of forensic assessment
Master’s Thesis: Violent News Consumption, Prior Trauma, and Current Symptomatology
Dissertation: Social Intuition of Snap Judgments
Practicum: (2002-2003) U Mass Counseling Center, (2003-2004): Cambridge Hospital, Adult Outpatient Department
Internship (2006-2007): Massachusetts Mental Health Center
Mentor: Paul Nestor
Postdoc: Fellowship in Forensic Psychology, Forensic Health Services and University of Massachusetts-Boston.
Carmela Perez (Ph.D.,1998)
Master's Thesis: Equivalence of Parent Reports of Child Behavior
Dissertation: The language of native Spanish and English speaking schizotypal college students
Licensure: MA
Catherine Rhee (Ph.D., 2000)
Master's Thesis: Psychosocial Stressors as Predictors of Symptoms in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients
Dissertation: Dispositional Empathy, Racial Attitudes, and Affective Responding to Racial Minorities
Licensure: CA
Grace Rosales (Ph.D. 2004)
Clinical and research interests: cross cultural psychology and immigrant mental health
Masters Thesis: Personal Efficacy: A Predictor of Attitudes Towards Immigrants and Voting Behavior Among White and Latino University Students.
Dissertation: Self-Construal and Expressed Emotion in Black, Latino, and White Family Members of Patients with Schizophrenia
Mentor: Amy Weisman
Practicum: (2000-2001) Brookline Mental Health Center
Internship: (2003-2004) VA Medical Center, W. Los Angeles, CA
Employment: VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System, Director of Addiction Treatment Center
Licensure: CA
Beth Rosner (Ph.D. 2001)
Clinical interests: Evaluation and behavioral management of children and young adults with genetic mental retardation syndromes
Research interests: Behavioral Phenotypes: Williams, Prader-Willi, and Down syndromes
Masters Thesis: Variations in Girls' Self-Esteem Over the Early Adolescent Years
Mentor: Jill Rierdan
Dissertation Title: Empathy and Personal Distress in Young People with Williams Syndrome
Mentor: Alice Carter
Practicum Sites: Charles River Counseling Center; Brighton Allston Mental Health Clinic; Cambridge Hospital, Child Assessment Unit
Internship: The Neuropsychiatric Institute, UCLA
Employment: Psychologist, Step by Step Academy, Inc., Columbus, OH
Licensure: CA & OH
LaTanya Rucker (Ph.D. 2005)
Clinical interests: minority populations, racial stress
Research interests: cognitive processing of racial stress, racial identity
Masters Thesis: Racial Identity and the Appraisal of Racial Stress in African Americans
Dissertation: Correlates of worry and GAD in Black/African Americans
Mentor: Liz Roemer
Practicum (2000-2001) Roxbury Comprehensive Health Service
Internship (2003-2004) Suffolk University Counseling Center, Boston, MA
Post doc (2004): Durham VA and Duke Medical Center
Employment: B & D Behavioral Health Associates, Durham, NC
Other: Collaborating with LeShelle Woodard on a project looking at racisms as a chronic traumatic stressor
Tina Ruiz (Ph.D. 1999)
Masters Thesis: Depression, Hostility, and Gender
Dissertation Title: Depression and Hostility: The Role of Moderating Factors
Practicum: (1992-1993) Martha Eliot Health Center
Practicum: (1993-1994) Tufts University Counseling Center
Internship: (1996-1997) San Francisco VA Medical Center
Employment: Intake Manager, United Behavioral Health
Paula Shaw St. James (Ph.D.1996)
Master’s Title: An Investigation of Humor in Children with Autism and Down Syndrome
Dissertation: The Resource Mothers Program for Maternal PKU: An ecological approach to intervention and program evaluation
Practicum: (1992-1993) Franciscan Children's Hospital
Internship: (1994-1995) Boston Regional Medical Center
Employment: School Psychologist, Unified Student Services, Boston Public Schools
Licensure: MA
Donnagene Russell (Ph.D., 1997)
Master's Thesis: The Self-Understanding and Possible Selves of Adolescent Mothers, Pregnant Adolescents, and Nonpregnant Adolescents
Dissertation Title: Daughter's experiences of parental relationship in the context of incestuous abuse by fathers
Practicum: (1991-1992) Tufts University Counseling Center
Internship: (1993-1994) Boston Regional Medical Center
Employment: Executive and Personal Coach
Lita Russell (Ph.D. 1998)
Dissertation: Culture and self-orientatioin: A study of African-American, Latino-American, and Anglo-Americans
