Clinical Psychology

Faculty

Tahirah Abdullah, PhD, University of Kentucky

Mental Health among African Americans
Mental Illness Stigma
Culture, Identity, and mental Health in African Americans
Barriers to Help-seeking for Mental Health Problems

Alice Carter, PhD, University of Houston

Developmental Psychopathology
Infant-Toddler Mental Health
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Screening and Early Identification
Early Intervention

Sheree Conrad, PhD, Boston University

Personality Psychology
Adult Political Attitudes and Emotion
Dissociation in PTSD, BPD, and Eating Disorders
Media Violence

Nickki Pearce Dawes, PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Clinical Psychology
Adolescent Mental Health Promotion
Organized Youth Programs/Activities
Prevention

Abbey Eisenhower, PhD, UCLA

Child Clinical Psychology
Child Therapy
Developmental Psychopathology
Autism Spectrum Disorders and Intellectual Disability
Reduction of Health Disparities in Early Childhood Detection and Treatment

Susanna Gallor, PhD, University of Maryland, College Park

Multicultural Counseling Competency
Social Justice Competency and Practice
Race and Culture in Mental Health
Intersectionality Among Cultural and Social Identities

Sarah Hayes-Skelton, PhD, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Clinical Psychology
Cognitive-Behavioral Treatments of Anxiety
Treatment Processes and Mechanisms

Heidi M. Levitt, PhD, York University

Psychotherapy Process and Outcome Research
Gender and Sexual Minority Identities and Cultures
Sexual Minority Stressors and Healing Their Effects
Qualitative Research Methods

Michael Milburn, PhD, Harvard University

Social Psychology
Attitudes and Behavior
Social Cognition
Political Psychology

Paul Nestor, PhD, Catholic University

Clinical Neuropsychology
Forensic Psychology
Attention in Schizophrenia
Violence and Psychosis

David Pantalone, PhD, University of Washington

Clinical Health Psychology
HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment
Substance Abuse
LGBT Health and Mental Health

Jean E. Rhodes, PhD, DePaul University

Clinical-Community Psychology
Mentoring
Natural Disasters
Resilience
Transitions to Adulthood
Adolescent Development
Women’s Issues

Lizabeth Roemer, PhD, Pennsylvania State University

Clinical Psychology
Mindfulness
Acceptance-based Behavioral Therapies
Anxiety
Adapting to Environmental Sources of Stress

Tracey L. Rogers, PhD, Boston University

Clinical Training and Supervision
Motivational Interviewing for Health and Mental Health Issues
LGBT Mental Health

Ester Shapiro, PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Social Justice Contexts of Diagnosis and Intervention in Clinical Practice
Transdisciplinary Approaches to Health and Growth Promotion during Family & Life Course Transitions
Diverse College Student Educational Success Through Wellness as Fairness
Transnational Cultural and Community Studies

Karen L. Suyemoto, PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst (Joint Appointment in Asian American Studies)

Racialization, Ethnicity, and Mental Health
Processes of Developing Empowerment, Empathy, and Advocacy for Racial Justice
Culturally Responsive and Social Justice Promoting Practice, Training, and Education

Laurel Wainwright, PhD, Boston University

Physiological Psychology
Social and Cognitive Development
Developmentally Delayed Children

The Program

Accredited by the American Psychological Association since 1993, University of Massachusetts Boston program in clinical psychology is based on the “scientist- practitioner” model. Our educational mission is to train psychologists who will be

engaged in scientific and scholarly activities;
applying their own research and the research of others in clinical practice, which may include prevention, assessment, intervention, consultation, and supervision; and
engaging in research and scholarly inquiry as well as clinical practice to address social inequities and health disparities.

Consistent with the university’s urban mission, our program emphasizes the development of culturally responsive clinical and research practices. We strive to infuse all aspects of our training with an emphasis on cultural competence. Moreover, we hope to instill a lifelong commitment to meeting the needs of underserved and/or marginalized individuals, families, and communities, coupled with a strong sense of social responsibility. Thus, we encourage students to pursue careers in which they will work effectively with underserved and/or marginalized individuals, families, and communities.

Our training model is biopsychosocial in its scientific orientation and places special emphasis on the roles of culture and context in understanding the complexities of multiple dimensions of human behavior and functioning. The program prepares clinical psychologists who have an excellent foundation in psychological science and who can translate their basic knowledge into practical applications to meet the needs of children, adolescents, and adults from diverse socio-cultural groups. Graduates of the program have the requisite skills to translate basic psychological knowledge into practical applications, and to advance understanding of key human problems through research and other scholarly activities. Graduates also have the coursework and supervised pre-doctoral clinical training required to be eligible to sit for the Massachusetts licensing examination for health service provider psychologists.

Program Emphases

Theoretical issues in normal and abnormal development from infancy through adulthood.
Sociocultural, racial, ethnic, and minority issues. All of our courses highlight social and cultural approaches to normal and abnormal development, especially as they help to build an understanding of the perspectives of underserved and/or marginalized groups, including racial and ethnic minority and low-income groups.
A biopsychosocial approach to explaining and treating problems in living, symptomatic behavior, and mental illness. Research and clinical training facilitates students’ acquisition of skills and competencies for analyzing problems from a variety of perspectives critically.
Specialized assessment and intervention skills. The program trains students through coursework, mentoring relationships, and individually tailored clinical experiences in a broad array of assessment and intervention skills that not only enable them to treat and evaluate a broad range of problem behaviors, but to promote healthy adaptation, and prevent individual and social problems from developing.
While all students acquire a shared basic foundation in psychological theory, research methods, and clinical practice, the program is designed to allow students to individually tailor their training to meet their professional objectives. Flexibility in coursework, clinical practica, and research training increases as students progress through the program.

Programs

Clinical Psychology, PhD