The doctoral program in Clinical Psychology is an APA-Accredited program based on a clinical science model (Questions related to the program’s accreditation status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation: Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, American Psychological Association, 750 1st Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002, 202-336-5979/E-mail: apaaccred@apa.org; Web: www.apa.org/ed/accreditation). We provide concurrent, integrative training in clinical science and clinical service delivery so that our graduates are prepared not only to apply current knowledge, theories, and techniques, but they are able and motivated to remain at the cutting-edge of the field. Ideally, they will manifest a lifelong capacity and desire to develop, specify, and test their hypotheses about whatever they are doing in the psychological arena.

Graduate Program Information

The three main training objectives are:

-to produce clinical scientists with foundational knowledge of the science of psychology and the practice of psychology

-to produce clinical scientists who are capable of contributing to the body of scientific knowledge

-to produce clinical scientists who take an investigative approach to the understanding of psychopathology and the practice of clinical assessment and intervention

Bernat, Edward: Brain mechanisms underlying impulse control (externalizing) problems such as substance use/abuse, antisocial behavior, and psychopathy. Analyses focus on measures of brain activity including EEG/MEG and MRI/fMRI.

Carbonell, Joyce: Prediction of criminal behavior; classification systems for prison inmates; women offenders; domestic violence; posttraumatic stress.

Cougle, Jesse: Cognitive, behavioral, and biological processes in anxiety disorders with an emphasis on obsessive-compulsive disorder and posttraumatic stress; risk factors for and prevention of trauma and its consequences; treatment of anxiety disorders and anger and substance use problems; courage and strategies to facilitate courageous behavior.

Joiner, Thomas: The interpersonal, cognitive, and neurobiological causes, correlates, and consequences of depression and related disorders (e.g., anxiety, bulimia nervosa). Additional focus is on the nature and treatment of suicidal ideation and behavior.

Keel, Pamela: Translational research in eating disorders, including biological and psychological factors that contribute to binge eating and purging behaviors; nosology and statistical approaches to classification; epidemiology and cultural factors that influence eating disorders and body image.

Kistner, Janet: Developmental psychopathology; children's responses to stress and failure; problematic social interactions of children; learning and behavior problems of children.

Licht, Barbara: Improving medication adherence in persons with epilepsy. The genetic basis of idiopathic epilepsy using a naturally-occurring canine (poodle) model.

Licht, Mark: Assessment and psychosocial treatments in residential/inpatient settings for the seriously mentally ill; observational assessment. Other interests include: college teaching strategies, successful aging and adaptation to chronic health problems.

Lonigan, Christopher: Two primary areas of research: Developmental Psychopathology with a primary focus on self-regulatory influences (i.e., emotional, motivational, and executive capacities) on the development of psychopathology; and Early Literacy with a primary focus on the development of language and literacy skills, including typical development, children at risk for educational failure, early intervention, and the interplay between the development of language and literacy skills and children's behavioral and social development (e.g., behaviors associated with ADHD, self-regulation).

Patrick, Chris: Neuroscientific, genetic, and psychometric- quantitative approaches to the study of: psychopathy, antisocial behavior, and violence/aggression; dispositional fear, negative affectivity, and internalizing (anxiety, mood) disorders; alcohol/drug effects, addictions. Affiliated interests: emotion, temperament, and personality; self-regulation and disinhibition; psychodiagnosis & assessment; psychoneurometrics (developing neurobiologically based trait measures using psychological [psychometric] phenotypes as referents)

Sachs-Ericsson, Natalie: Psychiatric epidemiology in general population and elderly population samples: psychosocial factors (e.g., poverty, early childhood experiences, childhood abuse, interpersonal functioning, ethnicity, race) that influence the onset and course of psychiatric disorders (in particular depression) and cognitive decline; racial, ethnic and gender differences in protective and vulnerability factors that influence psychiatric disorders; depression and cognitive decline in racially diverse elderly populations.

Schmidt, Brad: Behavioral, cognitive, and biological causes, correlats, and consequences of anxiety; assessment, treatment and prevention of anxiety pathology; nosology of psychopathological syndromes: gene-behavior models of psychopathology.

Taylor, Jeanette: Physiological, cognitive, and environmental risk factors for substance use disorders and Cluster B personality disorders; genetic and environmental factors associated with individual differences in antisocial behavior, personality disorders, and substance use problems (using data on twins).

Wetherby, Amy: Autism spectrum disorders; speech, language, and communication disorders in young children: early detection; early intervention.