2019 School of Behavioral Health Commencement
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At this year's Commencement ceremony, the School of Behavioral Health conferred degrees upon 128 students, including 8 dual degree recipients. SBH also presented the following awards:
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Teaching to Learn and Learning to Teach: A Summer in Samoa
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Clinical Psychology PsyD student Sean M. Roche writes about this summer's experience: "For the nearly 200,000 residents of Samoa, these vibrant greens and deep oceanic blues were the backdrop to what is otherwise an ordinary way of life. People here face the same kinds of daily tasks, joys and challenges as anyone else on planet earth."
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Forging a Brighter Future: Loma Linda University's Mental Health Pipeline Program
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"The students' passion and commitment to increasing awareness about mental health and serving diverse communities was clear in every presentation," says Assistant Professor
Dr. Kelly Baek.
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Growing by Leaps and Bounds
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"The Pony Clinic was created to provide an activity where siblings could also be involved and see where their brother or sister receives therapy services," says
Alisha Saavedra, Director of Clinical Training.
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Dr. Maya Boustani speaks to San Bernardino school counselors
Assistant Professor
Dr. Maya Boustani was invited to speak at the San Bernardino School Counseling Collaborative held at Cal State University, San Bernardino in June. After guiding the attendees through a mindfulness exercise, she presented some key strategies on how to manage student anxiety in the school setting. Attendees were largely school counselors, but also included school nurses, teachers, and administrators.
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Growing MEND outpatient program moves to larger location
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The
MEND program at the Loma Linda University
Behavioral Medicine Center has relocated to a larger facility in response to the region's surging demand for treatment programs for patients and families dealing with chronic health issues. Enrollment in the program has tripled in the past 18 months.
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While a student, Child Life Specialist MS alumna
Ciara Sprague began a podcast to help broaden understanding of the child life field. She also hoped to stand out in the competitive world of child life internships. The result was
Bigger Than Bubbles, a multi-season podcast about and for future and current certified child life specialists.
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Tori Dang, MSW, graduated from the Department of Social Work and Social Ecology in 2018. In addition to her academic studies, Tori was instrumental in providing philanthropic work to the local community as President of the Iota Pi chapter of the Phi Alpha Honor Society for the 2017-18 academic year.
Born in Vung Tau, Vietnam, Tori understood the importance of helping others from a very early age, especially with regard to the impact of trauma on people's lives.
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Alumna's book helps children understand Alzheimer's, dementia
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Beatrice Tauber Prior, 2004 PsyD graduate, is the co-author of a book that aims to help children deal with the progressive illnesses of family members. Though written for children between the ages of 5 and 9, Dr. Prior believes entire families can benefit from reading the story to children.
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Alumni present at 37th Child Life Annual Conference
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Two alumni from our Child Life Specialist MS program-
-Colleen Cherry and
Kayleigh Chang--presented their latest innovations and research at the annual ACLP conference in April.
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Alumna authors book about pathway to launching marriage and family therapy careers
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Jessica ChenFeng, PhD, LMFT, co-authored the book,
Finding Your Voice as a Beginning Marriage and Family Therapist, with colleague Dana J. Stone, PhD, MA. The work has already been incorporated into the curriculum of several universities, where Dr. ChenFeng hopes it will help students feel empowered.
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Awards and Accomplishments
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Albert Ly
Clinical Psychology PhD student Albert Ly received the prestigious Psi Chi Society Convention Research Award for outstanding cross-cultural research at this year's APA conference. The award recognizes his work on stigmatizing cultural beliefs about diabetes and their effect on treatment distress and medical avoidance in Type 2 diabetes patients in Chile.
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2019 Phi Alpha Chapter Service Award
Iota Pi, the LLU chapter of the Phi Alpha social work national honor society, recently received their 6th award for service. Their exceptionally strong commitment to civic engagement alongside academic excellence has led them to win in this category for the last five years in a row!
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William James Excellence in Research Awards
The Department of Psychology's 13th annual William James award winners are
Megan Krantz, PhD student in
Dr. Cameron Neece's lab, who won for "Parenting Stress and Parent Discipline Behaviors: The Role of Psychological Flexibility" and
David Ross, PsyD student in
Dr. Richard Hartman's lab, who won for "The Effects and Mechanisms of Phytochemicals on Alzheimer's Disease Neuropathology."
