Lab Overview
This page overviews the research group I run at Utah State University, which we call the School Mental Health Lab. I update this page whenever there is a meaningful change in the lab ecosystem.
Big Ideas
There are four big ideas driving our lab:
Schools can be community hubs for youth mental health services.
Mental health services should include both prevention and treatment.
Mental health services should balance mitigating suffering with improving well-being.
School-based mental health services are integral to promoting mental health equity among youth.
Our lab’s intention is to do research that helps educators and mental health professionals make better decisions, use better tools, and provide more equitable mental health services in schools. We realize our work plays only a small part toward these ends, but we believe it's a meaningful and useful part.
Lines of Research
Geeking out on research with my lab is probably my favorite thing about being a professor. My lab currently geeks-out along three lines of research:
Validating brief rating scales for assessing key mental health variables, including problem and well-being indicators.
Evaluating the effects of classroom-based interventions for improving mental health in schools.
Reviewing the evidence on mindfulness practices and translating this research into guidelines for service delivery with youth and in schools.
Occasionally, we undertake projects that are more peripherally related to these lines. But all our projects eventually cohere around the larger theme of advancing the science that drives school-based mental health services.
Lab People
Our lab is mostly made up of me and my doctoral students, with a few undergrad RAs helping out from time to time. I encourage my doctoral students to do research that connects with their personal values and interests. You can learn more about the doctoral students in my lab at my Current PhD Students page.
We also collaborate with several other research groups, at other universities, who are doing work related to advancing youth mental health and school-based mental health services. I don’t currently have a page designated to my collaborators, but I hope to get one up and running in the future.
Research Access
You can find my lab's research online at Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and Open Science Framework. Unfortunately, academic research is notoriously hard to access and often stuck behind paywalls. If you cannot access a publication you want, just email me directly and request it.
More
If you found this page because you're interested in potentially joining my lab as a doctoral student, please check out my FAQ for Prospective PhDs page.
If you found this page because you are looking for a research assistant opportunity, please see my Info for Prospective RAs page.
For more on me and my work, give my About page and Now page a try.