Student Spotlight

Where do you work and in what capacity?
I am currently a third-year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at the University of Wyoming. I am also APA Division 50’s newest Student Representative! 

Where did you do your training?
I am completing my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Wyoming under the mentorship of Dr. Alison Looby. Prior to beginning my graduate training, I received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Smith College and an Associate of Arts in Psychology from Quinsigamond Community College.

What are your research interests?
My research interests focus on better understanding food and alcohol disturbance behaviors among college students—use of any compensatory behavior within the context of a drinking episode to enhance the effects of alcohol and/or compensate for the calories consumed by alcohol—among college students. In addition, I am interested in understanding the cognitive mechanisms that initiate and maintain substance use (e.g., expectancies, motives).

What are your clinical interests?
I have a lot of clinical interests! I really enjoy doing individual therapy with folks who have eating disorders, substance use disorders, and/or serious mental illnesses. I also love doing psychological assessments that challenge me to make complicated differential diagnoses. My theoretical orientation is primarily based in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, though I frequently integrate Motivational Interviewing and third wave behavioral therapies (e.g., Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) into my treatment approach.

What are your policy/advocacy interests?
Some of my recent work has focused on examining how using person-first and non-stigmatizing language can improve treatment utilization among individuals who have substance use disorders. This work sparked my interest in educating people on the importance of using person-first and non-stigmatizing language when discussing substance use disorders and behaviors, especially when communicating with our elected officials, as this can encourage unbiased and effective substance use policies and programs.  

How did you become interested in addictive behaviors?
My story is kind of funny because I started out my undergraduate career thinking that I would be open to exploring anything in psychology besides substance use! This changed when I transferred to Smith College during my junior year of college and took a class titled “Alcohol & Other Licit Substances” taught by Dr. Byron Zamboanga. During this course, I immediately became captivated by the course material, and I frequently found myself leaving class with more questions than answers, which led me to spend several hours outside of class doing my own research so I could try to answer my questions. A few weeks after starting this class, I sought a position as a research assistant in Dr. Zamboanga’s research lab and worked on a laboratory-based virtual reality drinking game study. This experience helped me discover that my intellectual home is in substance use research and played an influential role in where I am at now in my career!

What motivated you to join the Society of Addiction Psychology (Division 50)?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I connected with several substance use researchers on Academic Twitter. Once the world started to develop a sense of normalcy again, I learned that several of my Twitter friends were planning to attend the Collaborative Perspectives on Addiction (CPA) Annual Meeting in 2022 in Portland, Oregon. This motivated me to become a member of APA Division 50 and submit a poster at CPA. At this meeting, I had the opportunity to finally meet the researchers who I had connected with online in-person, I developed new friendships with other like-minded individuals in the field, and I had an absolute blast! Since attending my first CPA conference, I have found myself counting down the days until our next annual meeting every year. This led to my decision to become involved in SoAP on a larger scale and apply for the Student Representative position!

Any other information that you would like to share about yourself with other SoAP members?
Outside of school, I love hiking, watching trashy reality TV shows, and spending time with my friends and family! Two fun facts about me are that I can do the worm, and I competed in two ice cream eating competitions when I was in undergrad!