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Lisa Lares
Social Policy and Social Research PhD student Lisa Lares was recently recognized for her exceptional research on "Psychosocial Needs of Long-Term Incarcerated Older Adults," receiving one of two honorable mentions given by the American Public Health Association for the Laurence G. Branch Doctoral Student Research award.
Nikki Patel
Clinical Psychology PhD student Nikki Patel received a 2019 Western Psychological Foundation Student Scholarship Award this spring for her poster "Body mass index moderates the association between appearance pressure from peers and body dissatisfaction."
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Culture and Behavior Laboratory
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Psychology students
Athena Jones,
Albert Ly,
Gabriela Bolivar,
Connor Nance, and
Sophia Truong along with their mentors,
Dr. Hector Betancourt and
Dr. Patricia Flynn, won the First Place Symposium Award from Division 52 of APA (International Psychology) at the WPA Convention this spring! Their symposium, "Discrimination, Stigma, and Sociocultural Appearance Pressures: Evidence from an Integrative Model of Culture, Psychology, and Health" included three first-author student papers.
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Dr. Qais Alemi honored for research on refugees
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Dr. Alemi was recognized this summer as a visionary foundation leader in the area of research advancement due to his extensive research examining the unmet psychosocial needs of Afghan refugees resettled in the United States and abroad. He received the 2019 Ulysses Medal for Leadership in Refugee Health.
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Bridgette J. Peteet, PhD, MA
Dr. Peteet, Associate Professor in the
Department of Psychology, specializes in multicultural psychology, substance use prevention and intervention, health disparities and inequities, and cultural consciousness/equity and inclusion training.
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Nicholas J. Rockwood, PhD, MAS, MA
Dr. Rockwood, Assistant Professor in the
Division of Interdisciplinary Studies, brings to the School of Behavioral Health expertise in multilevel modeling, structural equation modeling, item response theory, statistical mediation and moderation analysis, and computational statistics.
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2019 University Welcome Back Bash
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Each year the University hosts a welcome back celebration for new and returning students. This year, the theme of the celebration was "African Safari." The eight schools at the University as well as numerous campus organizations, area businesses, and local churches, hosted booths with games and giveaways.
The event was well-attended by students who enjoyed the food and fun activities that each both provided. The School of Behavioral Health booth was hosted by Dean Buckles, Dr. Aréchiga, staff, and faculty members. It was a very active night, with students spinning a wheel to win gifts such as animal masks, sunglasses, pens, animal crackers, and small stuffed animals.
Faculty and staff had fun not only meeting students at the booth, but also participating in some of the other activities at this event, such as holding pythons and bearded dragons, and chatting with faculty from other programs. The camaraderie among faculty and students reflected the spirit of sharing and celebrating the continued commitment to education and serving the community.
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Healthcare News At A Glance
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Brought to you by the
Institute for Health Policy and Leadership
, this informative weekly newsletter keeps you up-to-date on the latest global, national, and local healthcare news--and specifically highlights news relevant to mental health.
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Find more information about Students for International Mission Service
here
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Book and Resource Recommendations
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This issue's recommendations come from Clinical Psychology students! (Click the images to learn more about each resource.)
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Therapist Aid
This is a useful website filled with resources that are easy to use for students who are just starting out in therapy. Available resources include worksheets, interactives, guides, videos, articles, and products.
Dhira Patel, Clinical Psychology PsyD student
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Navigating Neuropsychology
This podcast presents cutting-edge scientific findings and interviews experts in brain-behavior fields. It's great for those in the trenches of neuropsych and casual listeners. Plus, one of the hosts is an alum of SBH!
Neilson Chan, Clinical Psychology PhD student
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MATCH-ADTC
by Bruce F. Chorpita
This modular therapy approach allows therapists to pick and choose techniques/topics to address individual needs, rather than having to adhere to a strict, session-by-session protocol.
Megan Krantz, Clinical Psychology PhD student
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Our mission is to provide graduate level education that prepares competent, ethical, and compassionate professionals in behavioral health.
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