Graduate Institute of Professional Psychology
Faculty Profiles
Dr.
Describe your clinical and research experience prior to the GIPP.
My clinical and research focus has been on children and families. I had
the opportunity
to train and work at Children’s Hospital in
Later, at
In training students, I focused on helping them to develop intervention
strategies that fostered in the child a sense of safety that could
buffer the
child through the unsafe situations that vulnerable children frequently
encounter. Thus, from my perspective, the management of mental health
involves community
and family factors. I believe that the child’s sense of safety is
dependent
upon the child seeing himself/herself as "likable" and perceiving the
world as predictable. Unfortunately, many children are not only being
abused
and neglected, but are being raised in environments that lack personal
safety.
The link between sense of safety and mental health is my primary
clinical and
research interest.
My diverse academic, clinical, and research experiences have helped me
form an
appreciation of the complexity of children and the importance of
considering
physiological, individual, familial, and societal factors in mental
health.
While working with my research mentor, Dr. Stephen Porges, my research
focused
on evaluating regulatory abilities of children in response to various
internal
and external challenges. We have focused on the impact of familial and
physiological factors in the self-regulation of children. While working
with
Dr. Porges, I coordinated several multidisciplinary research projects
(e.g., collaboration
among my laboratory at the University of Maryland and the Substance
Abuse Unit,
Neonatology Department, and Nursing Department at DC General Hospital
on a
project entitled: "Prediction of Premature Neonatal Length of
Hospitalization from Substance Abuse, Dietary and Demographic History,
and
Premature Neonatal Autonomic Reactivity)." I was responsible for
organizing the
clinical research team and developing the methodology, collecting and
analyzing
the data, and writing the results for publication and presentation. I
enjoyed
all aspects of the work and am excited about starting my own research
program
at GIPP (e.g., helping children to self-regulate in response to
emotionally
challenging situations).
What was it about the GIPP that caused you to want to join our
faculty and
community?
After being primarily a clinician, administrator, and supervisor, I was
ready
to return to academia. I wanted a position where I could continue
teaching and
working with students, while providing them with the benefits of my
clinical
experience. I was also eager to begin research, as a means of testing
the ideas
I had developed while in the clinical world. I was thrilled to hear
about the
job at GIPP, and, after meeting the faculty and some students, I was
confident
that it was the perfect match. I was right – I love going to work.
What do you see as some of the strengths of our program?
I am impressed by the commitment of the faculty, both core and adjunct.
They
are focused on continually improving the program in response to student
needs.
For example, I recently participated in a meeting to review the
Dissertation
Seminar. All current instructors and the Director of Dissertation
Research
discussed the general goals for the class and beneficial educational
techniques.
We also discussed how the class is helping the students to move along
with
dissertation process, and the potential benefit of having check-ins
with the
students in the Spring to help them keep the momentum. It was amazing
to sit
around a table with colleagues who wanted to meet to ensure that they
were
doing the best job of teaching. It is easy for the faculty to be so
invested in
doing a great job given the caliber of our students.
What are your thoughts about the faculty-student relations in the
GIPP
community?
In one word – excellent. It is easy to see why because the faculty are
committed to teaching and mentoring and the students are craving
knowledge.
What are some of your interests/hobbies, etc. outside of your work
as a
psychologist?
To be honest my primary interest outside of work is in spending time
with my
family. My husband and I work at scheduling fun activities. We enjoy
watching
sports on television, especially baseball (our World Series Champion
Boston Red
Sox), college football (