Curry School of Education

Education

• Ph.D., University of Virginia, 1982
• B.A., Hollins College, 1972

Personal Statement

A faculty member in the Curry Programs in Clinical and School Psychology since 1982, I teach graduate courses in marital and family theory and therapy, and undergraduate courses in issues facing adolescent girls and fostering leadership in women. I co-founded and direct the Young Women Leaders Program, a research-based mentoring initiative that pairs adolescent girls with college women for a year to develop the leadership skills of both groups. I also direct the Family Empowerment Project, which focuses on both research and clinical work with multi-problem families. For information on doctoral training in clinical psychology, go to http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/clinpsych.

Research Interests

My research focuses on investigating the effects of mentoring on early adolescent girls and college women’s social and academic outcomes, and on improving mentoring experiences for both populations. In addition to evaluating the effectiveness of the Young Women Leaders Program, in particular, our lab is involved in evaluating best practices in group and one-on-one youth mentoring and leadership development. Additionally, I am evaluating the validity and utility of the Family Inventory of resources and Stressors (FIRST) as an assessment tool for multi-problem families.