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Transcript of VCU's fall 2014 issue of ZEITGEIST
Zeitgeist Department of Psychology
Fall 2014
VCU Psychology Goes Global
2
PROGRAM DIRECTORS
Eric Benotsch
Health
Rosalie Corona
Clinical
Jeff Green
Social
Barbara Myers
Developmental
Everett Worthington
Counseling
Jennifer Elswick
Newsmagazine Production
Michael Southam-Gerow
Director, Graduate Studies
Dorothy Fillmore
Associate Director for Academic Operations
Wendy Kliewer
Chair
Linda Zyzniewski
Director, Undergraduate Studies
Important Alumni Links
Submit a class note.
Update your contact information.
Join VCU Alumni .
View the alumni directory.
Get your alumni email address.
Jody Davis
Website and Facebook
3
Cover Murmur
Oil on paper
Richard Bargdill, Ph.D.
4-5 Class Notes
6-7 Department news and updates
8-9 Center for the Study of Tobacco
Products earns special designation
10-11 New faculty member
Caroline Cobb, Ph.D.
13 Faculty in the media
14-16 Research spotlight
Suzanne Mazzeo, Ph.D.
17 Graduate student spotlight
Morgan Maxwell
24-26 New grant funding
27 Undergraduate student spotlight
Sam Keeble
28-31 Alumni leadership in psychology
Kristin Perrone McGovern, Ph.D.
(M.S. ‘95, Ph.D. ‘98)
32 Visiting speakers
33 August graduates
34 Faculty awards 2013-14
35 Department contact information
Undergraduate students Becca Easter, left rear, Eric Cudiamat, Josh Brown and Jessica Bowers participated in the 15th annual James River Regional Cleanup as part
of our PSYC 493 service learning course led by Victoria Shivy, Ph.D. The students assisted with managing volunteers and removing invasive species (English Ivy). They
also collected data regarding volunteers' attitudes towards recycling.
Feature story
18-23
VCU Psychology Goes Global
by Sarah Braun
4
UPDATES
1980s
Glen A. Martin (Ph.D. ’83) is a
licensed psychologist in inde-
pendent practice in Chapel Hill,
North Carolina. He was a thera-
pist, instructor, supervisor and
administrator at the counseling
center at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill for more
than 30 years. An active Ameri-
can Psychological Association
member and past co-chair of
their advisory committee on col-
league assistance, Martin cur-
rently serves as president-elect
and co-chair of the colleague
assistance committee for the
North Carolina Psychological As-
sociation. He and his wife Lynn
have three children and two
grandchildren.
1990s
Congratulations to Roger Reeb
(Ph.D. ‘93), professor and direc-
tor of graduate programs in psy-
chology and clinical psychology
at the University of Dayton, who
was named the Roesch Endowed
Chair in the Social Sciences.
2010s
Tracey Gendron (Ph.D. ‘13) is a
service learning faculty fellow
and assistant professor in the
Department of Gerontology in
the School of Allied Health Pro-
fessions at VCU. She teaches
several graduate and undergrad-
uate service-based courses in-
cluding Grant Writing, Research
Methods and Old is the New
Young. Her community-engaged
research interests include the
professional identity develop-
ment and career commitment of
gerontologists, education
through community engagement
and service-learning, aging anxie-
ty, ageism and gerontophobia,
LGBT aging and staff knowledge
and quality of care.
Gendron was named as a finalist
for the 2014 Ernest A.
Lynton Award for the
Scholarship of Engage-
ment for Early Career
Faculty given by the
New England Resource
Center for Higher Edu-
cation and the Center
for Engaged Democracy
at Merrimack College.
Read the VCU News
article.
Joshua Hook (M.S. ’07, Ph. D ‘10)
has worked as an assistant pro-
fessor of counseling psychology
at the University of North Texas
since 2010. His research inter-
ests are in humility, forgiveness
and religion/spirituality. He re-
cently received a grant from the
John Templeton Foundation to
study peoples’ humility about
their religious beliefs, values and
convictions.
Kimberly Waits (B.S. ’10) was
accepted to the Peace Corps and
left for South Africa on July 1 to
begin training as an English
teacher. She will work in cooper-
ation with the local people and
partner organizations on sustain-
able, community-based develop-
ment projects that improve the
lives of people in South Africa.
Class Notes
Kimberley Waits (B.S. ‘10)
5
Congratulations,
Jillian DeBold (B.S. ‘10) and Alec Rountree (B.S. ‘11/SOB)!
Jillian is a former member of our department’s alumni committee.
(Look who dropped by the wedding!)
6
Health disparities
research conduct-
ed by clinical doc-
toral student Am-
ma Agyemang
was recently fea-
tured by the Cen-
ter for Advancing Health’s Health
Behavior News Service. “We
found depression treatment be-
low par for minorities, even
those with co-morbid diabetes or
hypertension. Having a mental
illness and a medical illness
makes both more complex to
treat, and the rate of obtaining
depression treatment remains
low for this population.” Read
the full article.
Richard Bargdill, Ph.D., released
the second edi-
tion of his book,
“The Artist’s
Thought Book:
Intriguing
Thoughts About
the Artistic Pro-
cess.”
Faye Belgrave,
Ph.D., professor
of health psy-
chology, is facul-
ty fellow for re-
search mentor-
ing in the Divi-
sion for Inclusive Excellence. In
this role, she facilitates the Re-
search and External Funding
Academy, which just kicked off
its inaugural year. The REF Acad-
emy is designed to increase ex-
ternal funding opportunities for
underrepresented ethnic minori-
ty faculty. It will provide year-
long training and support to a
select cohort of investigators
through grant-writing workshops
and mentors and coaches.
Heather Jones, Ph.D., assistant
professor of
clinical psychol-
ogy, has been
selected to par-
ticipate in REF
for her project,
“Motivational
Interviewing
Intervention and ADHD Help-
Seeking Behaviors for African
American Families With Children
With ADHD.” Read more about
the REF Academy.
Clinical psychology doctoral stu-
dent Adrienne Borschuk was
named a semi-
finalist for the
Junior Investiga-
tors Best Abstract
in Clinical Re-
search Award
from the Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation. She will
present her abstract,
“Characteristics Associated with
Disease Disclosure in Older Ado-
lescents and Adults with Cystic
Fibrosis," at the Annual North
American Cystic Fibrosis Confer-
ence this month.
Rosalie Corona, Ph.D., professor
of clinical psychology and direc-
tor of clinical training, attended
the second annual faculty devel-
opment seminar at University of
KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South
Africa. Sponsored by the Global
Education Office and the Division
of Community Engagement, the
faculty development seminar
connects a cohort of VCU faculty
to counterparts at strategic part-
ner universities for the purpose
of exploring collaborative re-
search and teaching linkages.
News and updates
Susan Bodnar-Deren, Ph.D., left, assistant professor of
sociology, and Rosalie Corona, Ph.D., associate profes-
sor of clinical psychology, in South Africa. (If you look
closely, you can see elephants in the background.)
Agyemang
Bargdill
Borschuk
Jones
Belgrave
7
Robin Everhart,
Ph.D., has been
named a VCU
service-learning
faculty fellow.
The VCU Service-
Learning Faculty
Fellow Program supports faculty
members who have experience
in teaching service-learning clas-
ses to improve, document and
disseminate their mastery of ser-
vice-learning to others. Fellows
are appointed for one year with
the potential of extending their
appointment for one additional
year and receive a stipend for
each year in the program.
A publication authored by Nao
Hagiwara, Ph.D., and colleagues
received the
Kales Award
from the
Karmanos Cancer
Institute in July
and was
acknowledged as
the best publica-
tion in cancer research. Read
more about the research and get
the citation. Hagiwara has also
been selected to participate in
the second year of VCU’s New
Investigators’ Grant Writing Insti-
tute, which provides yearlong,
intensive proposal development
and interdisciplinary communica-
tion training for VCU faculty from
across the university who will
apply for extramural funding
within 12 months. The program
offers monthly intensive grant-
writing workshops, peer review,
mock review, funding agency
visits and mentoring. Read more
about the program.
Joshua Langberg, Ph.D., associ-
ate professor of clinical psycholo-
gy, and Everett Worthington,
Ph.D., professor of counseling
psychology and director of clini-
cal training, have newly released
books. Langberg’s “Improving
Children’s Homework, Organiza-
tion, and Planning Skills (HOPS)”
is a how-to manual with an easy-
to-follow format that gives par-
ents and caregivers practical
techniques to improve their chil-
dren’s homework, organization
and planning skills. In “Couple
Therapy: A New Hope-Focused
Approach,” Worthington and co-
author Jennifer Ripley, Ph.D.,
offer more than 100 exercises to
repair rocky relationships. The
book is geared toward couples
counselors but is also accessible
to anyone who wants to work on
their relationship. Read more
about the book on VCU News.
