Clinical Psychology Student Wins Diversity Scholarship

Jeremy J. Eggleston, Clinical Psychology, has been awarded a Michael Sullivan Diversity Scholarship by the Ohio Psychiatric Association. The scholarship is intended to support research, training, and community projects in the area of diversity.

Jeremy’s research focuses on minority-identified populations living in the inner city who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and often face stigmas of both ethnic minority status and sexual orientation. He is currently writing his dissertation with the mentorship of Kathleen Schiaffino, Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Psychology, which focuses on gay and bisexual men of color and the various psychological, spiritual, and physical-health related outcomes of their post-traumatic growth. He is interested in the effects of personal spirituality and religious engagement in this population, and hopes to shed further light upon its role in empowering minority-identified populations.

For more information, please visit Fordham Notes 

Dr. Warren Tryon sets department record for successful dissertations

From left: Dr. Kathleen Schiaffino

Dr. Warren Tryon

Dr. David Glenwick

Dr. Isabel Rodriguez

Dr. David Chabot

On April 30th, 2013, Isabel Rodriguez successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, “ Ethnicity And Age Of Initial Symptom Onset As Predictors Of Neurocognitive Performance And Adaptive Functioning Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders”.

 

Dr. Rodriquez was mentored by Dr. Warren Tryon, a (43 years) veteran of the psychology department. She is the 85th successful dissertation student to be mentored by Dr. Tryon, setting a new departmental record.

 

Congratulations to Drs. Tryon and Rodriguez!

Dr. Jay Wade receives Fulbright Senior Research Scholar Award

Dr. Jay Wade of the Fordham University Psychology department has been awarded a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar Award in support of his research project titled “Masculinity, Changing Gender Roles, and Marital and Life Satisfaction Among Indonesian Men.”

Starting this September, Dr. Wade will spend a total of 10 months in Indonesia working on this project.

For more information on Dr. Wade’s Fulbright research project, visit the project’s information page on the psychology department’s Web site.

For information on the Fulbright Scholar Program, see:

http://www.cies.org/about_fulb.htm

Dr. Dean Mckay co-editing upcoming book

Recent President-elect of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)Dr. Dean McKay and colleague, Eric Storch (of University of South Florida), are in the process of co-editing a forthcoming volume that will be published by the American Psychological Association. The book, Obsessive compulsive disorder and its spectrum across the lifespan, is timely by addressing contemporary treatment issues in the forthcoming new DSM-5 category of Obsessive Compulsive Related Disorders.  

Dr. McKay’s research lab, Compulsive, Obsessive, and Anxiety Program , continues to be active in the professional psychology arena.  Some of the lab's recent accomplishments include program graduate Nate Thomas’s recent publication in the American Journal of Psychiatry, entitled, “A quality-based review of randomized controlled trials of cognitive-behavioral therapy for depressions: An assessment and meta-regression.”  Many current lab members will be presenting posters at the upcoming ABCT conference and have also published papers in peer-reviewed journals with Dr. McKay.  

Professor McKay elected President of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies

The membership voting for board members of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) has recently concluded, and Professor Dean McKay has been elected President of the organization.  Dr. McKay currently serves on the board of ABCT as Representative-at-Large (Convention and Education Issues), and will transition to be President-elect at the conference meeting in November.  Dr. McKay will serve as President for the 2013-2014 year.  Dr. McKay will continue to serve on the board as past-President for the 2014-2015 year.

ABCT is recognized internationally as the leading organization that covers the scientific foundations and practice of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT).  Among empirically supported psychological treatments, the vast majority is CBT in nature, and virtually all have been developed by active members of ABCT.  The organization has a membership of 2200 Full and New Professional members in the US, and over 3500 worldwide.  When graduate students are included, the membership is over 5500 individuals.  In addition to the annual convention, where the leaders in the field of clinical psychology gather to disseminate their research and promote the training of colleagues via workshops, the organization is closely involved in the planning of the triennial World Congress of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (meeting next in 2013 in Lima, Peru; http://www.wcbct2013.pe/site/).

