Culture, Community, and Global
Mental Health Research Lab
Palo Alto University
Alumni
Past research group members and current affiliates. Click a name below to learn more about the individual alumni/affiliate or scroll down to get to know them all!
Karlin Bruegel, Ph.D.
Dissertation: The Relationship Between Self-Determination and Well-being in Adults with Spina Bifida
Research Interests: Attachment theory and childhood trauma, newcomer immigrant risk and resilience factors, trauma and interpersonal functioning
Education:
BS: California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo
MS: Palo Alto University
Internship Site: VA Pacific Islands Health Care System
Projects:
PSP - Oakland Project Manager for Data Collection
Attachment Disruptions and Coping Strategies Among Newcomer Immigrant Adolescents (Poster Presentation)
Attachment Disruptions and Coping Strategies Among Newcomer Immigrant Adolescents (Manuscript Work in Progress)
Dissertation title:
Building Bridges: A trauma-informed relational intervention for parents experiencing homelessness
Post doc site:
Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veteran’s Hospital (Intimate Partner Violence Psychology Postdoctoral Resident).
Annette Clarke, Ph.D.
Research interests: immigration and acculturation, identity, culture, racial socialization, racism, ethnic minority mental health
Education:
Area of Emphasis - Diversity and Community Mental Health
MS: Palo Alto University
MA: The New School for Social Research
BA: New York University
Dissertation: Black and Immigrant in America: Ethnic Misidentification, Acculturation, and Psychological Distress
Research Interests: Examining relationships between anxiety and cannabis on cognitive performance; interplay of traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms on cognition; manifestations of trauma in individuals and communities in Central African Republic (CAR); trauma healing program evaluation in CAR.
Education:
Areas of Emphasis: Neuropsychology and global mental health
MS: PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium, Palo Alto University.
MA: University of San Francisco
BA: University of California, Santa Cruz.
Projects: Translation of neuroscience into clinical practice through the Williams PanLab at Stanford University School of Medicine; poster submission on understanding and informing trauma healing in CAR; collaborator on poster submission on liberation psychology in CAR.; collaborator on symposium submission on trauma healing and peace education program implementation in CAR.
Dissertation Title:
The Effects of Cannabis and Anxiety on Neurocognitive Functioning
Postdoc Site:
Neuropsychology fellowship at Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Health Alliance
William Firmender, Ph.D.
Research Interests: public policy, program development and evaluation, data analysis, therapeutic sports interventions,
Education:
Area of Emphasis - Diversity and Community Mental Health
BA: New York University
Dissertation: Fostering Achievement and Self-efficacy among Newcomer Immigrant Youth: A Program Evaluation of Soccer Without Borders
Fazia Eltareb, Ph.D.
Research Interests:
Education:
Dissertation:
Research Interests: Immigrant adolescent development, juvenile delinquency, developmental psychopathology among Latino populations.
Education:
Area of Emphasis: Diversity and Community Mental Health
MS: Palo Alto University
MA: Teachers College, Columbia University
BS: Brandeis University
Internship Site: University of California, San Francisco Clinical Psychology Training Program, Public Service and Minority Cluster
Projects:
Dissertation- Unpacking the Immigrant Paradox: Psychosocial Mediators of the Effect of Acculturation on Delinquency in Newcomer Latino Youth
Project 1- Pathways to Success Project (PSP): Trajectories of Risk and Resiliency among Newcomer Immigrant Adolescents
Dissertation Title:
Unwelcome to America: Exploring the acculturation - delinquency link among newcomer Latinx immigrant youth and the impact of negative context of reception and sense of community
Postdoc site:
UCSF, Clinical Psychology Training Program
Dustin Kieschnick, Ph.D.
PsyD Program Affiliate
Research Interests: PTSD & International Trauma, and Substance Use Disorders
Education:
BA: University of Houston
MS: PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium
Projects: Central African Republic Trauma Research Project
Research Interests: Trauma, resilience, coping, and stress among the adult and older adult population.
Education:
Area of Emphasis: Trauma
MS: Palo Alto University
MA: Teachers College, Columbia University
BA: University of California, Riverside
Internship Site: Nevada Psychology Internship Consortium (NV-PIC), Las Vegas, Nevada
Projects:
Dissertation - Immigrant Survivors of Torture: Changes in Coping before and after Migration
Acculturative Stressors and Psychological Outcomes in Newcomer Immigrant Survivors of Torture
Erynn Macciomei, Ph.D.
Research interests: immigrant adolescents and families, Latino immigrants, Unaccompanied Minors
Education:
Area of Emphasis: Child and Family
BA: Oakland University
Certificate: Oregon State University
Dissertation:
Michelle Medeiros, Ph.D.
Research Interests:
Education:
Dissertation:
Holly Muller, Ph.D.
Email: Hmuller@paloaltou.edu
Research Interests: Attachment and trauma among newcomer immigrant adolescents as well as adults, global mental health.
Education:
Area of Emphasis: Trauma
MS: Palo Alto University
MA: The New School for Social Research, NY, NY
BA: Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia
Internship Site: Counseling and Student Development Center at University of Hawai’i, Mānoa
Projects:
Attachment disruptions and coping strategies among newcomer immigrant adolescents, Mental health reporting agreement in a Rural Kenyan Sample: Teacher Report in Relation to Lower and Upper School- Age Children.
Dissertation title:
The role of attachment style among newcomer immigrant adolescents exposed to community violence.
Postdoc Site:
Boston College, University Counseling Services
Kristina Mendez, M.S.
