Roland H
- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at Columbia University

Expertise

Clinical psychology, clinical science, neuropsychology, emotion regulation, psychopathology

Bio

Hi! My name is Roland and I am a doctoral student studying clinical psychology at Columbia University. My research interests center around emotion regulation and trauma. Broadly, I am interested in the ways in which people adjust following traumatic experiences, how memory is shaped by trauma, and how people can flexibly adapt to meet the demands of emotionally difficult situations. I especially enjoy discussing experimental research and exploring the role of neuropsychological mechanisms on human coping and behavior. I'm originally from Iowa and have been living in New York City for the past twelve years. When I'm not with clients or working in the lab, I enjoy hiking, playing my saxophone or clarinet, and spending time with my cat. I look forward to discussing your research interests with you!

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.

How trauma becomes central to our life story

When people are exposed to potentially traumatic events, memories of the traumatic event sometimes become central to their life story. What's more, their ability to recall other, non-traumatic memories can become weakened, a phenomenon known as autobiographical memory disturbance or overgeneralized memory. What causes this disruption to memory? How can clinicians treat these disturbances? And how does this disorganization of memory affect traumatized individuals?

The importance of being flexible

Most people are resilient and recover naturally over time from traumatic experiences but some do not. What sets these people apart? While there are many theories, one idea is that those with flexible coping strategies (i.e. those who can adjust their coping skills based on the context of a given situation) are better able to adjust and recover following trauma exposure. How can we assess flexibility? Can we effectively teach flexibility? And what are the neuropsychological mechanisms that support flexible coping?

Coding skills

R, SPSS

Teaching experience

During my undergraduate studies I taught private music lessons to students ranging from 5th to 12th grade. In graduate school I have had multiple opportunities to mentor research assistants.