Clinical Program Celebrates Dr. Rosenfeld

Dr. Barry Rosenfeld will be stepping down as Director of Clinical Training for the Clinical Graduate Program after his 6 year tenure in the position.  He has done much to enhance the program during the past 6 years, and was celebrated for his accomplishments and unique style as DCT with students and faculty of the clinical program.  Dr. Monica Rivera-Mindt will take over as DCT this summer.

Dr. Rosenfeld featured middle celebrating with 1st-3rd year clinical 

students at his last Clinical Topics Seminar

The Association for Neuropsychology Students in Training (ANST) Recognizes Fordham Chapter

APA Division 40, Clinical Neuropsychology, oversees the Association for Neuropsychology Students in Training (ANST) which is an important forum for academic, scientific, and overall professional development for those students interested in Neuropsychology. ANST selected Fordham University as their Feature Chapter! The contributions and accomplishments of our Fordham Chapter are highlighted on the ANST website.

If you are interested in joining the ANST-Fordham Chapter please contact our student representative Amanda Gooding at amandalgooding@gmail.com.

Student Spotlight: Amanda Gooding, M.A.

Amanda Gooding, M.A., is a fourth year student in the Clinical program's Health and Neuropsychology specialization. Her recent research on cognitive remediation in individuals with schizophrenia led to a publication in Neuropsychological Rehabilitation: An International Journal. Amanda's future research will continue to explore the impact of neuropsychological abilities on cognitive remediation treatment response, with her current dissertation project exploring the specific role of executive functioning in older adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Article Summary:

Previous research indicates that treatment intensity and regular attendance is an important characteristic that predicts a more favorable response to cognitive remediation (CR) in schizophrenia. Amanda's research is the first study to date to examine the neuropsychological, psychological, and clinical factors contributing to participants’ voluntary attendance for CR in a community-based clinic setting with a diverse clinical population. The results indicate that objective neuropsychological impairment (i.e., global neuropsychological functioning and attention/working memory in particular) and subjective awareness of having neuropsychological problems both significantly predict lower CR treatment utilization. These findings underscore previous findings suggesting that neuropsychological impairment is a rate-limiting factor with respect to psychiatric rehabilitation outcomes. Thus, although individuals may recognize their neuropsychological dysfunction, they simply may not have the cognitive skills necessary to manage their schedules and regularly attend their CR sessions.

The findings from this study have salient implications for clinical service providers because those clients who have been identified as having specific deficits in the domains of attention/working memory or processing speed may be at the highest risk for drop-out and poor treatment response, and may require extra attention from clinicians. The implications from these findings can be used as a way to provide ongoing guidance for service provision and can aid in the development of empirically informed strategies aimed at improving CR treatment utilization, and thus treatment effectiveness, in clinical settings.

Reference:

Gooding, A. L., Saperstein, A., Rivera Mindt, M., & Medalia, A. (2012). Predictors of treatment utilisation at cognitive remediation groups for schizophrenia: The roles of neuropsychological, psychological and clinical variables. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation: An International Journal, DOI:10.1080/09602011.2012.665583

Full text available: Fordham Digital Research Repository

Fordham Represents at the 40th Annual International Neuropsychological Society Conference

Fordham's Psychology Department was heavily represented at the recent International Neuropsychological Society (INS) Annual Meeting in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Read the full recap of the annual meeting on the INS website.

Faculty, alumni, post doctoral students, interns, current graduate and undergraduate students from Fordham's Psychology Department gathered together in between poster sessions, lectures, and general conference activities...

Clinical Graduate Student, Armando Fuentes, awarded an APA Student Poster Award

Clinical graduate student, Armando Fuentes, M.A., was recognized by the APA Convention Award Committee with a Student Poster Award by Division 40 in the category of "Cross-cultural neuropsychology." His poster, entitled "Neurocognitive and Sociocultural Factors Impacting Medication Beliefs Among HIV-Positive Latinas/os" will be presented at the 2012 Annual APA Convention in Orlando, Florida in August.