Lab Overview
I run the School Mental Health Lab at Utah State University. Our lab does applied research that aims to improve the accessibility and quality of school-based mental health services.
Big Idea
The big idea driving our lab is that schools can be community hubs for youth mental health services. We believe schools can offer both prevention and treatment, and that school-based services should balance reducing suffering with improving well-being. We also believe school-based services are integral to promoting mental health equity among youth.
Research Focus
Our lab has 3 main 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.
We hope our research will help educators and mental health professionals make better decisions, use better tools, and provide more equitable services in schools. We realize our work plays only a small part in this process. But we believe it's an important and useful part.
Lab People
Our lab is mostly made up of PhD students, with a few undergrad RAs helping out. I encourage my PhD 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 teams at other universities who are doing work related to advancing youth mental health and school-based mental health services. Geeking out about research with students and colleagues is probably my favorite thing about being a professor.
Research Access
You can find our lab's research online at Google Scholar, Research Gate, and Open Science Framework. Unfortunately, academic research is notoriously hard to access and often stuck behind paywalls. If you can't access a publication you want, just email me directly and request it.
More
For more on my research lab, see the collection of lab-related posts on this website. And for more on me and my work, see my now page and my academic CV.