Paul Perrin,
Ph.D., assistant
professor of
health psycholo-
gy, will lead a
group of ten doc-
toral and under-
graduate students to the Univer-
sity of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain, to
participate in a comprehensive
research training opportunity on
racial and ethnic disparities in
health. The trip will be funded
through a VCU Quest Global Im-
pact Award, a grant that sup-
ports the university’s global pri-
orities to improve the recruit-
ment and retention of interna-
tional students and scholars, in-
crease the global engagement of
VCU students and faculty and
expand VCU’s global footprint
through research, teaching and
global engagement.
Visiting scholar Muzafar Mohd
Razali, Ph.D., served as an expert
consultant in
the planning
and develop-
ment of the
Universal Pre-
vention Curric-
ulum (UPC),
Series 2, for Applied Prevention
Science, Inc. The Universal Pre-
vention Curriculum, Series 1 and
2, are designed to introduce and
disseminate evidence-based sub-
stance use prevention interven-
tions to prevention specialists
worldwide.
News and updates
Langberg Worthington
Razali
Perrin
Hagiwara
Everhart
8
The Center for the Study of Tobacco
Products (CSTP) in the Department of
Psychology has been named a World
Health Organization Collaborating
Centre that will assist the global
health organization with questions
related to tobacco product testing and
research.
WHO Collaborating Centres are desig-
nated by Margaret Chan, M.D., direc-
tor-general of the WHO, to carry out
activities in support of the WHO's mis-
sion to provide leadership on global
health matters, shape the health re-
search agenda, set norms and stand-
ards, articulate evidence-based policy
options, provide technical support to
countries and monitor and assess
health trends.
Officials from the WHO conducted a
site visit to the new WHO Collabo-
rating Centre for Tobacco Product
Testing and Research on Oct. 6.
"Virginia Commonwealth University’s
Center for the Study of Tobacco Prod-
ucts is the latest addition to WHO’s
global network of Collaborating Cen-
tres," said Carissa Etienne, M.B.B.S.,
regional director of the Pan American
Health Organization/World Health
Organization. "The network brings
together more than 700 highly regard-
ed academic and scientific institutions
in over 80 countries, supporting WHO
programs and priorities with time, ex-
pertise and funding."
There are 84 Collaborating Centres in
the United States and VCU's Center for
the Study of Tobacco Products is the
only Collaborating Centre on tobacco
product testing and research in the
Americas, Etienne said.
"With this designation, we become a
resource that the WHO can reach out
to when they have issues related to
tobacco product testing and re-
search," said Thomas Eissenberg,
Ph.D., co-director of the CSTP, profes-
sor in the Department of Psychology
and member of the Cancer Prevention
and Control research program at the
VCU Massey Cancer Center. "It's an
honor."
As a WHO Collaborating Centre, the
CSTP will disseminate novel methods
to evaluate tobacco products, provide
research results and support evalua-
tion of e-cigarettes, train scientists in
methods to evaluate non-cigarette
tobacco products and prepare briefing
and education materials related to the
evaluation of non-cigarette tobacco
products, such as e-cigarettes.
By earning the designation as a WHO
Collaborating Centre, the CSTP could
play an important role in the WHO's
work under the Framework Conven-
tion on Tobacco Control, a legally
binding treaty that aims to reduce
World Health Organization taps VCU Psychology’s Center for the Study of Tobacco Products as a collaborator
Courtesy of VCU News
9
death and disease associated with
tobacco use.
"I've been working for so long to un-
derstand the health and other effects
of tobacco products — especially non
-cigarette products, like water pipes,
e-cigarettes or smokeless tobacco —
that [this designation] was something
that I was, of course, very much inter-
ested in," Eissenberg said. "It's about
how to make people not die from dis-
eases associated from these various
products."
Douglas Bettcher, Ph.D., M.D., direc-
tor of WHO's Department for Preven-
tion of Noncommunicable Diseases,
called the designation a "win-win re-
lationship for WHO, the Collaborating
Centres and for public health."
"The partnership gives WHO access to
top research centers," he said. "The
Collaborating Centre gains enhanced
recognition by national authorities
and new opportunities to exchange
information and develop technical
cooperation with other institutions."
The Virginia Centre is WHO’s fifth Col-
laborating Centre on Tobacco Product
Testing and Research and the first in
the Americas. The other four are lo-
cated in Burkina Faso, Japan, the
Netherlands and Singapore.
"We believe that the collaboration of
these tobacco testing and research
centers will strengthen implementa-
tion of the product regulation provi-
sions of the WHO Framework Con-
vention on Tobacco Control,"
Bettcher said.
The Center for the Study of Tobacco
Products launched in September 2013
with an $18.1 million grant from the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
and the National Institutes of Health
to study modified-risk tobacco prod-
ucts and other novel tobacco prod-
ucts, such as e-cigarettes, and to
demonstrate methods that can be
used to help inform national tobacco
regulatory policies.
The Centre will not use any of its fed-
eral grant funding for its work for the
WHO. Instead, VCU Massey Cancer
Center has put forward funds to be
used should the WHO call on the Cen-
tre for assistance, Eissenberg said.
World Health Organization taps VCU Psychology’s Center for the Study of Tobacco Products as a collaborator
Thomas Eissenberg, Ph.D., is co-director of the Center for the
Study of Tobacco Products in the Department of Psychology.
10
VCU Psychology is pleased to
welcome its newest faculty
member, Caroline Cobb, Ph.D.
Cobb, an alumna of the biopsy-
chology program, joins us as an
assistant professor in our health
psychology program.
Having received her bachelor’s
degree in psychology from Amer-
ican University in 2005, Cobb
came to VCU and earned her
master’s and doctorate degrees
in experimental psychology
(biopsychology concentration) in
2009 and 2012, respectively. Her
dissertation was titled
“Evaluating caffeinated water-
pipe tobacco in waterpipe smok-
ers.” Upon graduation, she
headed to the Schroeder Insti-
tute for Tobacco Research and
Policy Studies at the American
Legacy Foundation in Washing-
ton, D.C., where she served until
2014 as the Ellen R. Gritz fellow
in tobacco control.
Cobb’s expertise complements
and expands the research efforts
in our Center for the Study of
Tobacco Products. The heart of
her research program involves
understanding how tobacco use
relates to biological and behav-
ioral measures such as nicotine/
toxicant exposure, subjective
effects and consumption
patterns, as well as examining
broader population-level
patterns and predictors of tobac-
co use. More specifically, she is
interested in assessing these out-
comes in relation to novel and
alternative tobacco product use,
an area with a limited literature
base and of high interest to the
regulatory and public health
community. One primary re-
search focus involves the evalua-
tion of electronic cigarettes or e-
cigarettes. These novel products
may hold promise as a means to
reduce cigarette smoking and
associated harm, though little
research exists on their effective-
ness for this purpose.
Recently, the National Cancer
Institute gave Cobb an award to
examine whether dual use of
cigarettes and e-cigarettes de-
creases, has little effect on or
increases measures of harm po-
tential relative to single product
use and no tobacco/nicotine use.
Results from this work will help
inform tobacco regulatory deci-
sions concerning e-cigarettes.
Cobb’s teaching interests align
with her research interests and
include teaching the courses Ex-
perimental Methods (PSYC 317)
and Physiological Psychology
(PSYC 401). On pedagogy, Cobb
says, “I strive to encourage ex-
citement and interest in all
course material by using exam-
ples from my own life and re-
search experiences and assist
students in finding examples in
their own. In turn, I find that stu-
dents inspire and encourage me
to examine new hypotheses and
research ideas.”
New faculty member
Caroline Cobb, Ph.D.
11
Why did you choose VCU?
There are several reasons I was drawn
to VCU’s Department of Psychology to
begin my faculty career. As a previous
graduate student, I was well aware of
the high caliber of faculty and graduate
students drawn to the department and
university, as well as the unique and
gifted undergraduate population. The
collaborative opportunities at VCU
were another important motivation.
Few institutions can boast such an array
of scholars, centers, institutes and acco-
lades in areas relevant to my research.
In particular, the recent Tobacco Cen-
ters of Regulatory Science award to
VCU emphasized that this university
would be a place where exciting and
influential research in tobacco control
would be performed and would be val-
ued.
On a more personal note, despite living
in Richmond throughout graduate
school, this city’s offerings of restau-
rants, concerts and community events
continue to surprise and impress me.
With my family and fiancé nearby, I feel
very thankful for the opportunity to
enjoy them fully.
What do you do in your spare time?
I’ve always enjoyed painting, particular-
ly watercolors. Most of my friends and
family have ended up with a painted
card or two. Crossfit is a new hobby
that my fiancé and I just started. We
are one month in and loving it.
