Brian Bauer Assistant Professor Clinical Program Dr. Bauer is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Georgia. Dr. Bauer earned his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2022 after completing his pre-doctoral internship at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Medical Center. Dr. Bauer’s program of research uses a behavioral economic framework to help understand mental health-related decisions (e.g., help seeking) and to influence people towards choices that align with their own self-declared interests, with a particular emphasis in suicide prevention. Dr. Bauer has focused extensively on examining how cognitive heuristics and biases might contribute to suicide-related outcomes and inform prevention efforts and interventions. This line of research has been funded through several externally-funded agencies, including from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I plan on accepting a new graduate student for Fall 2024. My lab is currently focused on the following topics: Using passive sensing data (e.g., smartphone, wearables) to detect symptoms of a suicidal crisis Applying nudges to real-world settings to increase engagement with suicide prevention resources and help seeking Examining various decision-making processes and their relationship to suicide risk via behavioral (e.g., task-based) and psychophysiological measurements (e.g., EEG) Students with a research background and interest in studying these topics (or related topics) will be a good fit for the lab. Students with quantitative backgrounds or experience with statistical programming languages (e.g., R) are especially encouraged to apply. Education Education: Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS M.S., Counseling Psychology, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR B.A., Psychology/Philosophy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA Research Research Interests: Suicide Theory and Prevention, Behavioral Economics, Digital Phenotyping, Cognitive Biases and Mental Health, EEG/ERP Selected Publications Selected Publications: Bauer, B.W., Hom, M.A., Karnick, A.T., Charpentier, C.J., Keefer, L.A., Capron, D.W., Rudd, M.D., & Bryan, C.J. (2022). Does hopelessness accurately predict how bad you will feel in the future? Initial evidence of affective forecasting errors in individuals with elevated suicide risk. Cognitive Therapy and Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-021-10285-7 Bauer, B.W., Karnick, A., Wells, T., Tucker, R., & Capron, D.W. (2021). Altering preferences for suicide crisis resources using the decoy nudge: Evidence of context-dependent effects in suicide prevention decision making. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 89(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000617 Bauer, B.W. & Capron, D.W. (2020). How behavioral economics and nudges could help diminish irrationality in suicide-related decisions. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(1), 44-61. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619866463 Bauer, B. W., Tucker, R. P., & Capron, D. W. (2019). A Nudge in a new direction: Integrating behavioral economic strategies into suicide prevention work. Clinical Psychological Science, 7(3), 612-620. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702618809367
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: Identifying and supporting Latinx families most at risk for experiencing the negative mental health sequela of health disparities Applying an ecological systems framework to identify and target the risk and resilience mechanisms that influence the mental health of Latinx youth and families Establishing and leveraging community-based partnerships to increase the accessibility and acceptability of mental health services for Latinx communities 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 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 Research Interests: Health Disparities, Latinx Youth and Families, Immigrant Populations, Traumatic Stress, Developmental Psychopathology Selected Publications 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
Graduate student Kelly Rea's masters thesis featured in UGA News and Healio! Clinical psychology graduate student Kelly Rea has had her recently published masters thesis featured in UGA News and Healio, a medical information website comprising of breaking news, feature stories, interviews and education across 30 specialties. Read more about Graduate student Kelly Rea's masters thesis featured in UGA News and Healio!
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: Read more about Five members of UGA Psychology Department receive University-wide 2022 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. Read more about Congratulations to our 2022 CURO undergraduate presenters!
Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week at UGA! It’s graduate and professional student appreciation week at UGA! (Check out the activities on the graduate school website). Graduate students - thank you for all of your efforts in teaching, mentoring and research! Read more about Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week at UGA!
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. Read more about Hiring: Lecturer, Quantitative Methods in Psychology