Internship: Boston Regional Medical Center
Paula St. James (Ph.D. 1996)
Dissertation: The Resource Mothers Program for Maternal PKU: An Ecological Approach to Intervention and Program Evaluation
Internship: Boston Regional Medical Center
Gemima Remy St. Louis (Ph.D. 1998)
Clinical interests: Children and Adolescents, Developmental Disorders, Ethnic Minority and Community Mental Health
Research interests: Identity Development, Psychosocial Functioning of Ethnic Minority Youth, Pediatric HIV/AIDS
Masters Thesis: "Psychosocial Variables Associated with Academic Achievement and Future Goal Orientation among Haitian Adolescents"
Dissertation Title: "Ego and Ethnic Identity Formation among Haitian and Caucasian College Students: A Cultural-Developmental Approach to Psychosocial Functioning"
Mentor: Joan Liem
Courses taught: Adolescence, Personality, Family and Child
Practicum Sites: The Counseling Center, University of Massachusetts Boston; Roxbury Comprehensive Community Health Center
Internship: Children's Hospital Boston, Department of Psychiatry
Post-Doctoral Fellowship Site: Children's Hospital Boston, Metabolism Clinic/Department of Medicine
Research Fellowship: Children's AIDS Program, Boston Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics/Psychiatry
Licensure: MA
Kristalyn Salters (Ph.D. 2005)
Clinical interests: Working with survivors of trauma (particularly women), and individuals with anxiety disorders.
Research interests: The role of emotion and emotion regulation in the development and maintenance of psychopathology; cognition and memory in trauma.
Masters Thesis: The Effects of Emotionally Avoidant Cognitive Appraisal of an Evocative Stimulus
Dissertation Title: Inflexibility in state and trait worry: Implications for adaptive functioning
Mentor: Lizabeth Roemer
Practicum (2001-2002): McLean Hospital, Mood and Anxiety Partial Program
Internship: (2004-2005): Boston Consortium in Clinical Psychology, Boston
Post doc: National Center for PTSD, Boston VA
Fellowship: Behavioral Science Postdoctoral Fellow, national Center for PTSD, Behavioral Science Division, Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiological Research and Information Center, VA Boston Healthcare System
Kara Stutz Schmidt (Ph.D. 2003)
Clinical interests: Pediatric Neuropsychology, Neuropsychological Assessment, Child and Family Therapy, and Child Group Therapy
Masters Thesis: "Neuropsychological Outcome in Children with Myelomeningocele, the Arnold Chiari Malformation, and Associated Hydrocephalus"
Dissertation Title: Evidence of equivalence Between the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale and an Alternate Form
Practicum: (1997-1983) Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center
Internship: (1999-2000): North Shore University Hospital NY School of Medicine/Psychiatry
Employment: Staff Neuropsychologist, Independent Neuropsychologist
Licensure: PA
Yonit Schorr (Ph.D. 2005)
Clinical interests: Repeated and multiple exposure to trauma, coping and resilience, psychological impact of political violence on children and adults.
Masters Thesis: The impact of Pre-Deployment Factors and Mission Experience on Psychiatric Outcomes Following a Peacekeeping Mission to Bosnia and an Exploration of Potential Buffering Factors.
Dissertation Title: Quality of Life After Exposure to Trauma: Moving Beyond Symptom Assessment and Exploring Resilience Factors
Mentor: Lizabeth Roemer
Practicum (2001-2002): MGH Chelsea
Internship (2004-2005): The May Institute, Norwood, MA
Ethan L. Seidman (Ph.D., 2003)
Clinical interests: Adult psychodynamic psychotherapy; couples and family psychotherapy
Masters Thesis: Early attachment representations reflected in young adult core relationship schemas
Mentor: Joan Liem
Practicum Sites: Counseling Center, UMass; Boston Evening Medical Center
Internship: (2001-2002): Harvard Medical/Cambridge Hospital, Cambridge, MA, Adult Acute Inpatient Treatment
Dissertation Title: The Pornographic Retreat: Contemporary Patterns of Pornography Use and the Psychodynamic Meaning of Frequent Pornography Use for Heterosexual Men
Employment: Private Practice/Clinical Instructor, Harvard Medical School
Licensure: MA & NY
Claire Shindler (Ph.D. 2001)
Masters Thesis: “An Exploratory Study of the Relationship between Response to Religious Humor and Religious Integration.”