What are some interesting facts about yourself that people may be unaware of?
I grew up in a rural area of Virginia and
was completely enamored with horse-
back riding throughout my teenage
years. Someday I would like to live in
an area where I could keep horses and
ride again. Another high school fun
fact—I belonged to an all-female sing-
ing group called “The Divas.” We per-
formed at school events including grad-
uation. Just don’t ask me to sing in
public now!
Q&A
12
Donate $51 or more to our undergraduate scholarship
fund and receive a VCU Psychology tumbler!
13
Kirk W. Brown, Ph.D.
“Just a Few Moments of Meditation a Day Found to Have Profound, Near-Instant Benefits on Stress Reduction” read
Faye Belgrave, Ph.D.
“Building Resilience Among Black Boys” read
“Psychology Professor Not Surprised After Police Shoot And Kill Teen” watch (above)
Alison Breland, Ph.D.
“Electronic Cigarettes: Many Questions, Limited Research” read
Ev Worthington, Ph.D.
“Letting Go: a $1 Million Look at Forgiveness” read
“Why You Should Forgive and How You Should Do It” watch
“Suicide Grieving Process is Tricky” read
Shawn Utsey, Ph.D., and Ev Worthington, Ph.D.
“VCU Psychologist Advocates Forgiveness, for Health’s Sake” read
Tom Eissenberg, Ph.D.
“Benefits of E-Cigarettes May Outweigh Harms, Study Finds” read
“Deadly E-Cigarette Explosions Add to the Health Hazards of Vaping” read
“Deadly Explosions Added to List of E-Cigarette Dangers” read
“Peeling Back E-Cig Science” read
“Think Hookah is Safer Than Cigarettes? Think Again” read
“Tougher E-cigarette Regulation Will Damage Public Health on a Big Scale, Say Experts” read
Nao Hagiwara, Ph.D.
“Should Women 'Man Up' for Male-Dominated Fields?” read
Beth Heller, Ph.D.
“Children and School Anxiety” listen
Victoria Shivy, Ph.D.
“2014’s Best and Worst States for Women’s Equality” read
Faculty in the media
14
So her mother, Sabel Dujka, was
immediately interested when
she heard that Virginia Common-
wealth University researchers
were offering easy strategies to
help Richmond-area parents con-
cerned about their children's
eating and weight.
"I wanted my daughter to be ex-
posed to different ideas and
different foods," Dujka said. "I
heard about this program
through a friend who has a child
in a different school, so I signed
up."
As part of the NOURISH+ pro-
gram (Nourishing Our Under-
standing of Role Modeling to
Improve Support and Health),
Dujka learned strategies address-
ing a range of healthy eating and
exercise topics, including how to
read food labels, tips to teach
her daughter about nutrition and
exercise, developing mindful
eating habits for the whole fami-
ly, easy ways to prepare healthy
family meals and how to let her
daughter help when cooking.
Now, she said, Natalia is far
more willing to try — and enjoy
— healthier foods.
"She happens to like broccoli and
snap peas," she said. "She under-
stands that those items are im-
portant to being healthy and for
her diet."
NOURISH+ is a VCU research
study that seeks to promote
healthy eating and exercise in
children ages five to 11.
"NOURISH focuses on how par-
ents can be role models of
healthy choices," said Suzanne
Mazzeo, Ph.D., the project's prin-
cipal investigator and a professor
of counseling psychology. "The
whole idea is to give parents sim-
ple, practical tools they can use
to make their families healthier.
We want to make it easier for
parents."
So far, roughly 200 families from
the greater Richmond area have
taken part in the study. The re-
searchers are hoping to enroll
250 more parents concerned
about their child's eating and
exercise habits.
The five-year study, titled
"NOURISHing Families to Pro-
mote Healthy Eating and Exercise
in Overweight Children," is fund-
ed by a $2.6 million grant from
the National Institutes of Health
to test the efficacy of NOURISH+.
Under the study, participating
parents are randomly assigned
to either a more intensive or less
intensive group. Both groups,
however, offer an array of practi-
cal tips and strategies, the re-
searcher said. "In both interven-
tions, we tried to have equal
numbers of hands-on, practical
things so they learn about nutri-
tion, physical activity and more,"
Mazzeo said.
research spotlight Suzanne Mazzeo, Ph.D.
Natalia, an 11-year-old
from Chesterfield County,
had always been a picky
eater...
Courtesy of VCU News
15
One of the program's guiding
philosophies is that it takes more
than just education to improve
eating habits.
"Parents usually know what they
should do. The hard part is doing
it — especially doing it over and
over and over, multiple times a
day," Mazzeo said. "Eating is the
hardest thing to change because
it's something you do multiple
times a day. When you're a par-
ent, you can feel like you just
made a meal, you finish cleaning
up and now you're making an-
other one. It's a never-ending
cycle.”
Many parents have a tough time
trying to encourage healthy
eating habits among their chil-
dren, Mazzeo said, as they often
work long hours; their kids are
also very busy and families strug-
gle to find the time, money and
energy needed to prepare
healthy meals.
Moreover, she said, we live in a
"toxic environment" in which
advertising often encourages
unhealthy eating.
"There's not just the pressure of
getting it on the table — and
there are financial and practical
and time barriers that make that
challenging — there's also the
influence that all these market-
ers and their peers have on
them," Mazzeo said. "You're con-
stantly fighting what advertising
is telling your kids and what their
friends are eating and all those
other pressures."
Mazzeo added that NOURISH+
aims to provide help without
making parents feel guilty.
"A lot of what's out there about
pediatric obesity can lead par-
ents to feel blamed — 'This is
your fault.' A lot of our parents
have expressed that when they
take their kid to the pediatrician,
and the pediatrician says their
kid is overweight, they feel
blamed," Mazzeo said. "But, in
reality, it's really difficult in this
culture to raise healthy eaters.”
Rachel Gow, Ph.D., an assistant
professor of psychology and pe-
diatrics at VCU and a collabora-
tor on the study, said many of
the best ideas and tips for par-
ents have come from other par-
ents during group discussions.
"For example, there was a recent
group that I co-led [and] most of
the moms in the group were sin-
gle mothers, who all had at least
one job if not two jobs," she said.
"A lot of them were getting take-
out a lot, or eating frozen, un-
healthy foods. But this one mom
talked about her lists — she did a
really good job of meal planning
and budgeting and sticking to her
plan. Her talking about her strat-
egies and making her budget
stretch made such a difference."
By hearing from their fellow par-
ents, Gow said, the program
shows that encouraging healthy
eating may not be easy, but it is
possible.
"You can do it," Mazzeo said.
"You just have to be creative and
empowered."
For Dujka, NOURISH+ was a great
success, and one that she would
recommend to other parents.
"I would recommend it because
of the exposure [to helpful ide-
as], how to talk to children as
parents in a positive way and
getting them involved," she said.
For more information:
To find out more or to learn if
you are eligible, visit
www.nourishvcu.com, or contact
the NOURISH+ team by calling
827-9211 or emailing nour-
Rachel Gow, Ph.D.
16
Never go to the grocery store without a plan, and stick to the plan while shopping.
While grocery shopping, buy food located on the periph-
ery of the store, such as the fresh produce section, rather
than in the middle of the store, where processed, un-
healthy foods are found.
Buy a crock pot, which makes preparing meals easier, particularly ahead of time.
Buy a blender. "Smoothies are such a great way to introduce and sneak in fruits," Gow says.
Do something active with your kids, such as taking a walk along trails at a Richmond park, or taking them roller skating.
Give your kids nonfood rewards, rather than sweets. "You have to brainstorm what would be best for your kids, but it can be something like an opportunity to do a special activity with Mom or Dad," Mazzeo says.
Tips for Promoting
Healthy Eating
Behaviors
NOURISH+ researchers Suzanne Mazzeo, Ph.D., and Rachel Gow, Ph.D., both of whom are VCU experts in healthy eating behaviors for children and families, offer a few tips that par-ents can employ to improve their families' eating habits.
17
Morgan Maxwell, M.S., a social
psychology doctoral student in
her third year of study, received
a David L. Boren Fellowship to
study in Brazil this academic
year. Maxwell is using the award
to become proficient in Portu-
guese while evaluating the im-
pact of culture on the quality of
HIV prevention service delivery
in Brazil.
“Brazil has the second-highest
number of HIV cases in the West-
ern hemisphere,” Maxwell said.
“I’m examining cultural factors,
stigma, cultural mistrust and per-
sonal perceptions – which can all
be barriers in the delivery of HIV
prevention services.”
Maxwell is living in Salvador in
the Brazilian state of Bahia dur-
ing her fellowship, which began
in late August and will run
through March 2015.
