I am a third year clinical psychology doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I originally hail from Kansas and hope my career brings me closer to home someday. I became interested in psychology as a result of my small town upbringing; I knew many military service members and they held a degree of respect in the community. However, I was always interested in how veterans re-adjusted after their deployment and what prompted people to volunteers their lives; this led me to being interested in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I ended up in Milwaukee after completing my Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology at the University of Kansas (KU). Rock Chalk Jayhawk! Luckily, I had many great mentors who encouraged me to enter a professional career in psychology, something my small town Northeast Kansas self had not imagined was a viable career!

My main research interest is still trauma but has evolved considerably from my original query. Currently, I study basic phenomena related to sexual assault in order to better inform sexual assault prevention and risk reduction programs. My recent projects have explored how women respond to risky situations in order to examine what is an “effective” response and what types of responses women naturalistically employ. I am also interested in the psychological consequences of sexual assault, especially PTSD. I am particularly interested in the relationship between specific traumas and the development and maintenance of PTSD and related syndromes, or the “conditional risk” of developing PTSD based on the trauma experienced. Clinically I enjoy working with survivors of general trauma, specifically patients from disadvantaged/impoverished backgrounds. Within my program, I am specializing in prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD. In the future, I hope to become a clinical psychology faculty member and thus I hope my experiences as a CUDCP Student Representative will make me a better clinical educator and administrator.

I am currently in my fourth year at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Clinical Psychology Doctorate program where I study personality assessment, psychometrics, and sexual addiction. I received my Master’s degree in clinical psychology from Ball State University and my Bachelor’s degree from Creighton University. It was while studying psychology at Creighton that I became interested in clinical psychology, with a particular emphasis on assessment. My graduate training has afforded me with a variety of clinical training opportunities in a variety of settings, including two VA hospitals, an outpatient university-based psychology clinic, a state hospital inpatient unit, and an outpatient correctional program. I see being a CUDCP student representative as an opportunity to interact with and represent my fellow graduate students as a strong and respectful voice for their concerns. I hope to one day be able to use the skills I have learned from being a CUDCP student representative to help train and supervise the next generation of graduate students and early professional psychologists.

I am currently in my fifth year of the Clinical Psychology doctoral program at the University of Missouri, where I study the etiology of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.  I studied at Oberlin College, and then worked at Yale as a research assistant, examining symptoms of schizophrenia with magnetic resonance imaging.  I developed a keen interest in prodromal symptoms and genetic vulnerability.  My current focus is on genes and mood traits that may be associated with anhedonia—a symptom that is predictive of disorder, is medication-resistant, and is associated with poor prognosis.  Additionally, my research pursuits include the evaluation of psychosocial treatments for people with serious mental illness.  Throughout graduate school, I have become interested in the ways in which students learn to supervise and mentor others, and develop rewarding careers that integrate science and practice.  I am excited to serve as a CUDCP student representative because it allows me to examine and present on issues most relevant to students and DCTs.  In addition, this experience will provide helpful insight into the intricacies of running a clinical training program.

I spent many summers at camp as a camper and, later, counselor.  Little did I know, then, that those summer camp experiences would form the basis of my career nearly a decade later.  In fall 2001, I attended the University of Pennsylvania, where I studied psychology and Hispanic studies.  As a psychology major, I joined research labs that allowed me to combine my professional experiences with children and families with my emerging academic interests.  After graduating from Penn, I worked as a camp director and then as a full-time research coordinator at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.  At Mt. Sinai, I studied the link between borderline personality disorder and aggression.  Currently, I am in my fifth year at DePaul University in the child-clinical psychology doctoral program, where my research focuses on: (1) the risk and protective factors that contribute to divergent outcomes for youth living in low-income, urban neighborhoods and (2) the development of effective mentoring programs for these youth.  I am honored and excited to serve as a CUDCP Student Representative.  My goal is to continue serving the field through the development of innovative research and clinical strategies that improve the lives of children and their families.