Stephanie M
- Research Program Mentor

PhD at Temple University

Expertise

Autism, developmental disabilities, trauma, child/adolescent psychology, juvenile justice system, school-to-prison pipeline, child welfare/foster care, immigrant mental health

Bio

I received my PhD in School Psychology at Temple University. Clinically, I am interested in supporting children with autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and PTSD, as well as other mental health conditions. I am also interested in working with youth who have experienced trauma, and who have been involved in the child welfare/foster care and juvenile justice systems. My main research interest is the school to prison pipeline for children with autism and alternatives to harsh disciplinary practices in schools that push children out of classrooms and into the justice system. I am completed my dissertation on justice-involved youths' perceptions of the mental health care they received while incarcerated. I am passionate about advocacy on issues related to mental health, education, disability rights, immigration, and the justice system. I am involved in local, state, and national leadership in psychology with a focus on advocacy efforts. For fun, I enjoy going for walks, yoga, dance, tennis, baking, reading, spending time with friends/family, and going to concerts/Broadway shows.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Mental Health in the Media

Young people often gain information about mental health and mental health care from the media, particularly social media. There is a need to explore 1) the evidence base behind current mental health content on social media and 2) to create more evidence-based mental health content. I have experience with exploratory research on the type of content that is posted and the accuracy of this content on TikTok (e.g., https://tmb.apaopen.org/pub/ww4d98wp/release/2?readingCollection=c17ec235). I would be excited to support a prospective student in using research to examine the accuracy of mental health social media content and/or to create their own evidence-based content.

Coding skills

Teaching experience

I have experience teaching, as instructor of record, courses on child development, mental illness, and interpersonal communication. I also have experience mentoring an undergraduate student with research, as well as high school students and undergraduates with professional development skills and planning careers/applying to graduate psychology programs. Additionally, I co-created and co-led the Grad Stepping Program, an initiative of the American Psychological Association Division 46 to increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation of students who are underrepresented in the field.

Credentials

Work experience

New Alternatives for Children (2022 - Current)

Pre-Doctoral Intern

University of Pennsylvania (2016 - 2022)

Teaching Assistant

Temple University (2019 - 2021)

Instructor/Graduate Teaching Assistant

Temple University (2020 - 2021)

Research Assistant

Education

University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)

BA Bachelor of Arts (2016)

Psychology

City College of New York (CUNY)

MA Master of Arts (2018)

Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY)

Temple University

EdM Master of Education (2019)

School Psychology