Graduate Counseling Psychology Research

Students have opportunities to engage in a broad array of faculty-led research. Learn about the work being done by our psychology research teams.

CRAFT Your Career Program

“CRAFT (Create, Reflect, Author, Follow, & Take action for) your career” is a career readiness intervention for adolescents and emerging adults. Over 4-sessions, CRAFT supplies career information and facilitates the building of identity and self-knowledge to assist young people in forming a “narrative” or statement about their strengths, career desires, and motivations to achieve their goals. Facilitators work to address perceived barriers to employment, methods of coping with the barriers, and career/educational exploration, helping to foster positive career development. Led by Dr. Michael Cadaret.

Photo of four students sitting around a table in the library, talking and laughing, with laptops and books and knitting on the table

Define It!

A consciousness-raising group that focuses on rape culture and bystander behavior on college campuses. This research is testing the efficacy of the program and focuses on the following topics: bystander behavior, rape culture, the role of substance use, and social influence on the occurrence of sexual expectations and sexual assault on college campuses. This is part of research within the idealslab.org. Led by Dr. Michael Cadaret.

Determinants of Health in Neurological Conditions

Quantitative studies focused on investigating social, psychological, environmental, and medical determinants of health outcomes in patients with neurological disorders. Led by Dr. Tina Stephenson.

Group Therapy Research Team

Focuses on extending our understanding of 1) the active ingredients of change present in helpful therapy group experiences, particularly among people marginalized by systems of oppression, and 2) group therapy in international contexts. This research has examined a variety of specific topics (norms, absences, PTSD, self-disclosure, diversity, group composition, etc.) and we are currently working on a collaboration with colleagues in Seoul and Busan, South Korea. Led by Dr. Jill Paquin.

Photo of a Chatham University psychology student sitting across from a man with a clipboard on her lap.

Identity & Career Experiences of Psychotherapists Research Team

Focuses on exploring psychotherapists' identity development and professional issues encountered in the course of providing psychotherapy, as a trainee and throughout one's career. This research has examined a variety of specific topics including how to have a career engaged in both therapy research and practice; and how to become an expert group therapist. Current topics include: the sexual harassment experiences of women therapists; professional identity development of Asian American psychologists; and training experiences of hearing and vision-impaired therapists. Led by Dr. Jill Paquin. 

Photo of a group of six Chatham University students sitting outside a red brick academic building on the ground and benches talking

Social Psychological Determinants of Health

Social factors have a major impact on people’s health. This line of research aims to better understand the impact of such factors through the lens of social psychological theories and perspectives. So far, our studies have focused on predictors of flu vaccination. In our most recent study, we found that people are more likely to get a flu vaccine if they think that most people in their social circle got a flu vaccine the year before, although this pattern depends on a person’s tendency to avoid uncertainty. The stronger this tendency, the more likely it is that a person will imitate their social circle when it comes to getting a flu vaccine. Led by Dr. John Dimoff. Our flu shot study was recently accepted for publication. In the meantime,

Photo of Chatham University students walking across the grassy Shadyside Campus

The College Culture(s) of Drinking

Going to college is an important developmental milestone for many emerging adults. Although there are numerous benefits associated with the college experience (e.g., identity development, social bonding, career exploration and discovery), there are also some risks, many of which are related to the so-called “culture of drinking.” This line of research focuses on novel predictors of risky college drinking, such as the motivation to achieve a sense of shared reality. It also explores whether the college drinking “culture” intersects with other cultures and subcultures on campus, which would suggest that there are multiple cultures of drinking. Led by Dr. John Dimoff.

Women's Reproductive Mental Health Research Lab

Current and upcoming projects focus on mental health treatment-seeking timeline for postpartum women and motherhood identity development in relation to professional identity. Led by Dr. Molly Kelly and Dr. Deanna Hamilton.