Alyssa Mielock
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vita
Alyssa is a third-year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at Northern Illinois University. She earned her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in American Sign Language in 2015 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her undergraduate research experience focused on schizotypy and memory.
Following graduation, Alyssa became a research assistant at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN. She was the study coordinator for multiple studies such as a longitudinal study investigating the physiological impact of recent traumas on young women and a yoga intervention on adolescents with tension-type headaches.
Alyssa’s current research interests are focused on trait affect and social stress in the moment impacting daily Posttraumatic Stress symptom severity. Alyssa also loves spending time outside camping and hiking and traveling when she can!
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vita
Alyssa is a third-year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at Northern Illinois University. She earned her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in American Sign Language in 2015 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her undergraduate research experience focused on schizotypy and memory.
Following graduation, Alyssa became a research assistant at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN. She was the study coordinator for multiple studies such as a longitudinal study investigating the physiological impact of recent traumas on young women and a yoga intervention on adolescents with tension-type headaches.
Alyssa’s current research interests are focused on trait affect and social stress in the moment impacting daily Posttraumatic Stress symptom severity. Alyssa also loves spending time outside camping and hiking and traveling when she can!
Zena Dadouch
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vita
Zena is a fifth-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Program at Northern Illinois University. She earned her B.A. in Psychology in 2015 from the University of California, Berkeley. Her undergraduate research experiences incorporated survivor guilt and PTSD in children and mother survivors of domestic violence, as well as sexual assault. She worked as a research assistant at the University of California, San Francisco and the San Francisco General Hospital. Zena earned her M.A. at Northern Illinois University in 2019 and anticipates earning her Ph.D. in 2021. Her graduate clinical experiences include working with clients across the lifespan at NIU's Psychological Services Center, two private practices, and the probation department at the DeKalb County Court Services.
Zena is originally from Damascus, Syria, where she grew up, and her research interests in trauma originated from the war that has been going on in Syria since 2011. After coming to the U.S. to pursue her education, her passion for studying survivors of trauma, particularly refugees of war, has grown. Zena is now interested in examining risk and resiliency factors predicting well-being after exposure to trauma, as well as the development and application of multicultural trauma-treatments and more general treatments for minorities.
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vita
Zena is a fifth-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Program at Northern Illinois University. She earned her B.A. in Psychology in 2015 from the University of California, Berkeley. Her undergraduate research experiences incorporated survivor guilt and PTSD in children and mother survivors of domestic violence, as well as sexual assault. She worked as a research assistant at the University of California, San Francisco and the San Francisco General Hospital. Zena earned her M.A. at Northern Illinois University in 2019 and anticipates earning her Ph.D. in 2021. Her graduate clinical experiences include working with clients across the lifespan at NIU's Psychological Services Center, two private practices, and the probation department at the DeKalb County Court Services.
Zena is originally from Damascus, Syria, where she grew up, and her research interests in trauma originated from the war that has been going on in Syria since 2011. After coming to the U.S. to pursue her education, her passion for studying survivors of trauma, particularly refugees of war, has grown. Zena is now interested in examining risk and resiliency factors predicting well-being after exposure to trauma, as well as the development and application of multicultural trauma-treatments and more general treatments for minorities.
Mikhaella Hodges
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vita
Mikhaella Hodges is a sixth-year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at Northern Illinois University. Mikhaella earned her M.A. at Northern Illinois University in 2018. Her research and clinical interests are broadly focused on interpersonal trauma, shame/guilt, anger, partner aggression, anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress.
She earned her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2011. Her undergraduate research examined the impact of mental disorders on relationship functioning and couple satisfaction. After graduating, Mikhaella assisted in clinical trial research involving trauma-exposed populations at the San Francisco VA Medical Center where she facilitated recruitment and collection of physiological measurements among other responsibilities.
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vita
Mikhaella Hodges is a sixth-year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at Northern Illinois University. Mikhaella earned her M.A. at Northern Illinois University in 2018. Her research and clinical interests are broadly focused on interpersonal trauma, shame/guilt, anger, partner aggression, anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress.
She earned her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2011. Her undergraduate research examined the impact of mental disorders on relationship functioning and couple satisfaction. After graduating, Mikhaella assisted in clinical trial research involving trauma-exposed populations at the San Francisco VA Medical Center where she facilitated recruitment and collection of physiological measurements among other responsibilities.
Jennifer Milliken
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vita
Jennifer Milliken is a seventh year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at Northern Illinois University. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in 2011. Her undergraduate research experiences focused on anxiety related disorders and women's responses to the threat of sexual assault.
Following graduation, Jennifer gained clinical experience working at Hillcrest Family Services, an inpatient care facility for adolescents. As a Behavioral Health Intervention Services Counselor she conducted group and individual sessions to facilitate skill-building and recovery from traumatic experiences.
Jennifer earned her M.A. in clinical psychology from Northern Illinois University in 2017. Her research interests are broadly focused on the effects of traumatic experience(s), with particular interest in emotion regulation and memory. Her dissertation is investigating the role of alexithymia and emotion regulation on trauma memory. Jennifer is currently on internship at Bay Pines VA in Bay Pines, Florida.
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vita
Jennifer Milliken is a seventh year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at Northern Illinois University. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in 2011. Her undergraduate research experiences focused on anxiety related disorders and women's responses to the threat of sexual assault.