Email: Kmendez@paloaltou.edu
Research Interests: Latinx youth and young adults, immigrant mental health, holistic wellness, yoga and mindfulness-based prevention in schools, yoga and mindfulness-based mental health interventions, ecological system-based prevention & intervention, community-based participatory research.
Education:
Area of Emphasis: Child and Family
BA: University of California, Santa Cruz (go Slugs!)
MS: Palo Alto University
Projects:
Principal Investigator: Culturally Adapted Yoga for Newcomer Youth
Past: Pathways to Success Project Manager for San Francisco International High School
Practicum Site: CSU San Marcos' Student Health and Counseling Services
Amardeep Sekhon, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Neuropsychology, Traumatic Brain Injury, Cultural Neuropsychology, Immigrant Mental Health
Education:
Areas of Emphases - Neuropsychology; Diversity and Community Mental Health
MS: Palo Alto University
BA: University of California, Berkeley
Dissertation: Clinical Effectiveness of the Wechsler Scale of Intelligence – IV with Punjabi Youth
David Reed, M.S.
Statistician
PhD Program Affiliate
Research Interests: existential anxiety, trauma, and advanced statistics
Education:
MS: Palo Alto University
BS: The University of South Carolina
Projects: existential anxiety, and, separately, the differential effects of treatment types on psychological well-being and cultural adaptation among immigrant torture survivors.
Anna Staudenmeyer, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Biological and psychological correlates of early life trauma.
Education: MS: Palo Alto University
Dissertation: Experienced violence and witnessed violence predicts age at menarche in African American girls.
PsyD Program Affiliate
Research Interests: Treatment of young people from underserved communities, immigrant populations, trauma, anxiety, mood disorders
Education:
MS: PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium
BA: University of Wisconsin, Madison
Dissertation Topic: The Experience of Family Separation and Reunification Among Central American Unaccompanied Minors
Postdoc Site:
Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center, Psychiatry Department: Child/Family Team
Kevin Tabb, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Black Sexual Minorities Coping with Multiple Minority Stressors
Research Interests: Risk, resilience, and coping strategies among marginalized children and adolescents.
Education:
Area of Emphasis: Child/Adolescent Trauma
BA: University of Nevada, Reno
Projects:
Project Manager for Risk and Resilience Among Newcomer Immigrant Adolescents, Pathways to Success Project, Adolescent Mixed Methods Research
Practicum site: Colorado State University Health Network
Research interests: Cultural stigma in Asian American Pacific Islander population.
Education:
Area of Emphasis: Diversity Community Mental Health
BA: University of California, Davis
Projects:
Immigration trauma & resilience: Qualitative comparison among new immigrant adolescents.
Research Interests: Exploring how local and global underserved individuals can psychologically heal with the use of their own resources and practices.
Education:
MA: Teachers College, Columbia University
MPH: Universitat Pompeu Fabra
BA: Yale University
Projects:
The integration of traditional healers into the Kenyan mental health care system, identifying local mental health needs in Central African Republic; and understanding trauma and resilience in her home, Puerto Rico, post-Hurricane María.
Research Interests: The impact of trauma across culture, focusing on young children, mothers, parenting, and attachment, and utilizing mindfulness and meditation-based interventions.
Education:
Area of Emphasis: Child/Adolescent Trauma
BA: Xavier University of Louisiana
MA: Pepperdine University
Projects:
Project Manager for Pathways to Success Project
Survivors of Torture Project
Research Interests: interpersonal relationships in addition to focusing on the mechanisms that predict relationship satisfaction in romantic relationships as well as the factors that influence relationship longevity.
Education:
Area of Emphasis: Diversity In Community Mental Health
MS: Palo Alto University
MA: The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
BA: Loyola University Maryland
Projects:
Data collection for future analysis and dissertation defense involving an exploration of the impact of various factors (including but not limited to social media/online behavior, individual self-esteem, and levels of personal insecurity in one's relationship dynamic) on the outcome of perceived satisfaction in one's relationship.
Research Interests: Child complex trauma, Latinx mental health, parenting, immigrant youth development, global mental health, and conducting community-based research in underserved populations.
Education:
Area of Emphasis: Child/Adolescent Trauma
MA: Pepperdine University
BA: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Projects:
Lead Project Manager for the Pathways to Success Project
The Role of Traditional Birth Attendants in Fostering Maternal Mental Health Care Among Adolescents in Rural Kenya (Collaboration with African Mental Health Foundation)
Research Interests: Trauma, resilience, psychodynamic therapeutic approaches with individuals who have experienced trauma(s).
Education:
Area of Emphasis: Trauma
MA: MHC, Marist College
BA: Siena College
Projects:
Current - Traditional Healers Project, Survivors of Torture, Persecution, and Psychopathological Outcomes, Pathways to Success Project
Past - Attachment Disruptions and Coping Styles Among Newcomer Immigrant Adolescents.
Research Interests: Complex trauma in marginalized populations and trauma responses in survivors of war.
Education:
BA: University of California, Santa Cruz
Projects:
Project Manager for Pathways to Success Project
Survivors of Torture Project
Research Interests: Domestic/intimate partner violence, transgenerational trauma, police brutality, immigration as well as Black and LGBTQ+ mental health
Education:
Area of Emphasis: Trauma and Diversity in Community Mental Health (DCMH)
MA: Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY
BS: The Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg, PA
Projects:
IRB Manager; Examining Acute Stress Levels While Viewing Police Brutality Towards a Racial In-Group Versus Out-Group Member