UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-SAINT LOUIS  
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Student Involvement
   

DESCRIPTION OF STUDENT ROLES

Graduate and undergraduate students are integral to work that I conduct in the lab. Students work on both programmatic research areas or on independent research projects related to anxiety and health.

Students are encouraged to work collaboratively on lab projects and progressively demonstrate increasing independence and initiative. For example, a beginning student might start off by collecting and analyzing data for an existing or planned study and then gradually move to designing and implementing a follow-up study to that project. In some applied research, effective and sensitive interaction with individuals and patients with emotional disorders is of utmost importance. This phase of clinical research aims to build and hone clinical skills and is usually reserved for doctoral students. Students are afforded opportunities to present research in a seminar and conference format and, for graduate students, the supervision of undergraduate assistants. Students regularly co-author publications and presentations, and, are first authors when appropriate.

My model of mentoring is to hold each student to high standards and expectations in a supportive, interactive, fun, productive environment. Students are encouraged to discuss the process and the product of clinical research. One goal of our work together is to build knowledge that extends beyond simple understanding of theories toward the working application of psychology and how it relates to the clinical context in the applied world. Although I provide lots of encouragement and some reminders, my students (undergraduate and graduate) nearly always meet or often exceed research and programmatic deadlines. In addition to research, depending upon research grants and teaching loads, I supervise a Clinical Treatment Team at the UM-St. Louis Community Psychological Service (CPS) center at the University.