Research Focus

I have two primary research tracks, one in the area of adult attachment and the other in the area of sexual identity/orientation. I have a peripheral interest in professional training which includes publications in "plain English" statistics and training in counseling psychology programs.

Adult Attachment: In general I am used to how attachment is related to personality development and how such theoretical knowledge can inform research, training, and treatment. My work to date has outlined the role attachment might play in the development of personality disorders and the use of attachment theory in the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. Currently, I am working on a project that hypothesizes the ways in which mental health care providers might perpetuate insecure attachment with their approach to these clients. In addition to these attachment projects, I have also collected data on the attachment dimensions of adult children of alcoholics and the correlation of attachment and relationship satisfaction in GLBT individuals.

Sexual Identity/Orientation: My research team and I are currently two manuscripts, one dealing with attachment and relationship satisfaction and the other dealing with the idea of "competing" identities: The role of religion in GLBT identity. The latter project uses a mixed method design with both quantitative and qualitative data. In addition to this, projects investigating sexual pressuring in lesbian and gay relationships, married men who have sex with other men (similar to the premise of Brokeback Mountain), and the self-critic in the coming out process are currently underway.

Professional training: I have published an article on the status of GLBT training in professional training programs and data collection is underway on a piece on psychological assessment training in counseling psychology programs. This second study looks at three aspects of assessment training: didactic classroom work, practical experiences, and internship. Students, professors, and internship training directors are all being surveyed. Another part of professional training I continue to value and publish in is the idea of "plain English" statistics. I consider this to be a "self-preservation" area of interest in that I am invested in my autonomy as a researcher and believe that it is important for me to be able to conduct and understand the statistical analyses of my own research. In addition, I have seen a number of students over the years underestimate their true potential because of a fear or misunderstanding of statistics. I have written one paper on Canonical Correlation Analysis and another on Descriptive Discriminant Analysis. I am assisting one of my students as she investigates statistics anxiety in undergraduates and graduate students.