Dissertation Title: Integration of Religious Commitment in Personality: It’s Relation to Ego Development and Cognitive Complexity
Mentor: Augusto Blasi
Practicum Sites: Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center; Roxbury Comprehensive Health Center (testing practicum)
Internship: Bureau of Study Counsel, Harvard University
Licensure: MA
Ellen Slawsby (Ph.D. 1995)
Dissertation: Psychosocial Factors of Pain in Chronic Atypical Facial Pain
Bradley Smith (Ph.D., 1997)
Dissertation Title: Traumagenic dynamics as mediators of sexual abuse impact in adult male survivors: An exploration of Finkelhor and Browne's model
Mentor: David Lisak
Practicum: (1992-1993) New England Conservatory Counseling Center
Internship: (1995-1996) Boston VA/Tufts
Employment: Private Practice and teaching
Licensure: MA
Maria Bucsela Sobol (Ph.D., 2000)
Clinical interests: Psychodynamic psychotherapy, severe psychopathology, personality disorders, trauma
Research interests: emotional experiences of schizotypal and schizophrenic patients, PTSD
Masters Thesis: Schizotypy and Emotional Experience (Jill Rierdan, Mentor)
Dissertation Title: Emotional Experience versus Emotional Expression in Schizotypes
Mentor: Joan Liem
Courses taught: Statistics
Practicum Sites: UMB Counseling Center, Cambridge Hospital Outpatient Department and Psych Testing
Internship: San Francisco VA Medical Center
Pat Song (Ph.D., 2003)
Masters Thesis: Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation In Abused Males.
Dissertation Title: Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Peer Victimization of Males
Mentor: David Lisak
Practicum: (1992-1993) Brighton/Allston Mental Health Center
Internship: (2000-2001): Cambridge Hospital
Post doc: (2003) Harvard Bureau of Study Counsel
Julie Southworth (Ph.D., 1999)
Clinical interests: child and family, developmental
Research interests: predictors of child and adolescent suicide ideation and attempts
Masters Thesis: “Weight Concerns as a Predictor of Decreased Motivation to Quit Smoking”
Dissertation Title: Weight Concerns and Cigarette Smoking: Reason or Rationalization?
Mentor: Lois Biener
Courses taught: Infancy and Childhood.
Practicum Sites: Children's Hospital
Internship: Boston Regional Medical Center
Other Information: like to ski, hike, and meditate
Licensure: MA
Ayanna Thornell (Ph.D., 2002)
Clinical interests: Children and Families (underserved, urban, populations).
Research interests: Behavior Problems in Black, and Hispanic children.
Masters Thesis: Coping and Religiosity in Black and White Females
Mentor: Deborah Brome
Dissertation Title: The Relationship Between Possible Selves, Impulsivity, Peer Refusal, School Competence, and Sexual Risk Taking Behavior Among Urban Middle School Adolescents
Practicum Sites: Wediko Children Services
Internship: (2001-2002): The May Institute, Norwood, MA
Licensure: MA
Matthew Tull (Ph.D. 2005)
Research Interests and Clinical Interests: Emotional avoidance and decreased emotional awareness in panic disorder, the emotional consequences of suppressing emotions associated with a past stressful or traumatic event, experiential avoidance and its role in the development and maintenance of symptoms associated with PTSD (particularly emotional numbing), coping and the use of therapeutic writing to facilitate emotional expression and regulation.
Masters Thesis: Reducing distress associated with a past stressful event: The effectiveness of psychological interventions in facilitating the coping process (completed at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas)
Dissertation Title: A Preliminary Investigation of Emotional Avoidance and Emotional Awareness Among a Sample of Non-Treatment Seeking Panickers
Mentor: Lizabeth Roemer
Practicum Site (2002-2003): McLean Hospital
Internship: (2004-2005): Boston Consortium in Clinical Psychology, Boston
Post Doc: University of Maryland – Director of Basic Emotion Research in Dr. Lejuez’s Basic Processes in Addictive Behaviors Laboratory.
