News and Events — Psychology and Counseling

Dr. Femina Varghese awarded $350,000 grant

Dr. Femina Varghese recently was awarded extramural funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the project, “Regional Expansion of treatment for Addiction in Corrections via tele-Health: Project REACH.” The grant award is $350,000 for 3 years.

Dr. Varghese is a Principal Investigator along with Nickolas Zaller, PhD (UAMS) and Ben Udochi, MHR, (Arkansas Department of Community Corrections).

Congratulations, Dr. Varghese!

Posted in: News and Events on October 25, 2018

Dr. John Murphy presents workshop in Kansas

Dr. John Murphy, Professor of Psychology & Counseling, presented a full-day Professional Development workshop entitled, “Brief Solution-Focused Counseling in Schools: Helping Students Change with Dignity,” for school social workers, counselors, psychologists, and mental health therapists in Topeka Public Schools on Tuesday, October 26, 2018., in Topeka, Kansas.

Murphy, J. J. (2018, October). Brief Solution-Focused Counseling in Schools: Helping Students Change with Dignity. Workshop presented at the Topeka (KS) Public Schools Professional Development Day, Topeka, Kansas.

Posted in: News and Events on October 23, 2018

Dr. John Murphy awarded faculty development grant

John Murphy, Professor of Psychology & Counseling, received a Faculty Development Grant from the UCA Center for Teaching Excellence for $750.00 to participate in the 2018 Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Association Annual Conference November 7-10 in Boulder, Colorado

Posted in: News and Events on October 10, 2018

Dr. Joan Simon and School Psyc Doctoral Students present at AR School Psychology Association

Four of Dr. Simon’s school psychology doctoral students presented their academic interventions from practicum class at the AR School Psychology Association convention last week (Sept 20 & 21). They are as follows:

Rutledge, Chayla, & Simon, Joan (September 2018). Word Sprint intervention: Word fluency intervention for elementary age students. Presented at the Arkansas School Psychology Association convention in Conway, AR.

Sanders, Rachel, & Simon, Joan.(September 2018). Word fluency intervention for elementary age students. Presented at the Arkansas School Psychology Association convention in Conway, AR.

Adamson, Clifton, & Simon, Joan (September 2018). Letter Identification intervention with motivation. Presented at the Arkansas School Psychology Association convention in Conway, AR.

Owen, Carley, & Simon, Joan (September, 2018). Writing the ABC’s: A letter-formation intervention. Presented at the Arkansas School Psychology Association convention in Conway, AR.

Posted in: News and Events on September 26, 2018

Dr. Darshon Anderson to receive the Minority Access National Role Model Award from the Minority Access Organization

Congratulations to Dr. Darshon Anderson, who will receive the Minority Access National Role Model Award from the Minority Access Organization!

Dr. Anderson will be recognized with VIP status and special recognition throughout the Nineteenth National Role Models Conference, September 28 – 30, 2018 in National Harbor, MD. The Award aims is to identify inspirational role models in various categories to inspire others to emulate them, and thereby increase the pool of scholars and professionals who will address social disparities in society. Dr. Anderson’s contribution is in the educational field.

Posted in: News and Events on September 20, 2018

Dr. Marc Sestir publishes and presents research related to tech use and sleep

Congratulations to Dr. Sestir for the recent presentation and subsequent publication of his research!

Peszka, J., Sestir, M.A., Kennedy, L.A., & Mastin, D.F. (2018, June). A

population comparison of active and passive bedtime social technology use. Poster session presented at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (SLEEP) Conference, Baltimore, MD.

Peszka, J., Sestir, M.A., Kennedy, L.A., & Mastin, D.F. (2018) A population comparison of active and passive bedtime social technology use, Sleep, 41(suppl_1), A80, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsy061.204

Posted in: News and Events on September 19, 2018

Clifton Adamson awarded travel grant to present research

School Psychology Doctoral student, Clifton Adamson, has been awarded the Diversity Graduate Travel Award from the Society of Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP). Clifton will present his research on the influence of heteronormativity on gay perceptions of LGB sexual identity and sexual identification at the SPSP conference in Portland, Oregon. He was selected from 150 applicants. The award includes a $500 stipend. Reference below:

Adamson, C. W., Tennial, R. E., (2019) Gay Perception of LGB Sexual Identity and Heteronormative Influence. Poster presented at the Society of Personality and Social Psychology Annual Conference, Portland Oregon.

Congratulations and well done!

Posted in: News and Events on September 19, 2018

Dr. Paul Nail co-authors book chapter

Congrats to Dr. Nail on his upcoming book chapter!

Aronson, J., Cohen, G., & Nail, P. R. (in press.) Self-affirmation theory: An update and appraisal. In E. Harmon-Jones (Ed.). Cognitive dissonance (2nd ed.): Reexamining a pivotal theory in psychology. Washington DC: American Psychological Association.

Posted in: News and Events on September 18, 2018

School Psychology partners with North Little Rock school

The Department of Psychology and Counseling is excited to announce a new partnership between North Little Rock Middle School (6th grade building) and the UCA School Psychology program. This partnership is led by Drs. Simon and Martens (UCA), Mr. Michael Clark (NLR-MS 6th administrator) and Erika Connelly (School Psychology Specialist supervisor). The partnership was created to provide 2nd and 3rd year school psychology students with more systems-change experience in the schools and support a single school in its efforts toward data-driven systems change. It is expected that the partnership will last three years and will result in improved academic, social-emotional, and behavioral outcomes for hundreds of students who will be served by UCA School Psychology students.

As a kick-off to this partnership, Dr. Simon presented a workshop on August 8th on Response-to-Intervention (RtI) to administrators and faculty at North Little Rock Middle School (6th grade building). She was joined by school psychology students (Rachel Sanders, Chayla Rutledge, Clifton Adamson, Laura Goodheart, Allison Ford, Lakyn Beard, Victoria DeBoef, and Lindsey McCrory). These students worked with the Middle School faculty to identify current activities in the school that can feed into a RtI system and other activities that will need to be developed.

Posted in: News and Events on August 30, 2018

Dr. Dong Xie has a busy and productive Summer!

Congrats on all the accomplishments!

Xie, D. (2018, August). Training professional Chinese counselors: Challenges and strategies. Poster presented at American Psychological Association Convention in California, San Francisco.

Xie, D. (2018, May). Motivational interviewing. Workshop presented at Counseling Center, Suzhou University, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China.

Xie, D. (2018, June). Fundamental skills in counseling and counseling relationship. Workshop presented at Hubei Oriental Insight Mental Health Institution, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.

Xie, D. (2018, June). Development and advancement of counseling profession in the United States. Lecture presented at College of Childhood Development and Education, China Women’s University, Beijing, China.

Xie, D. (2018, June). Core competencies of professional Counselor. Workshop presented at Counselor Professional Skills Training Center of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi province, China.

I also assisted Dr. Carol Falender in conducting a five-day workshop on training Chinese supervisors at Hibei Oriental Insight Mental Health Institution.

Association of Chinese Helping Professionals and Psychologists International (ACHPPI)

I was elected to be the next President of ACHPPI (www.achppi.org) and will serve my term from 2020 to 2022. Below are pictures showing activities I participated as the president-elect during the APA convention in San Francisco.

Posted in: News and Events on August 25, 2018