Ongoing Research Projects
The lab is engaged in research projects designed to promote
understanding of how psychotherapy reduces dysfunction and promotes mental health
in youth and inform efforts to improve the quality of mental health care in
community based service settings. At present, the lab’s main research
efforts are focused upon therapy process research. The goal of this research
is to understand what clinicians do in the therapy they carry out with youths
and to assess which therapy processes (e.g., interventions, alliance) are related
to youth clinical outcomes. The ongoing research projects provide opportunities
for graduate and undergraduate students to learn about and participate in research
focused upon improving the quality of mental health care for youth and their
families. Current research projects include:
I. Treatment Integrity
Research
In collaboration
with Dr. Michael Southam-Gerow (VCU Department of Psychology) we recently started
the Treatment Integrity Measurement Study (TIMS),
which is a NIMH-funded project designed to develop and test the utility of four
related but distinct observational measures of treatment integrity. We will
be developing and testing the measures using recording from three large RCTs
focused on testing CBT approaches for childhood anxiety disorders.
We also have another treatment integrity project that was started Fall, 2010. In collaboration with Dr. Kevin Sutherland (VCU Department of Education) we recently started a project funded by the VCU Presidential Research Incentive Program to develop a set of observational measures to assess treatment integrity of school-based interventions for youth with emotional and behavioral disorders. We will be developing and testing the measures using recordings from interventions delivered by teachers in preschool classrooms.
II. Therapy Process
Research: Understanding How Psychotherapy Produces Change
The goal of our therapy process research is to identify specific
therapy processes (e.g., interventions, alliance) that are related to youth
clinical outcomes. By coding taped therapy sessions we aim to (a) characterize
the treatment provided by clinicians in usual clinical care (i.e., the treatment
provided to children in community based service settings), (b) identify the
key elements of the child- and parent-therapist alliance and understanding how
these elements facilitate progress in youth psychotherapy, (c) better understand
how implementing EBTs in community based service settings impacts treatment
integrity, and (d) understand how treatment integrity influences treatment outcomes.
Collaborators on these projects include Michael
Southam-Gerow (VCU Psychology Department), John
R. Weisz (Judge
Baker Children’s Center, Harvard University), and Bruce
Chorpita (UCLA Psychology Department).
III. Understanding
how to Promote Therapy Engagement in Youth Psychotherapy
The lab is also engaged in research designed to promote understanding of the
factors that facilitate, or hinder, child and family engagement in psychotherapy.
Attrition and poor participation in treatment represent major obstacles to the
provision of quality mental health care, and may hinder efforts to transport
evidence based treatments to community based service settings. At present, however,
it is difficult to address this barrier because no comprehensive theoretical
model of child and parent engagement in youth psychotherapy exists. We are currently
conducting a research project designed to develop a theoretical model of the
factors that influence child and parent engagement in psychotherapy. Our term
goal is to develop a theoretical framework that can guide empirical efforts
and inform the development of an intervention designed to maximize child and
family involvement in psychotherapy delivered in community based service settings.
This work is being conducted in partnership with ChildSavers,
a community-supported nonprofit agency that provides mental health services
to youth and families in Richmond as well as with Drs. Rosalie Corona and Mary
Katherine O’Connor from VCU.
IV. Therapeutic
Alliance Research
In collaboration with Dr. Jeffrey J. Wood (UCLA
Department of Education), we have a research program focused upon evaluating
the alliance-outcome association in a family-focused cognitive behavioral intervention
for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (see Wood et al., 2008).
Graduate Students in the Lab
Beth received her Bachelor's of Arts degree from the College of William and Mary in 2006, and her Master's of Arts in Child Clinical Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2009. She joined the lab in Fall 2009. Her main research interests involve the integration of forensic and assessment practice. She is currently working on a study examining the use of the MMPI-2 in custody cases.
Emily grew up in Tuscaloosa,
Alabama and graduated from the University of South Alabama in 2006 with a B.A.
in Psychology. Upon graduate she worked as a Research Interviewer at the Clark
Hill Institute for Positive Youth Development in Richmond, VA. She received
a masters degree in General Psychology from the University of Richmond in 2010.
Her current research interests include barriers and supports to adolescent treatment
engagement and peer relationships. Emily joined the lab in Fall 2009.
Nadia Islam, B.A. Email: IslamN3@vcu.edu
Nadia grew up in Portsmouth, VA and
graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Psychology in 2009.
Her research interests involve the dissemination and implementation of evidence
based treatments for youth in community and pediatric care settings . She is
particularly interested in understanding effective therapeutic processes and
how parenting and parent psychopathology influence outcomes in children. Nadia
joined the lab Fall 2010.