Employment: Director of Emotion Research, Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland
Karen Wachtel (Ph.D. 2006)
Clinical Interests and Research Interests: Working with young children and their families, therapy with multi-racial families, development and evaluation of intervention programs, identity formation and social functioning in multi-racial children
Masters Thesis: Early Social-Emotional Development in Multiethnic Toddlers: An exploratory examination of how family functioning may be associated with child problems and competencies
Dissertation Title: Coming to Terms with the Diagnosis of Autism: Maternal Well-Being, Coping Strategies, Sensitivity and Child Behaviors
Mentor: Alice Carter
Practicum Site (2002-2003): Brookline Community Mental Health Center
Internship: (2005-2006): New York Harbor VA Medical Center
Laura Wagner-Moore(Ph.D., 2002)
Research interests: My past research was in the field of professional ethics, primarily looking at the readability levels and ethical content of psychotherapy informed consent forms. My current research focuses on the physiological correlates of psychological trauma, including neuroanatomical, neurohormonal and autonomic nervous system alterations.
Masters Thesis: “The Psychophysiology of State Dissociation in Response to Violence in Broadcast News”
Mentor: Ester Shapiro
Practicum: Counseling Center, U Mass; Victims of Violence Program, Cambridge Hospital
Dissertation Title: Vicarious traumatization of psychotherapists: Risk and resiliency factors
Internship: (2001-2002): Duke University Counseling Center, Durham, NC
Employment: University of Virginia, Director of Counseling Services at the Women’s Center
Licensure: VA
Other Information: I am a serious lover of long distance running, tennis, folk music, cats and Ben and Jerry's Blond Brownie Ice Cream. Cherry Garcia comes in a close second.
Laura Wald (Ph.D., 2004)
Clinical interests: trauma, spirituality, transcultural work.
Research interests: the effects of child abuse on later functioning, culture, religiosity and trauma.
Masters Thesis: The Role of Religion in Coping with a Recent Trauma
Mentor: Joan Liem
Practicum: UMass Boston Counseling Center, Cambridge Hospital Outpatient Department.
Internship: (2003-2004) San Francisco VA Medical Center, San Francisco, CA
Dissertation plans: Coping With Transitions: The Role of Religion in the Immigrant Experience
Licensure: CA
Other Information: love to travel, interested in alternative medicine (e.g. acupuncture) and bodywork, practice yoga, west coaster
Fabiana Wallis (Ph.D., 2000)
Clinical interests: Eating disorders, Trauma, Trauma-related substance abuse, Psychology of immigration, strength-focused interventions. Special populations: Latino community
Research interests: Minority women and substance abuse, alternative medicine and mental health, cultural competence
Masters Thesis: "Drug dependent women: An exploratory study of parenting and recovery"
Dissertation Title: "Alternative medicine and mental health: A clinical trial of homeopathic treatment for depression" This is a double-blind, placebo controlled, randomized clinical trial of homeopathic treatment for mild-moderate depression. Funded by a grant from the Council for Homeopathic Research and Education.
Mentors: Ester Shapiro and Michael Milburn
Courses taught: Research Methods and Introduction to Psychology
Practicum placements:
-University Mental Health Service Counseling Center at UMASS Boston
-Brigham and Women's Hospital/Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center
-Boston Public Health Commission/ “Entre Familia" Program (residential substance abuse treatment program for Latina women and their children)
Internship: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School
Post-doctoral fellowships:
-Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School
-MIT Medical
Employment: Psychologist
Licensure: MA
LeShelle Woodard (Ph.D., 2001)
Clinical Interests and Research Interests: Working with socially and economically disadvantaged or otherwise stigmatized populations; culturally proficient intervention with African Americans; group work with traumatized women; African American women; trauma focused treatment; quality management in mental health and business settings
Masters Thesis: Assessing the relationship between the environment and stigmatization among African Americans
Dissertation Title: Assessing the relationship between Racial Oppression and Insidious Trauma among African Americans
Mentor: Deborah Brome
Practicum Sites: UMB Counseling Center; Roxbury Comprehensive Community Mental Health Center/Behavioral Health
Internship: (2000-2001): South Shore Mental Health
Employment: Assistant Professor of Psychology, Lasell College
Licensure: MA