“Winning a Boren Fellowship is a
tremendous recognition of Mor-
gan’s work and passion for inter-
national issues and recognizes
her strong academic perfor-
mance,” said James S. Coleman,
Ph.D., dean of the College of Hu-
manities and Sciences. “Her pro-
ject examining cultural influences
on the quality of HIV prevention
services seems to me to be very,
very important to human
health.”
Fellowship recipients are ex-
pected to fulfill federal service
requirements. Maxwell hopes to
work for the HIV sector of the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and use her experi-
ences in Brazil to better inform
the delivery of HIV services in the
U.S.
“Morgan has consistently
demonstrated commitment to
international research and activi-
ty and the Boren fellowship will
support her efforts,” said Faye
Belgrave, Ph.D., professor of psy-
chology, who supported Max-
well’s application. “Morgan
brings outstanding interpersonal,
conceptual and
methodological
skills which will
support her in
conducting her
research on HIV
prevention in
Brazil.”
Maxwell, who is
from Charlotte,
North Carolina,
earned a bache-
lor’s degree in
psychology from
Howard Univer-
sity and a mas-
ter’s degree in
Latin American
studies from
Vanderbilt Uni-
versity.
Boren Fellow-
ships provide up
to $30,000 to U.S. graduate stu-
dents to add an important inter-
national and language compo-
nent to their graduate education
through specialization in area
study, language study or in-
creased language proficiency.
The fellowships promote long-
term linguistic and cultural im-
mersion and are part of National
Security Education Program, a
federal government initiative to
enhance national security by in-
creasing understanding and in-
teraction with foreign cultures
and languages.
Graduate student spotlight Morgan Maxwell, M.S. Courtesy of VCU News
18
VCU Psychology
Goes Global
19
Most researchers and practi-
tioners of psychology have
come to understand the im-
portance of the consideration of
culture in the reporting of re-
search findings and in practice.
More and more, psychologists
are seeking out opportunities
abroad to examine the similari-
ties and differences among
different cultures to refine both
the generalizability of research
findings and the efficacy of
mental health interventions
that reflect an approach rooted
in what Tervalon and Murray-
Garcia (1998) have called cultur-
al humility. Bullock (2011) de-
scribed this mindset as one that
adopts a “learning attitude, in-
cluding reflection, humility, ap-
preciation of privilege and ap-
preciation of cultural contexts
and explanatory frameworks
that stretch boundaries” (p. 9).
On an institutional level, two of
VCU’s overriding global goals
are to increase the global en-
gagement of VCU students and
faculty and expand VCU’s global
footprint through our research,
teaching and service, particular-
ly as they impact global health.
Our faculty and students in the
Department of Psychology have
served at the forefront of the
globalization of psychology and
have greatly contributed to our
field’s efforts to approach our
work with the cultural humility
necessary for the expansion of
our knowledge base. As such,
our department maintains an
active global presence with a
large number of faculty and stu-
dents collaborating with individ-
uals, institutions and communi-
ties abroad.
We have an especially robust
presence in Africa, and, in par-
ticular, South Africa. This is in
large part due to our strong ties
with the University of KwaZulu-
Natal (UKZN), a VCU interna-
tional partner institution locat-
ed in Durban, South Africa. In
fact, Shawn Utsey, Ph.D., pro-
fessor of counseling psychology,
is a Fulbright scholar who is
there now working on an oral
history project. Utsey’s work is
motivated by an interest in how
apartheid continues to affect
the people of South Africa. He is
working at the Sinomlando Cen-
ter for Oral History and Memory
collecting oral histories from
survivors of apartheid ethnovio-
lence.
Wendy Kliewer, Ph.D., is chair
of the department and a profes-
sor of developmental psycholo-
gy who studies youth resilience
– that is, children who do well
despite the odds. Kliewer also
received a Fulbright scholarship
to conduct research in Durban
in collaboration with UKZN. In
2011, she lived for six months in
one of Durban’s central neigh-
borhoods and in partnership
with UKZN researcher Basil Pil-
lay, M.D., launched Project
CARE: Community Assessment
of Risk and Resilience, which
continues today. The project
follows 400 children and their
maternal caregivers to assess
the children’s response to envi-
ronmental risk factors on
measures of social and academ-
ic competence, emotional diffi-
culties, aggressive behavior and
substance abuse. Kliewer
meets with the South African
research team regularly via
Skype and pays a visit to UKZN
yearly to meet in person.
This summer, Rosalie Corona,
Ph.D., visited UKZN to partici-
pate in their second annual fac-
ulty development seminar. The
seminar, whose theme was
community-engaged research,
was a collaborative effort to
further strengthen and build on
the research and teaching con-
nections between the two uni-
versities. Corona is an associate
professor of clinical psychology
and serves our department as
director of clinical training. Her
research focuses on health pro-
motion in minority populations.
by Sarah Braun
VCU Psychology
Goes Global
20
Also working in South Africa is
Daniel Snipes, a doctoral stu-
dent in the health psychology
program, who was awarded the
prestigious Graduate Research
Opportunities Worldwide grant
from the National Science Foun-
dation. The grant, which sup-
ports graduate students working
on international research pro-
jects, has allowed him to take
part in a project aiming to
strengthen South Africa’s female
condom program and curtail its
rates of HIV infection. South
Africa has the world’s highest
rate of HIV and this project will
draw data from several sources
to identify more effective ways
to encourage female condom
use.
Our department is bringing its
scholarship and collaborative
spirit to other parts of the Afri-
can continent, as well. For ex-
ample, Everett Worthington,
Ph.D., recently received an al-
most $1 million grant for a pro-
ject whose goal is to facilitate
and promote evidence-based
forgiveness research by native
researchers in West and South
Africa. Worthington, a professor
of counseling psychology and
director of clinical training, has a
long track record of internation-
al research and collaboration
surrounding his study of for-
giveness. In fact, his forgiveness
model has been integrated into
at least ten Latin and South
American countries and he con-
tinues to collaborate regularly
with researchers from other
countries to expand the scope of
forgiveness research to new and
relevant cultural contexts. He
also serves as a mentor to facul-
ty members abroad and recently
helped a professor in Barcelona,
as well as a professor in India,
win grants for forgiveness re-
search.
In a similar manner, Zewelanji
Serpell, Ph.D., associate profes-
sor of developmental psycholo-
gy, and Vivian Dzokoto, Ph.D.,
associate professor in the De-
partment of African American
Studies, are working together to
lead the Mental Health Assess-
ment Research Initiative for Afri-
ca. Their goal is to bring faculty
from VCU together with faculty
from institutions in Zambia and
Ghana under shared research
and training agendas surround-
ing child and adolescent mental
health. The program focuses on
developing mental health as-
sessment tools and intervention
programs for children and ado-
lescents that are culturally ap-
propriate and thus usable
around the globe. Serpell de-
scribed this initiative by placing
importance on the training com-
ponent of the work, which is “to
provide a structured context for
graduate students to participate
in internationally collaborative
research and service learning.”
In fact, one of Serpell’s graduate
students, Tennisha Riley, recent-
ly accompanied her to Zambia
and explored her own independ-
ent research project. Riley is
interested in the social and emo-
tional development of children
and adolescents and the effects
of aggressive behavior. While in
Zambia, through observation of
adolescents and youths at
school, Riley saw the impact of
context and culture on develop-
ment. She also forged im-
portant relationships with Zam-
bian graduate students she
hopes will lead to continued col-
laboration, and with community
organizations for intervention
resources and knowledge. The
work in Serpell’s lab is focused
on developing a path for contin-
ued service learning and re-
search, and opening more doors
for international collaboration.
These doors are opening up in
other parts of the world, too.
Thomas Eissenberg, Ph.D., pro-
fessor of health psychology and
co-director of the Center for the
Study of Tobacco Products in our
department, studies novel to-
bacco products, like electronic
cigarettes, to determine wheth-
er or not they pose a risk to us-
21
ers and to demonstrate methods
that can be used to help inform
national tobacco regulatory poli-
cies. (See pages 8-9 to read
about the Center’s important
new designation from the World
Health Organization.) One of
the main projects within this
framework is being conducted at
the American University of Bei-
rut with project director Alan
Shihadeh, Ph.D., a professor of
mechanical engineering at AUB.
Eissenberg, who also has collab-
orative research relationships in
Syria, says he and his team work
with Shihadeh and AUB because
their Aerosol Research Laborato-
ry has unique expertise in in-
venting and validating equip-
ment vital to the measurement
and recording of waterpipe (or
hookah) tobacco smoker behav-
ior in fine detail. For example,
Shihadeh and his team recently
developed equipment that al-
lows researchers to sample
smoke unobtrusively from a wa-
terpipe while a user is smoking
it, so they can measure smoke
toxicants generated in real world
environments (i.e., outside of
the clinical laboratory). Eissen-
berg’s team will soon be working
with colleagues at the Jordan
University of Science and Tech-
nology in Irbid, Jordan, to test
this equipment in the field.
