From the College of Psychology…
October 2024 Research Highlights reported by the College of Psychology.
Paula M. Brochu, Ph.D., an Associate Professor in the Department of Clinical and School Psychology, was awarded an NIH R16 SuRE-First Grant titled “Weight Stigma among Doctoral Clinical Psychology Students: Examining Change and Testing Underlying Mechanisms.” Weight stigma is pervasive and harmful; it contributes to poorer physical and mental health outcomes due to stress processes, lower quality care from healthcare providers, and avoidance of healthcare services by patients. Psychologists play a large role in behavioral health programs, as well as care for eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and other conditions that make it essential that they are able to effectively communicate with higher-weight people in a non-stigmatizing way. This four-year grant seeks to examine how weight stigma changes among students in doctoral clinical psychology programs and the mechanisms underlying the development of weight stigma over time to inform training activities to reduce weight stigma and increase the preparedness of future mental health professionals to provide high-quality care to patients of all sizes.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jasp.12653
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb7PTrONbHs
With funding from the National Science Foundation, Mercedes Fernandez, Ph.D., and her students will investigate the executive function abilities shaped by bilingualism and the frontal-lobe processes involved in both language control and executive function. The research team will measure the brain’s electrical activity, while study participants perform complex attention tasks associated with executive control. The goal of this study is to reveal how experience modifies neural mechanisms and strengthens brain function.
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2416246&HistoricalAwards=false
Shannon Karl, Ph.D., co-authored the DSM-5-TR Learning Companion for Counselors, published by the American Counseling Association, which provides critical diagnostic and statistical information across counseling and mental health professions. This book focuses on accurate assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of pluralistic and diverse client populations.
The manual represents a resource for clinicians across the training spectrum highlighting diagnostic changes and new developments within the updated Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The information benefits counselors, counseling students, counselor educators, and mental health professionals who engage in mental health diagnosis and evidenced-based services.
Gill, C, Dailey, S., Karl, S., & Barrio Minton, C. (2024). DSM-5-TR learning
companion for counselors. American Counseling Association. ISBN 9781556204166
https://www.counseling.org/publications/aca-books/view/dsm-5-tr-learning-companion-for-counselors