Harvey Louis Gayer Part-time Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical Program Dr. Harvey L. Gayer is a licensed psychologist and Director of Positive Outcomes Psychological Services, P.C., a practice he developed in 1998 in Athens, Ga after successful practice development in Valdosta, Ga. He also supervises doctoral students as the Assistant Clinical Professor at UGA’s accredited clinical psychology program in Athens, Georgia. Previously, Dr. Gayer was a member of the faculty of Valdosta State University from 1996 to 1998 as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and Counseling, where he also had a thriving private practice. He has published articles, and presented at local, state, and national conferences. Frequently referred forensic/court cases, Dr. Gayer has been qualified as an expert witness in several hundred hearings in Georgia and South Carolina. In addition to general practice, Dr. Gayer has a great deal of experience with complex custody/divorce, psychosexual , parental fitness, bonding, domestic violence, substance abuse, and criminal mitigation cases. He also works with disability issues, police, educator, and other fitness for duty evaluations, and he specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD, Anger, and Anxiety. His therapy approach is dependent on each individual’s presentation, and leans heavily on evidence based techniques. He often uses Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive-Behavioral, and Behavioral techniques. He supports the community through many forms of philanthropy. Education Education: Dr. Gayer received undergraduate training at Trenton State College, and graduate training at Ball State University (M.A. – 1993; Ph.D. – 1996). His 2000-hour APA-approved internship took place at Norristown (Pa.) State Hospital and his 2000-hour post-doctoral fellowship was conducted in Valdosta, Georgia. Both focused on the evaluation and treatment of children, adults, and their families. He has been continuously licensed as a psychologist in Georgia with 40 or more hours of continuing education credits since August of 1997. Dr. Gayer has supervised UGA graduate students in the accredited clinical psychology program since May of 2024.
UGA Clinical Psychology Graduate Students Receive National Recognition Psychology graduate students Leigha Rose Waikel and Nate Phillips were recently honored with Emerging Scholar Awards at the 2025 Association for Research in Personality (ARP) Conference, held June 26 to 28 in Evanston, Illinois. Read more about UGA Clinical Psychology Graduate Students Receive National Recognition
UGA Psychology announces retirement of Associate Professor James Brown The Department of Psychology at the University of Georgia announces the retirement of Dr. James M. Brown, Associate Professor, after more than three decades of dedicated service to the university, its students, and the field of visual perception. Read more about UGA Psychology announces retirement of Associate Professor James Brown
Raquel Asencio Part-time Clinical Assistant Professor, Industrial-Organizational Master's Program Raquel Asencio is currently a Senior People Analytics Researcher at Block, where she leads strategic research initiatives to enhance individual, team, and organizational effectiveness. She joined Block in 2023 after serving as a People Analytics Researcher at Meta and, prior to that, as a tenure-track Professor of Management at Purdue University. Raquel’s applied research spans the employee lifecycle and focuses on translating complex organizational challenges into data-informed insights. Her work has addressed a range of topics including internal mobility, candidate and employee experience, structured interviewing, manager development, and DEI. Across her roles, she has applied advanced analytical methods to support data-driven decision-making across HR functions. Prior to her move into industry, Raquel was on the faculty at Purdue University, where she led research programs on teamwork, cross-functional collaboration, and multiteam systems. Her work has been supported by agencies such as NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Army Research Institute. In both academic and industry roles, she has mentored students and early-career analysts, collaborated across functions, and contributed to organizational development efforts aimed at building more inclusive and effective workplaces. Raquel holds a Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her academic research has been published in leading journals including Academy of Management Review, Journal of Management, Academy of Management Discoveries, Group Dynamics, and Sex Roles.
Francisco X. Pelaez Rovalo Graduate Student, Clinical Program Education Education: B.S., University of Georgia 2022 Selected Publications Selected Publications: Hale, M.E., Pelaez, F.X., Allen, I.R. et al. Friends’ Behavioral and Biological Synchrony in Relation to Youth Socioemotional Adjustment: A Systematic Review and Conceptual Model. Adolescent Res Rev (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-024-00242-2
Psychology & Speech to Corporate Success: Franklin Alumna Ekta Gaur's Unique Path By: Danielle Hamann In April 2025, Ekta Gaur spoke to the Department of Psychology’s course, PSYC 3030: Preparing for a Career in Psychology. Gaur, a dual-Franklin graduate with a BS in Psychology and BA in Speech Communications, has worked in various fields ranging from being a barista at Starbucks to working at companies such as Ernst and Young (EY), Capgemini and pharmaceutical giant Merck. Gaur currently serves as an Associate Director of Transformation and Change Delivery at Merck. Read more about Psychology & Speech to Corporate Success: Franklin Alumna Ekta Gaur's Unique Path
Master’s Program in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at UGA Celebrates More Than a Decade of Excellence At its core, Industrial-Organizational Psychology seeks to improve the performance, commitment, and well-being of human beings in through their experiences with their workplace. Since 2014, the Professional Master’s Program in Industrial-Organizational Psychology (IOMP) at the University of Georgia has enabled hundreds of working professionals to receive a graduate education from one of the top I-O programs in the world, in a format that allows students to continue working full-time. In 2024, the program celebrated its 10th graduating cohort. Read more about Master’s Program in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at UGA Celebrates More Than a Decade of Excellence
Psychology undergrad student, Taylor Weems, published in The Classic This June, Taylor Weems’s essay “Supervising AI in Education” appears in The Classic, the Writing Intensive Program’s journal of undergraduate writing and research. You can read the latest issue and find out more about The Classic online at http://theclassicjournal.uga.edu/. Read more about Psychology undergrad student, Taylor Weems, published in The Classic
Psychology undergrad student, Andrew Zhou, published in The Classic This June, Andrew Zhou’s essay “Passing the Turing Test” appears in The Classic, the Writing Intensive Program’s journal of undergraduate writing and research. This work also won third place in the journal’s generative AI essay contest, sponsored by UGA’s Office of Instruction. Read more about Psychology undergrad student, Andrew Zhou, published in The Classic