Paul Perrin, Ph.D., assistant pro-
fessor of health psychology, is a
globetrotter in his own right. His
research interests include multi-
cultural health behaviors and
interventions. He is especially
interested in caregiver mental
health in Latin America, and re-
cently received a grant to study
the caregivers of traumatic brain
injury patients there. Illustrating
a previous point regarding in-
sufficient global generalizability
of research findings from the
U.S., Stephen Trapp, a doctoral
student in the counseling pro-
gram who has worked abroad
with Perrin says, “Compounding
the more general difficulties de-
veloping nations face is that the
current psychiatric tests used
there were developed based on
American and European cul-
tures.” Perrin added, “These
tests prove to be ineffective
when applied toward Latinos
and their families, who see it as
a cultural imperative to provide
high-quality care even to the
exclusion of their own needs.”
Last year he took a group of
graduate students to Spain to
collaborate on research in cul-
tural health disparities; this suc-
cessful experience led to anoth-
er trip to Spain this past sum-
mer. Perrin’s work continues to
open new avenues for interna-
tional collaboration and facili-
tates opportunities for graduate
level researchers to make global
impacts. Morgan Maxwell, a
doctoral student in the social
psychology program, also has
research interests in Latin Amer-
ica and is studying in Brazil this
semester after having been
awarded the prestigious Boren
fellowship. (See Maxwell’s full
story on page 17.)
In addition to transcending bor-
ders in scholarly endeavors, our
department values and seeks to
contribute to international col-
laborative pedagogy in our field,
as well. For instance, Mary
Loos, Ph.D., associate professor
of clinical psychology, is the pro-
gram director for the VCU Inter-
national Programme in Addic-
tion Studies (IPAS), an online
Master of Science in Addiction
Studies program available to
students from all countries that
is offered collaboratively with
King’s College London and the
University of Adelaide in Austral-
ia. The program provides stu-
dents with an advanced educa-
tional experience covering scien-
tific methodology, treatment,
public health issues and addic-
tion policy. Upon completion of
the degree, students receive a
diploma conferred by all three
partner universities. The goal of
the program is to train interna-
tional professionals capable of
translating research into effec-
22
tive treatment and prevention
practices for addiction around
the world.
Expanding the teaching and re-
search of psychology to new
frontiers is an especially exciting
prospect for Richard Bargdill,
Ph.D., who was invited to give
the opening keynote address
this summer for the Third Inter-
national Conference on Existen-
tial Psychology in Guangdong.
Psychology is a relatively new
discipline in China with many
universities having only added
psychology departments within
the last 25 years. Bargdill's
opening address was about the
basic principles of existential
psychology with the goal of ori-
enting the audience of counse-
lors and psychologists to this sub
-discipline within the the larger
field of psychology. Bargdill
said, “What made this confer-
ence unique was that Western
scholars were united with East-
ern scholars. One Western exis-
tential psychologist would speak
followed by an Eastern speaker
on indigenous forms of Chinese
existentialism. In general, exis-
tential psychology is primarily
interested in how people make
their lives meaningful, so there
is not one true form of it; rather,
most cultures have a line of
thinking that is complimentary.”
It was in this same spirit of inter-
cultural exchange that the de-
partment welcomed the VCU
Hubert H. Humphrey fellowship
program to its new home this
fall. Previously housed in the
VCU Institute for Drug and Alco-
hol Studies, this program, spon-
sored by the U.S. Department of
State’s Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs, is an inter-
national exchange program sup-
ported by the people of the
United States. It is designed to
facilitate exchange activity
among international researchers
and scholars. The program
brings accomplished profession-
als from developing countries to
the United States for a year of
study and collaboration in their
relevant areas of research.
VCU’s Humphrey program focus-
es on a broad range of health
problems with an emphasis on
understanding the behavioral,
psychological, social and cultural
factors that affect people’s
health, and the use of behavior
change interventions to pro-
mote positive health outcomes.
The program emphasizes the use
of culturally appropriate, science
-based prevention, treatment
and policy interventions.
Randy Koch, Ph.D., whose re-
search focuses on tobacco use
prevention in at-risk youth, is
the associate coordinator of the
Humphrey program. For the last
several years, Koch has been
working with the South African
Medical Research Council to im-
plement a set of assessment
tools for the country’s treatment
services. He also coordinated
the International Health Re-
search Workshop on campus
this year, one of several efforts
to increase VCU’s global pres-
ence and impact. The aim of the
workshop was to help faculty
successfully pursue international
health research opportunities by
addressing such key issues as
securing funding, finding inter-
national collaborators, identify-
ing potential challenges and de-
veloping effective partnerships.
“Conducting international re-
search is not only personally re-
warding,” says Koch, “but it also
creates other funding opportuni-
ties for your research.”
A fuller portrait of our depart-
ment’s international research
and teaching efforts would in-
clude several other examples of
important work being conducted
abroad by our faculty. Bryce
McLeod, Ph.D., for example, has
active research collaborations
with colleagues in the Nether-
lands and Norway where he has
also given lectures and led work-
shops. Faye Belgrave, Ph.D.,
has been an engaged participant
in the Semester at Sea program,
23
a multiple country study abroad
program open to students of all
majors emphasizing comparative
academic examination, hands-on
field experiences and meaning-
ful engagement in the global
community. There are many,
many more such examples in
our department; interested
readers are urged to explore our
faculty members’ web pages for
more information about their
international work abroad and
at home.
Our faculty and students are
globally minded and create re-
search goals and teaching mis-
sions that impact international
communities. We actively con-
tribute to the international
effort to translate psychological
findings and insight into practical
applications for all through
scholarly activities in
South Africa, Brazil, Ghana, Leb-
anon, China and beyond. This
work is critical as world commu-
nities become more intercon-
nected with each passing day.
VCU President Michael Rao said
of working and studying abroad,
“We need to be more connected
with the world, especially based
on who we are as Americans.
This is supposed to be the place
where you can be the most suc-
cessful and that won’t happen if
we create isolation and don’t
connect ourselves with the rest
of the world.” The Department
of Psychology has answered this
call and hopes to continue to
serve as a university leader in
bringing its scholarly and peda-
gogical endeavors to bear on
academic and practical pursuits
in psychology throughout the
world.
Tervalon, M. & Murray-Garcia, J.
(1998). Cultural humility versus
cultural competence: a critical
distinction in defining physician
training outcomes in multicultur-
al education. Journal of Health
Care for the Poor and Under-
served, 9, 117-125. doi:10.1353/
hpu.2010.0233
Bullock, M. (2011, November).
APA’s international responsibil-
ity. Monitor on Psychology, 42
(10), 9.
.
Class of 2014-15: Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship program
Author Sarah Braun is a doctoral student in the
clinical psychology program.
24
New Research funding
Topics
Behavior
problems in
preschool
Courtesy of VCU News
A $1.6 million grant awarded to
two VCU professors will help im-
prove services aimed at pre-
school children with problem
behaviors in early childhood edu-
cation and Head Start class-
rooms.
Bryce McLeod, Ph.D., an associ-
ate professor of clinical psycholo-
gy, and Kevin Sutherland, Ph.D.,
a professor of special education
and disability policy in the School
of Education, received the grant
from the U.S. Department of Ed-
ucation's Institute of Education
Sciences.
As part of the four-year grant,
"Development and Validation of
Treatment Integrity Measures for
Classroom-Based Interventions,"
McLeod and Sutherland will con-
duct research in Richmond-area
preschool and Head Start class-
rooms.
"We will observe teachers inter-
acting with their students over
the course of the academic
year," McLeod said. "We are
mainly interested in the types of
interventions and strategies they
use when they teach. The obser-
vations will involve trained cod-
ers visiting a classroom and ob-
serving the teacher for up to one
hour."
The grant's objective is to im-
prove the early intervention and
prevention services for young
children who have chronic prob-
lem behavior by improving the
implementation and efficiency of
delivery of evidence-based pro-
grams.
"Essentially, we hope to be able
to use this measure to help re-
searchers and program adminis-
trators to identify the practices
teachers are using with these
young children. We also hope
that the measure can assist re-
searchers and program adminis-
trators in improving the imple-
mentation of evidence-based
programs, as this will be a tool
that can be used to assess how
much, and how well, evidence-
based programs and the practic-
es that comprise them are imple-
mented," Sutherland said.
Sutherland and McLeod previ-
ously conducted a pilot study —
funded by VCU's Presidential Re-
search Incentive Program (PRIP)
— in which they refined the ob-
servational treatment integrity
measures used in "BEST in
CLASS," an early childhood inter-
vention program being evaluated
at VCU and the University of Flor-
ida.
