I am originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota and I graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2007 with a B.A. in psychology. I began the clinical psychology doctoral program at Marquette University in the fall of 2007. My research interests broadly focus on the delivery of mental health services in medical settings, with my current research aimed at understanding how to integrate suicide risk assessment into emergency medical care. My research with Dr. Stephen Saunders at Marquette and my clinical training at Milwaukee-area hospitals cultivated an interest in understanding how psychological assessment can improve outcomes for patients in an interdisciplinary medical setting. This particular research interest was solidified through working as a project director for a study examining the utility of a brief mental health screening tool to identify patients with suicidal ideation in a community hospital emergency department.
My dissertation grew from these clinical and research experiences and I sought a project that examined ways to improve suicide risk assessment in general hospital emergency departments. As a result, my dissertation is a mixed methods investigation of emergency department providers’ perspectives regarding the barriers and facilitators of integrating suicide risk assessment in emergency medicine. Through this project, I aim to develop recommendations for how to integrate routine suicide risk assessment in emergency department care.I am interested in developing a research program that has practical applications for improving the identification and assessment of emergency department patients with heightened risk for suicide. Clinically, I wish to continue working with patients who are experiencing acute psychiatric distress and patients who are experiencing psychological difficulties in response to diagnoses of acute or chronic medical conditions.
In my free time, I enjoy running, yoga, and spending time with my family and friends.
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