Join Child & Family Research Group

Will you be accepting a new graduate student?

Yes, I plan to review applications for students entering Fall 2025. I strongly recommend indicating your interest in working with me in your personal statement to make sure I review your application. 

How do I know if I am a good fit for your lab?

I am most interested in the goodness of fit between the applicant's interests and professional goals with our lab's research focus and goals. 

Our lab focuses on understanding the development of problem behaviors in infancy through the preschool years, and the cognitions and emotions that accompany parent-child and intimate partner conflict. We also work closely with early childcare and head start centers to provide parent and teacher workshops for parents of young children on various topics related to child behavior and development.

Applicants who are a good fit are interested in understanding problem behaviors in very young children, parent-child interactions, or couple conflict.  Competitive applicants have already gained some experience in some of these areas or closely related areas, although direct experience is not required. 

A note about my mentorship approach. 

Overall, I work well with applicants who are interested in the lab's research focus, and who are problem-solvers and comfortable seeking solutions for their statistical program's error message. I hold weekly lab meetings that focus on presenting and discussing student projects (i.e., dissertations, theses) at any level of completion from brainstorming to final presentation. I also hold additional lab project meetings with project teams as needed. I will meet with you one-on-one every other week, with more or fewer meetings as needed. I will provide lots of feedback on research projects and I typically get mentees feedback within one week. Of course, my current students may have more insight into my strengths and lesser strengths as a mentor. You can find their emails here.

I am interested in working on projects related to trauma. Will I be a good fit for your lab?

Probably not. Trauma research is incredibly important and interesting, but not my area of expertise. Applicants interested in the impacts of trauma are encouraged to seek mentorship from other research labs.

I am interested in working on projects on attachment. Will I be a good fit for your lab?

Maybe. I don't conceptualize most of my research from an attachment perspective. However, because some of my research involves parenting, it may be considered attachment-adjacent. That being said, I have no measures of attachment style in my current data and I have no plans to include attachment assessment methods in my future projects. Applicants primarily interested in attachment are encouraged to seek out other research labs for mentorship. You can find their emails here.

Should I email you to express my interest in applying to your lab?

There is no need to email me as I make every effort to review applicants who clearly state their interest in working with me in their personal statements. An email will not impact the application or selection process. You are welcome to contact me if you have questions that cannot be answered by reviewing these pages. However, I will save any discussion about my current projects for after the interview invitation.

What should I include in my personal statement?

You should clearly state

• your research and applied interests,

• how your interests fit with our lab and SJU, and

• your experiences that prepare you for graduate study.

Can I work with more than one faculty member?

Yes! Many of our current students work with more than one faculty member on separate or collaborative projects. 

Your funding is provided through the doctoral fellowship, which covers tuition and a stipend.  The fellowship is a part-time employment during which you will support a faculty member's research or TA for an undergraduate or graduate course. In addition to the fellowship, you can seak research mentorship from one or more faculty members.  Speak to the DCT for details about the number of years you should expect funding. 

Can I reach out to current graduate students in your lab if I have questions about your lab?

Yes! You can find their emails here.

Additional information about the graduate school process

Learn about St. John’s admission requirements for the Clinical Ph.D. program here

Learn about St. John’s admission requirements for the School Psychology PsyD. program here

Learn about the whole graduate school admissions process from 

Mitch’s Uncensored Advice for Applying to Graduate School in Clinical Psychology, provided by Dr. Mitch Prinstein, UNC Chapel Hill

Preparing and Applying for Graduate School in Psychology: A free video series to guide students through research, applications, interviews and decisions, provided by APA

Your Application Year, provided by the Building Roads to Inclusion and Diversity in Graduate Education (BRIDGE) Psychology Network