"The PRIP funding allowed us to
develop these measures, and the
developed measures will serve as
a starting point for the assess-
ment tools we propose to devel-
op in the current project," Suth-
erland said.
School
bullying
Terri Sullivan, Ph.D., has been
awarded a $2.66 million grant
from the National Institute of
Justice titled "Evaluation of the
Effectiveness and Sustainability
of the Olweus Bullying Preven-
tion Program in Increasing School
Suzanne Mazzeo, Ph.D.
Bryce McLeod, Ph.D.
Terri Sullivan, Ph.D.
25
Safety in Urban Middle Schools."
This four-year project builds on
an evaluation of the Olweus Bul-
lying Prevention Program (OBPP)
being completed as part of a CDC
-funded Youth Violence Preven-
tion Center within the VCU Clark-
Hill Institute for Positive Youth
Development and in partnership
with Richmond City public mid-
dle schools. OBPP is a compre-
hensive school-based program
designed to prevent youth vio-
lence and bullying by improving
school climate. Although this
program is being implemented in
hundreds of schools across the
U.S., few studies have evaluated
its impact on schools. The goal of
this project is to increase the
knowledge gained from our cur-
rent Youth Violence Prevention
Center project by supporting the
continuation of OBPP in two mid-
dle schools, implementing this
program in a third school and
collecting three additional years
of data on proximal and distal
outcomes for OBPP. The exten-
sion of the multiple baseline re-
search design will provide a
clearer picture of the relation
between implementation of
OBPP and changes in outcomes
over time in the two schools
where OBPP is currently being
implemented, and will allow us
to examine changes in outcomes
that occur after implementing
this program in the third school.
School
nutrition
Courtesy of VCU News
After new federal school meal
regulations were rolled out in
2010, widespread news reports
circulated that school children
were “grossed out” by the
healthier lunches and were simp-
ly tossing the newly required
fruits and vegetables and whole
grains.
But are the children actually
throwing away the healthier
food rather than eating it? And,
moreover, are there ways school
systems could encourage chil-
dren to eat their fruits and veg-
gies?
Suzanne Mazzeo, Ph.D., profes-
sor of counseling psychology, has
received a two-year, $100,000
grant from the National Insti-
tutes of Health to find answers
to those questions and potential-
ly improve the National School
Lunch Program, which provides
low-cost or free meals to 31 mil-
lion children every day across the
country.
"As a scientist, I wondered: How
much plate waste is really hap-
pening? Are kids really throwing
away the lunches?" said Mazzeo.
"So I looked into the literature
and saw that there really wasn't
a lot of data on whether kids
were actually eating less or if
they were just complaining
about it."
This fall, Mazzeo is leading a
team of researchers in two Ches-
terfield County elementary
schools to observe how much
fruits and vegetables are being
thrown away by first, second and
third graders at breakfast and
lunch.
“This is probably the most un-
glamorous grant ever. We're
going to be standing at the gar-
bage cans. It's going to be
messy,” said Mazzeo, a leading
expert in healthy eating and ex-
ercise promotion for children
and families. "We're focusing on
the fruit and vegetable consump-
tion, looking to see whether they
ate [the fruits and vegetables],
and what percentage they ate.
We anticipate that it's going to
be somewhat chaotic."
The study will be conducted in
partnership with the nonprofit
organization Greater Richmond (Continued on page 26)
Suzanne Mazzeo, Ph.D.
26
Fit 4 Kids, along with other VCU
faculty, graduate students and
undergraduate research assis-
tants.
For the second phase of the pro-
ject, Mazzeo and the research
team will hold a "tasting inter-
vention" in one of the schools,
offering the students a sample of
a fruit or vegetable that will be
on the cafeteria's
menu the following
week.
"The research shows
that if you have kids
taste a food, then
they're more willing to
actually eat it," Mazzeo
said. "So we're actual-
ly going to be in the
cafeteria with a little
cart and little sample cups. And
we'll see if they're willing to try
foods that will be on the menu."
The tasting interventions will be
held twice a week over eight
weeks during this school year.
"The baseline is: What are they
throwing away?" Mazzeo said.
"Then we'll do the tasting inter-
vention. And then we'll measure
what they're throwing away after
[we've done the tasting interven-
tion]."
The third phase of the project
will involve qualitative interviews
with parents, teachers, adminis-
trators and cafeteria workers to
better understand their perspec-
tives on what is realistic when it
comes to promoting healthy
eating for children and their fam-
ilies.
"What do parents or primary
caregivers wish schools would do
more of?" Mazzeo said. "What
do schools wish parents would
do? The idea is that qualitative
interviews will extend the re-
search a little further for the next
step."
Mazzeo was inspired to study the
overhaul of the National School
Lunch Program because in recent
years she has been working with
families of overweight children
as part of a larger research pro-
ject aiming to curtail childhood
obesity. (See pages 14-15.)
"We saw how these families
were doing all these really posi-
tive things but there's just a lot
of structural challenges that
make it difficult in everyday life,"
Mazzeo said. "It shouldn't be
this hard for families."
She was also inspired, she said,
by her own family's experience.
"Having my own kids and, espe-
cially in the last five years,
they've both gone to elementary
school," she said. "And you see
that you really do start to lose
control [of the children's healthy
eating]."
One of the ideas behind
Mazzeo's new study is that
school systems would be able to
easily replicate the "tasting inter-
vention" strategy to get the stu-
dents to try unfamiliar fruits and
vegetables.
"What we're doing is
pretty low-impact.
We're using food that's
already there, and that
the cafeteria workers
know how to make
already," she said.
"We're not doing any-
thing fancy. It's very
translatable and sus-
tainable."
Ultimately, Mazzeo said, the
study should help answer the
debate over whether the Nation-
al School Lunch Program policy
changes – championed by
Michelle Obama – have proven
effective.
"We want to know whether re-
quiring fruits and vegetables was
a good change," she said. "We
are truly not sure. Because some
of the research says you should
give children a choice of whether
they want to take the fruits and
vegetables or not. And that you
should do tastings, but ultimately
give them the choice."
Listen to Mazzeo’s interview on public radio.
27
We caught up with Sam Keeble
recently to interview him about
his experiences as an undergrad-
uate psychology major at VCU.
Why did you choose psychology as your major?
I am a returning adult student. I
received a B.A. in philosophy at a
liberal arts university motivated
by an interest in the work of Carl
Jung. After graduation, I spent
several years in clinical research
and then entered the business
world. A major life-altering
event provided the insight that
the “good life” for me was
grounded in helping others.
Choosing psychology as a major
was my next step.
What has been your favorite psychology course at VCU so far?
Abnormal Psychology with Mary
Loos, Ph.D., was my favorite
course. I had the privilege of
serving as a preceptor for the
class the following semester.
The experience ignited my pas-
sion for clinical work and gave
me a deep appreciation for the
art of teaching. Physiological
Psychology with Joseph Porter,
Ph.D., and History of Psychology
with Richard Bargdill, Ph.D.,
come in as close seconds.
Lifespan Human Development is
a course that would greatly ben-
efit students of any major.
What are your plans for the fu-ture?
I am very excited by the develop-
ing field of medical psychology.
Following graduate training, I see
myself working in a clinical envi-
ronment utilizing a variety of
therapeutic modalities. I also
have an interest in writing.
What do you do in your spare time?
I travel whenever possible. I en-
joy gourmet cooking—a hobby
that grows out of my interest in
other cultures. I find comfort
perusing the shelves of old
bookstores but love the excite-
ment of snow skiing and other
outdoor activities. Long, medita-
tive walks renew my faith and
bring me great joy.
Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
While pursuing my B.A. in philos-
ophy, a part-time job in a labora-
tory led to a full time position
following graduation. I strongly
encourage students to pursue
the incredible internship oppor-
tunities offered by the VCU De-
partment of Psychology.
Returning to school as an adult
student is a tumultuous under-
taking. VCU is a diverse, fantas-
tic place for the adult learner.
The patient encouragement of
fellow students here is so appre-
ciated. Especially invaluable in
my journey have been the guid-
ance and empathetic support of
my advisors and faculty whose
numbers are too great to men-
tion.
undergraduate student spotlight
Sam Keeble, Class of ‘14
28
As an alumna of the doctoral
program in counseling psycholo-
gy at VCU, I am honored to have
been asked to write this article
regarding my career develop-
ment and leadership roles.
Although my roots are firmly
planted in counseling psycholo-
gy, my current passion is affec-
tive neuroscience and brain-
behavior relationships. I will
briefly describe my career jour-
ney and highlight a few leaders
in the field who have influenced
and guided me.
