I am an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of South Carolina. As a clinical psychologist, my research investigates family- and community-level risk and protective factors for youth adjustment among families affected by major stressors. My work currently centers on the impact of family stressors, including trauma, HIV, parental substance use, racism, and financial strain, on child health and parent-child relationships. I am interested in parents’ role in promoting child and adolescent health and preventing the intergenerational transmission of risk. The goal of my research is to reduce health inequities by using knowledge about risk and protective factors to guide the development of family-based, trauma-informed prevention and intervention efforts.
Academic Positions
August 2021 – present
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Clinical-Community Program
University of South Carolina
August 2019 – July 2021
NIMH-Sponsored Postdoctoral Fellow
National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
Training Grant T32 MH18869: Basic and Translational Research in Traumatic Stress Across the Lifespan (PIs: Carla Kmett Danielson, Ph.D. & Dean G. Kilpatrick, Ph.D.)
Education
Ph.D., Clinical Psychology (2019)
Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
Doctoral Dissertation: “HIV Disclosure and Family Processes Among Mothers Living with HIV and their Children: A Mixed-Methods Longitudinal Investigation.” Chair: Lisa P. Armistead, Ph.D.
Predoctoral Psychology Intern, Child Track (2018-2019)
Charleston Consortium Internship
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
M.A., Clinical Psychology (2014)
Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
Master’s Thesis: “Parenting and Youth Sexual Risk in South Africa: The Role of Contextual Factors.” Chair: Lisa P. Armistead, Ph.D.
B.A., Psychology and International Studies with Arabic Minor (2011)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Thesis: “Parenting as a Mediator of Mother-Coparent Conflict and Externalizing Problems in African American Youth from Single Mother Families.” Chair: Deborah J. Jones, Ph.D.
