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Thania Galvan

Assistant Professor
Clinical Program

I am an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Georgia and the director of the FUERTE lab. I earned my PhD in clinical psychology with a child emphasis from the University of Denver, did an APA-accredited internship in the child track at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and completed an NIMH-funded T32 postdoctoral fellowship in traumatic stress at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Broadly, my research is focused on understanding the mechanisms that contribute to, maintain and/or exacerbate mental health disparities among Latinx youth and families. I am especially interested in:

  1. Identifying and supporting Latinx families most at risk for experiencing the negative mental health sequela of health disparities
  2. Applying an ecological systems framework to identify and target the risk and resilience mechanisms that influence the mental health of Latinx youth and families
  3. Establishing and leveraging community-based partnerships to increase the accessibility and acceptability of mental health services for Latinx communities
  4. Improving the translation of Latinx mental health disparities research into practice and policy

Ultimately, my goal is to promote the well-being of Latinx youth and their families by eliminating health disparities via research, clinical practice, and policy advocacy.

**I plan to review applications for Fall 2024 admission to our clinical psychology doctoral program.** 

Education:

Ph.D., Clinical Psychology (child emphasis), University of Denver, Denver, CO 

M.A., Clinical Psychology, University of Denver, Denver, CO 

B.A., Psychology, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 

Research Interests:

Health Disparities, Latinx Youth and Families, Immigrant Populations, Traumatic Stress, Developmental Psychopathology

Selected Publications:

Galvan, T., Lomeli-Garcia, M., La Barrie, D.L., Rodriguez, V.J., & Moreno, O. (In Press). Beyond demographics: Attitudinal barriers to the mental health service use of immigrants in the U.S. Current Opinions in Psychology.

Galvan, T. Hurwich-Reiss, E., & Watamura, S.E. (In Press). Latina mothers’ mental health: An examination of its relation to parenting and material resources. Family Process

Galvan, T., Rusch, D., Domenech Rodriguez, M.M, & Garcini, L.M. (2022). Familias Divididas [Divided families]: The impacts of transnational family separation on the health of undocumented Latinx immigrants. Journal of Family Psychology, 36(4), 513 – 522. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000975

Galvan, T., Lill, S., & Garcini, L.M. (2021). Another brick in the wall: Healthcare access difficulties and their implications for undocumented Latino/a immigrants. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 23(5), 885 – 894. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-021-01187-7

Galvan, T., & Gudiño, O.G. (2021). Understanding Latinx youth mental health disparities by problem type: The role of caregiver culture. Psychological Services, 18(1), 116-123. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ser0000365

Galvan, T., & Gudiño, O.G. (2020). Impact of youth problem type on specific dimensions of caregiver strain among Latinx families. Child and Youth Care Forum, 49, 759-767. doi.org/10.1007/s10566-020-09554-5

Stiles, A.S., Galvan, T., Zundel, C., Flournoy, J., & Gudiño, O.G. (2019). Stakeholder perspectives on eliminating disparities in mental health service use for Latinx youth: A qualitative study. Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 4 (4),  328 – 342. doi: doi.org/10.1080/23794925.2019.1674225

Five members of UGA Psychology Department receive University-wide 2022 Awards!

Huge congratulations to five members of our department who have been selected to receive significant, University-wide recognitions this year!

Two faculty members are being recognized this week with Research Awards:

  • Distinguished Research Professor
    • Dr. Lillian Eby
  • Creative Research Medal
    • Dr. Gregory Strauss

Three graduate students (or recent graduates) are being recognized with Research and Teaching Awards:

Veronica Vargas

Part-time Clinical Assistant Professor Industrial-Organizational Master's Program

Veronica is a Corporate Senior Workforce Strategy Manager at UPS in the department of Organizational Effectiveness, specializing in organizational design, effectiveness, and process improvement. She joined UPS in 2005 as a Corporate Organizational Development Manager in which she worked as an internal consultant focusing on developing programs in the areas of career development, performance management, change management, assessments, and survey design and feedback. She then accepted the role of Region Talent Manager for UPS Supply Chain Solutions, where she supported 5 businesses (i.e., Freight, Global Freight Forwarding, Healthcare, Logistics and Distribution, and Coyote) with their talent management needs such as: succession planning, performance management, developmental programming, executive coaching and education, and culture change. Veronica then accepted a position as a Corporate Talent Manager prior to her current role, where she worked on building an enterprise-wide selection program for UPS Small Package, supported work in career architecture and introduced the concept of a Talent Marketplace to guide UPS into a future focused strategy for HR programming. Dr. Vargas earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Georgia, an M.S. in Psychology from Auburn University and a Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology.  She is certified in Organizational Design from the Center of Organizational Effectiveness from the University of Southern California, has earned a Six Sigma Green Belt from Villanova University, and completed course work for the Six Sigma Black Belt from Georgia Tech University. She is a member of the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (SIOP).

Congratulations to our 2022 CURO undergraduate presenters!

Huge congratulations to the 28 UGA Psychology undergraduate students presenting their research projects at the annual Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) Symposium this year! The annual CURO Symposium highlights excellence in undergraduate research at the University of Georgia by offering an opportunity for students to communicate their own research to our broader community. Learn more about this symposium and other UGA CURO opportunities here

Hiring: Lecturer, Quantitative Methods in Psychology

The Department of Psychology at the University of Georgia is seeking to fill a Lecturer position beginning Fall 2022. This position is a nine-month position that is renewable and promotable within the Lecturer track at UGA.

To apply, please go to https://www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/248833

For more details and application information, please see the full job advertisement here.

Developmental Research Group

To be considered for our group's studies, please click here to fill out a short survey.

Current studies: 

Play & Learning Across the Year (PLAY): Recruiting children at 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months. Click here for more information. 

The Family Interaction Project (FIP): Recruiting children 5-7 years and the corresponding biological mother.

Infant Sleep and Movement Study (ISM): Recruiting infants for a 3-wave longitudinal study starting at 4 months. 

 

UGA Psychology Department Undergraduate Convocation

Save the Date!
The Classic Center
Ceremony

We hope you will be able to attend and celebrate this milestone in the lives of our Psychology majors!

Each graduate will be provided with 8 guest tickets, unless the Classic Center imposes COVID restrictions or there or more students participating than the department is currently expecting.

GRADUATES: Register at this link for convocation and your number of guests! (Updated 4/20/22)

More detailed information will be provided as the event date approaches. 

Support us

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