All of my life I have been a plan-
ful and goal-oriented person. I
see myself in my daughter
whose first full sentence at the
age of three was, “I am a prin-
cess and a butterfly… and when I
grow up I will be a doctor and
listen to your heart with my
stethoscope!” My point is that,
like my daughter, I always knew
what I wanted to do when I grew
up.
This is partly because I had a
very important career role mod-
el in my life, even as a young
child. My father, Phil Perrone,
was a professor of counseling
psychology at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison and was a
crucial role model to me during
my childhood, as he continues to
be a model for me now that I am
an adult. I saw what an inspira-
tional teacher he was, what a
caring mentor he was to his stu-
dents and how interesting and
meaningful his work was. Alt-
hough not a psychologist, my
mother has been (and is) an
equally influential and important
role model to me, with her sen-
sitivity and compassionate na-
ture and her insightful perspec-
tives on people and interperson-
al behavior. I will discuss other
important role models and men-
tors throughout this essay, for it
is impossible to talk about lead-
ership without also talking about
the leaders I myself have fol-
lowed in my career.
As an undergraduate psychology
major at the University of Min-
nesota, I was fortunate to work
with Pat Frazier as a member of
her research team. This was an
excellent introduction to re-
search, and she helped me to
obtain my first research grant
and to make my first conference
presentation. Working with her
helped solidify my goal to some-
day be a professor of counseling
psychology myself.
After college graduation, I
served as a Volunteer In Service
To America or VISTA (a.k.a. the
domestic peace corps) for a year
in Los Angeles. While there, I
worked at a homeless assistance
agency developing job programs.
We made connections with local
businesses to persuade them to
hire workers on a temporary
basis with the option to keep
them permanently if they did a
good job. We offered training
on interviewing and job skills,
provided work attire and trans-
portation costs and found our
clients housing in single room
occupancy hotels if they did not
have a place to live. It was here
where I saw the transformative
power of employment and the
meaning of work in peoples’
lives. As I began applying to
graduate schools in counseling
psychology, I knew that I wanted
to focus on vocational develop-
ment in my research.
Alumni Leadership in psychology Kristin Perrone McGovern (M.S. ‘95, Ph.D. ‘98)
29
At VCU, I was able to assist Judy
Chartrand in her work with Pro-
ject PROVE (Preventing Recidi-
vism through Opportunities in
Vocational Education) helping
offenders make the transition
from incarceration to living on
their own and finding work. My
original doctoral chair, Lauren
Weitzman, introduced me to her
work on women’s strategies for
integrating family into their ca-
reer plans, which planted a seed
that later grew into an interest
for me in work-family interface
and gender roles for men and
women. She left VCU less than a
year after my arrival, but I am
grateful for the introduction she
provided into this area. Briefly
orphaned, I was thrilled when Ev
Worthington, Jr. agreed to serve
as my chair. There are so many
wonderful things that I could say
about Ev that it is hard to nar-
row down. I think what ap-
pealed to me at the time was his
combination of genius and hu-
mility, his work ethic and the
obvious care he put into mentor-
ing his students. I follow his
model today in my own mentor-
ing of graduate students at Ball
State University with regular
meetings, structure and organi-
zation, promotion of the unique
goals of each student and break-
ing large tasks into small goals
(he used to have a sign in his
office that read “by the inch it’s
a cinch, by the mile it’s a trial”).
I am eternally grateful for the
example he set and the support
and guidance he provided.
My internship year at the Uni-
versity of Maryland Counseling
Center was also a formative ex-
perience in my career. I joined
Karen O’Brien’s research team
while I was there and loved the
way she created a supportive
community among her students
with a genuine team feeling. I
carry this forward today with my
research team and it’s wonder-
ful to see my students support
each other and celebrate one
another’s successes. I also owe
a debt of gratitude to Bill Sed-
lacek (affectionately known
simply as “Sed”) who led my re-
search rotation during internship
year. Research always felt easy
and fun when working with him,
and his unwavering belief in my
abilities strengthened my confi-
dence as a researcher.
Currently I am a professor of
counseling psychology at Ball
State University where I teach
graduate students in our mas-
ter’s of counseling program and
doctoral students in our APA-
accredited Ph.D. program. Truly
the best part of my job is being
able to play a role in shaping the
future of our field through train-
ing the students who will be our
next leaders. I have been hon-
ored to serve an incredible facul-
ty at Ball State. Words cannot
express my gratitude to my Ball
State faculty mentor Phyllis Gor-
don, who is like a wise and car-
ing big sister, and whose exam-
ple I try to follow every day in
my work as a professor. I would
be remiss in writing an essay
pertaining to leadership without
expressing my sincere respect
and admiration for my friend
and colleague Sharon Bowman,
who has set an amazing example
first as chair of my department
and currently as the president of
the Society for Counseling Psy-
chology (SCP). It has been an
honor to serve with her on the
executive board for our society.
Another faculty colleague, Larry
Gerstein, has also been a role
model for me as someone who is
always doing innovative re-
search and has never slowed
down, even many years after
achieving tenure and promotion.
Sharon and Larry encouraged
me towards leadership in SCP.
My friend Tania Israel (herself an
inspirational and transformative
leader) was SCP president at the
time so I asked for her advice.
She suggested I run for secre-
tary, which I did, and now I am
currently coming to the end of
my three-year term as SCP sec-
retary. It has been a good expe-
rience: I have learned a lot about
governance for our profession. I
have gotten to know the leaders (Continued on page 30)
Alumni Leadership in psychology Kristin Perrone McGovern (M.S. ‘95, Ph.D. ‘98)
30
of our society and have been
inspired by their passion and
commitment to the field.
On a personal note, I want to
recognize my husband T.J.
McGovern, without whose sup-
port and encouragement, I could
never have achieved all of the
goals I set for myself. He is him-
self a true leader, full of wisdom
and possessing a strength, vision
and decisiveness I have always
admired.
Returning to my point about be-
ing planful and goal-oriented, I
progressed through my time at
Ball State moving methodically
through my life to-do list. Pro-
motion from assistant to associ-
ate professor—check. Tenure—
check. Have children (boy/girl
twins of course!) —check, check.
Promotion to professor—check.
Suddenly I found I had achieved
all the goals I had set for myself.
I was ready for a new challenge.
For years at psychology confer-
ences, I had been drawn to the
neuroscience presentations. I
marveled at the advances in sci-
ence and the groundbreaking
discoveries about the brain. I
nursed a secret desire to be-
come a neuropsychologist in
practice and a neuroscientist in
research, but I had no training
other than a course or two on
physiological psychology in grad-
uate school. I began taking clas-
ses on neuropsychology and
physiological psychology from
colleagues at my university and
applied for a full-year sabbatical
to do a postdoctoral fellowship
in neuropsychology. I complet-
ed two years of supervised neu-
ropsychological practice with
Andrew Davis, whose depth and
breadth of knowledge in the
field is astounding and from
whom I have learned so much
about the practice of neuropsy-
chology.
Perrone McGovern (middle) poses with fellow counseling program doctoral students in 1998: Ron Seel (left, M.S. ‘96, Ph.D.
‘99), Eloise Berry (M.S. ‘96, Ph.D. ‘99), Perrone McGovern (M.S. ‘95, Ph.D. ‘98) Susanna Owens (B.S. ‘92, M.S. ‘95, Ph.D. ‘99)
and Taro Kurusu (M.S. ’96, Ph.D. ’99).
31
On the neuroscience research
side, I have been profoundly in-
fluenced by Oscar Goncalves.
He is a true pioneer of our field
who is both a counseling psy-
chologist and a neuroscientist,
and he is doing some of the
most cutting edge research of
our time. Oscar Goncalves and I
met through colleagues and
bonded via email over our
shared experience as counseling
psychologists with interests in
neuroscience. In May 2011, he
invited me to visit the University
of Minho in Braga, Portugal,
where he was the head of the
psychology department and
where he had built an awe-
inspiring neuropsychophysiologi-
cal research laboratory.
While in Portugal, I met
with his impressive re-
search teams at their lab to
learn about the work they
were doing and discuss ide-
as for collaboration. By the
time I returned home, I had a
clear plan for my next research
study. In the spring of 2012, a
doctoral student from Dr. Gon-
calves’ laboratory, Patricia
Oliveira Silva, came to work with
me at Ball State University and
complete a research project on
empathy, conflict resolution and
psychophysiological factors for
couples. Also, in 2012 we were
honored to have Oscar come to
Ball State to speak to our faculty
and students about his research,
and to sign a memorandum of
understanding between our two
universities. In the summer of
2013, my colleague Stephanie
Simon-Dack and I led a group of
undergraduate and graduate
students on a study abroad trip
to visit the lab at the University
of Minho in Portugal, where our
students were able to gain
hands-on experience and train-
ing on fMRI, ERP, neurobiochem-
istry and peripheral measures
research methodology. Recently
Oscar and I co-edited a special
section for the Journal of Coun-
seling Psychology on the inter-
face of neuroscience and coun-
seling psychology that will be in
the October 2014 issue.
