Graduate Students

(We have no idea what Regina is doing on the ground here. Or really we’re not sure what anyone is doing here.)

My research focuses on transdiagnostic factors, such as self-compassion and self-criticism. I am interested in how self-compassion and self-criticism manifest in disorders of under- and overcontrol. My other interests include emotion beliefs and emotion regulation. In the future, I hope to examine how self-compassion interventions can reduce self-criticism and maladaptive emotion beliefs.

I am on internship (2023-2024) at the Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital in Chicago, IL.

Broadly, I’m interested in exploring how transdiagnostic risk factors influence internalizing psychopathology. I plan to utilize momentary assessment to investigate these relationships dynamically, with the goal of understanding how certain contextual features (such as social setting or culture) influence self-regulation. Ultimately, I hope for my work to inform efforts to identify and assist those at high risk for developing internalizing disorders.

Generally, I am interested in non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors and their relationship to emotion dysregulation and distress intolerance. Additionally, I am interested in emotional beliefs and the social process of understanding the self. I aim to understand and contribute to the knowledge of how intrapersonal factors affect the etiology and engagement in self-harm or suicidal risk. In the future, I hope my work contributes to a further comprehension of how to treat self-harm and related risk factors in adolescents and adults. 

I am broadly interested in how emotions can both facilitate and get in the way of people’s long-term goals. Specifically, I am interested in what increases both self-efficacy and willingness to tolerate distress. My current research focus is on how types of social support can affect momentary distress tolerance. In the future, I hope my work can identify areas to work on in clinical practice to better inform tactics for perseverance and resilience training. 

I am mainly interested in emotional invalidation. More specifically I am focusing on how people may invalidate their own emotions, and how this relates to general impaired psychological functioning, as well as symptoms of borderline personality disorder. Another area of research I hope to pursue is that of mental health stigma, both in a general sense and in the context of college athletics. I am particularly interested in how people internalize stigma related to mental illness as being a negative reflection of who he/she/they are as a person. 

I am largely interested in individual, environmental, and contextual factors that drive an individual to engage in dysregulated behaviors. Specifically, I am interested in exploring mechanisms that contribute to engagement in risk-taking behaviors (e.g., exaggerated alcohol consumption). My research thus far has explored individual and environmental correlates of risky drinking behaviors.  

My research focus to-date has been on the influence of environmental and psychological factors on substance use, particularly hazardous alcohol use. These contributory factors have been widespread, ranging from the examination of the role of beliefs about willpower and abstinence expectancies to the exploration of the role of the mother in childhood. More recently, my interests have shifted to thoughts and beliefs as they contribute to addictive processes as well as substance use and addiction more broadly. In the future, I intend to contribute to the development of a more comprehensive understanding of the interplay between beliefs about emotion and addiction to aid in the support and creation of appropriate treatment options for those struggling with addiction.

I am on internship (2023-2024) at the VA Pacific Islands Healthcare System in Honolulu, HI.

Graduate Student Alumni

• Jennifer Shaver, Ph.D.
• Melissa Zielinski, Ph.D.
• Garrett Pollert, Ph.D.
• Kayla Skinner, Ph.D.
• Danielle Higuera, Ph.D.