With the leadership of Stephanie
Simon-Dack, my talented physio-
logical psychologist friend and
colleague, and two other col-
leagues from the Psychological
Sciences Department at Ball
State University (Thomas Holt-
graves and Michael Tagler), we
obtained a Major Research In-
strumentation Grant from the
National Science Foundation to
purchase equipment that al-
lowed us to set up an Event Re-
lated Potential research labora-
tory over the 2013-14 academic
year. My future research direc-
tions will include using this
equipment to examine con-
structs related to attachment,
empathy and interpersonal rela-
tionships. I will also be training
students in counseling psycholo-
gy and neuroscience interface
and neuropsychological assess-
ment and practice (and hopeful-
ly inspiring them towards future
work in this area).
It’s been an exciting and won-
derful journey and I feel blessed
by the mentoring, support and
encouragement I have received
from my incredible colleagues.
I will end with three pieces of
advice to aspiring future leaders.
First, be curious. In the
words of Albert Einstein,
“The important thing is not
to stop questioning. Curios-
ity has its own reason for
existing.”
Second, take risks. Don’t try to
follow current trends or do what
everyone else is doing. Set the
trend yourself and others will
follow.
Third, choose work you are pas-
sionate about. Joseph Campbell
said it best when he said,
“Follow your bliss and the uni-
verse will open doors where
here were only walls.”
“By the inch it’s a cinch;
by the mile it’s a trial.”
32
Hulsey Van Tongeren Green
Scott Allison, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Richmond, pre-
sented a talk titled, "Heroic Leadership: The Elevation of the Human Spirit."
Allison’s research focus is on heroes, villains, legends, leaders, underdogs and
martyrs. He has published nearly 100 articles and four books on heroes. His
work has been featured in media outlets such as National Public Radio, USA To-
day, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Slate Magazine, MSNBC, CBS,
the Christian Science Monitor and Psychology Today.
Gerald Clore, Ph.D., commonwealth professor of psychol-
ogy at the University of Virginia, presented a research talk
titled, "Emotional Impact." Clore is co-author of “The Cognitive Structure of Emo-
tions,” a book detailing a general theory of how psychological situations elicit
emotions and make them intense. With funding from the National Institutes of
Mental Health and the National Science Foundation, he explores the affect-as-
information hypothesis, which clarifies how affective information about value and
urgency regulates cognition, motivation and memory. In 2010 he was elected to
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 2013 he received the William
James Award for lifetime scientific achievement from the Association for Psycho-
logical Science.
Bethany Teachman, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, deliv-
ered a research talk titled, "It’s Not a Heart Attack, You’re Just Out of Breath: Chang-
ing Threat Interpretations to Reduce Anxiety." Teachman’s research lab investigates
cognitive processes that contribute to the development and maintenance of anxiety
disorders. They are especially interested in how thoughts that occur outside of our
control or conscious awareness contribute to fear and anxiety.
Abstract: If we want to understand why an intelligent, normally rational person with a
spider phobia has refused to go down to her basement for ten years, why a person
with social phobia sees only the one scowling face in a room full of smiles, why a per-
son with panic disorder is convinced that the 200th panic attack is the one that will
bring on a heart attack, we need to consider the role of automatic processing of emo-
tional information in these disorders. Each of these seemingly irrational decisions, beliefs and behav-
iors is likely fueled by some aspect of automatic cognitive processing, whereby anxious individuals in-
terpret their environment in such a way that these maladaptive reactions make sense to them in the
moment.
Teachman’s research investigates how these processes contribute to the onset and persistence of anxi-
ety problems and whether it is important to change these processes in order to ameliorate anxiety.
Visitingspeakers
Clore
Teachman
Allison
33
Doctor of Philosophy
Shelley Avny
Robert Goodman
Chelsea Greer
David Guion
Hannah Lund
Janet Lydecker
Kathryn Maher
Annabella Opare-Henaku
Kimberly Parker
Vivian Rodriguez
Claire Russell
Master of Science
Melissa Dvorsky
Shaina Gulin
Autumn Lanoye
Zachary Radcliff
Bachelor of Science
Amielia Altice
Christian Ammons
Alexis Ashby
Stephanie Azango
Priya Barot
Catherine Brannock
Emily Bregman
Jeremy Brown
Brandon Burgess
Brandon Burneson
Jun Chang
Courtney Coleman
Kamile Conley
Kyle Cox
Stephanie Cunningham
Lianna Davies
Sarah Debaerien
Kaylah Degree
Amir Elsayed
Amel Eltayeb
Samantha Estep
Bobbi Finkelstein
Anneliese Grant
Channing Gravely
Harold Hallock
Nicole Harrig
Ashley Harris
Abdisamad Hassan
Matthew Hatheway
Laura Hazlett
Ashley Hedge
Ashley Hefner
Edward Huffman
Nicole Jolly
Christina Jones
Samuel Keeble
Tara Kelley
Michael Ko
Katherine Lazenby
Melanie-Grace Licen
Walid Mansoor
Crystal Mcnair
Nighat Mehrzad
Caroline Mills
Abir Muhammad
Leah Neary
Modesta Nzekwesi-Albert
Leah O'Connor
Marissa Oden
Junko Omoto
Christian Ostrowski
Taylor Owens
DaJuan Pitts
Michael Pivik
Sarah Ripp
Lindsay Runner
Annaliese Santos
Samantha Shaw
Sarah Sitler
Lauren Smallwood
Tracy St. Hill
Kyle Sutherland
Nathaniel Thomas
Sherrie Timberlake
Lauren Troublefield
Elexis White
Deborah Wilde
Camerina Younce
augustGraduates
34
Teaching
Jody Davis, Ph.D., was this year’s
recipient of the Outstanding Fac-
ulty Teaching Award for her ex-
emplary year of teaching and
mentorship. An excellent class-
room instructor, Davis has been
a department leader in advanc-
ing online teaching initiatives.
For example, her social psycholo-
gy course has been presented as
an online course showcase
through VCU’s Academic Learn-
ing Transformation lab (formerly
the Center for Teaching Excel-
lence). She was also a member
of VCU’s Summer Online Learn-
ing Initiative, where she present-
ed information about her online
course assignments (among oth-
er things) as a resource for other
faculty. Davis is also an excep-
tional mentor to not only gradu-
ate and undergraduate students,
but also to junior faculty mem-
bers through the ALT lab’s junior
faculty mentorship program.
scholarship
The Outstanding Faculty Scholar-
ship Award was given to Paul
Perrin, Ph.D., assistant professor
of health psychology. Perrin had
an extraordinary year of research
productivity with 29 peer-
reviewed publications, on six of
which he was listed as first au-
thor. Notably, his students were
first author on 16 of these publi-
cations, demonstrating his devo-
tion to mentoring and teaching
students about research and
writing.
Perrin also continued to establish
an excellent research trajectory
by securing his first grant from
the National Institutes of Health
in 2013-14. With this grant, he
will evaluate a culturally sensitive
intervention for traumatic brain
injury caregivers in Latin Ameri-
ca. Perrin’s research interests
are in minority mental health,
health disparities and multicul-
tural awareness and competence
in health care providers.
Service
For her for her exceptional ser-
vice to the department, College,
university, community and pro-
fession, the department awarded
Terri Sullivan, Ph.D., the Out-
standing Faculty Service Award.
Sullivan continues to serve on
the Institutional Review Board’s
biomedical panel reviewing ex-
pedited and full board research
proposals on a monthly basis, a
task that is particularly work-
intensive. At the department
level, she is a member of the per-
sonnel committee—also a ser-
vice that requires a great deal of
time and effort and involves re-
viewing faculty reports and
writing evaluations. In service to
the profession, Sullivan sits on
the editorial board of two jour-
nals and served on the Institute
of Educational Sciences’ social
and behavioral grant review pan-
el in 2013-14.
Jody Davis, Ph.D. Terri Sullivan, Ph.D. Paul Perrin, Ph.D.
Department faculty awards for 2013-14
35
On the Examination for the Profession-
al Practice in Psychology, the national
exam taken by those seeking licenses
in clinical psychology, our counseling
doctoral program was ranked 12th of
60 doctoral counseling psychology
programs with a 92.31% pass rate.
Virginia Commonwealth University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action university providing access to
education and employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, gender, religion, sexual
orientation, veteran’s status, political affiliation or disability.
Virginia Commonwealth University
College of Humanities and Sciences
806 W. Franklin St.
P.O. Box 842018
Richmond, VA 23284
Phone: 804.828.1193
Fax: 804.828.2237
Email: [email protected]
Website: psychology.vcu.edu
Congratulations!