Following graduation, Jennifer gained clinical experience working at Hillcrest Family Services, an inpatient care facility for adolescents. As a Behavioral Health Intervention Services Counselor she conducted group and individual sessions to facilitate skill-building and recovery from traumatic experiences.
Jennifer earned her M.A. in clinical psychology from Northern Illinois University in 2017. Her research interests are broadly focused on the effects of traumatic experience(s), with particular interest in emotion regulation and memory. Her dissertation is investigating the role of alexithymia and emotion regulation on trauma memory. Jennifer is currently on internship at Bay Pines VA in Bay Pines, Florida.
Christy Allen
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vita
Christy Allen is a sixth year doctoral student currently completing an APA-approved predoctoral internship at the Bay Pines VA. She earned her B.A. in Psychology and Sociology in 2010 from the State University of New York College at Geneseo. After receiving her B.A., Christy coordinated and assisted with research at the Siena College Research Institute as an AmeriCorps VISTA Fellow (2010-2011) and at the Syracuse VA for the Center for Integrated Healthcare (2011-2013).
Christy earned her M.A. in Clinical Psychology at Northern Illinois University in 2016. Her research interests are broadly focused on PTSD and interpersonal trauma, and more specifically the role of interpersonal processes, posttraumatic cognitions, and gender in posttraumatic outcomes. Additionally, Christy has clinical and research interests related to the etiology and treatment of PTSD among veterans.
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vita
Christy Allen is a sixth year doctoral student currently completing an APA-approved predoctoral internship at the Bay Pines VA. She earned her B.A. in Psychology and Sociology in 2010 from the State University of New York College at Geneseo. After receiving her B.A., Christy coordinated and assisted with research at the Siena College Research Institute as an AmeriCorps VISTA Fellow (2010-2011) and at the Syracuse VA for the Center for Integrated Healthcare (2011-2013).
Christy earned her M.A. in Clinical Psychology at Northern Illinois University in 2016. Her research interests are broadly focused on PTSD and interpersonal trauma, and more specifically the role of interpersonal processes, posttraumatic cognitions, and gender in posttraumatic outcomes. Additionally, Christy has clinical and research interests related to the etiology and treatment of PTSD among veterans.
Mary (MC) Mercer
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vita
MC Mercer received an MA (2014) and PhD (2018) from the clinical psychology program at Northern Illinois University. She completed a predoctoral internship at the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. She earned her BA (2010) in Psychology from Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee.
She is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Healthcare System with an emphasis on Substance Abuse and PTSD. MC’s research interests are focused on the etiology of sexual victimization. Specifically, she is interested in how people recognize the risk for sexual assault perpetration and victimization, and how the social environment impacts these decisions. MC’s thesis explored the impact of the social environment on risk recognition, and her dissertation explored how cognitive appraisals of the social environment influence men’s and women’s ability to recognize risk for sexual assault. Clinically, MC has focused on Veteran’s issues, including military sexual trauma, PTSD, and comorbid disorders.
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vita
MC Mercer received an MA (2014) and PhD (2018) from the clinical psychology program at Northern Illinois University. She completed a predoctoral internship at the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. She earned her BA (2010) in Psychology from Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee.
She is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Healthcare System with an emphasis on Substance Abuse and PTSD. MC’s research interests are focused on the etiology of sexual victimization. Specifically, she is interested in how people recognize the risk for sexual assault perpetration and victimization, and how the social environment impacts these decisions. MC’s thesis explored the impact of the social environment on risk recognition, and her dissertation explored how cognitive appraisals of the social environment influence men’s and women’s ability to recognize risk for sexual assault. Clinically, MC has focused on Veteran’s issues, including military sexual trauma, PTSD, and comorbid disorders.
Melissa J. London
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vita
Melissa London completed an APA-accredited internship at the VA Palo Alto. Her dissertation was defended in the fall of 2016. She earned her B.A. in Psychology and Sociology in 2011 from Hunter College, of the City University of New York.
Melissa’s interest in interpersonal violence and trauma emerged from her various clinical experiences as well her research. Before coming to NIU, Melissa worked as a Case Manager for homeless persons with mental illnesses and a Substance Abuse Counselor in a Chemical Dependence Outpatient Program.
Melissa’s research interests broadly include predicting onsets of disorders related to trauma, examining coping strategies and other protective factors to promote resilience from trauma, as well as understanding the cultural variation in response to and during recovery from interpersonal violence and trauma. Specifically, her graduate program of research has focused on the role of cognitive and emotion regulation processes. Her master's thesis examined the role of cognitive schemas and processing styles in the perception of positive psychological changes following interpersonal violence. Melissa's ongoing dissertation project aims to explore the impact of attentional processes on the effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies in reducing distress following trauma.
Email: [email protected]
Curriculum Vita
Melissa London completed an APA-accredited internship at the VA Palo Alto. Her dissertation was defended in the fall of 2016. She earned her B.A. in Psychology and Sociology in 2011 from Hunter College, of the City University of New York.
Melissa’s interest in interpersonal violence and trauma emerged from her various clinical experiences as well her research. Before coming to NIU, Melissa worked as a Case Manager for homeless persons with mental illnesses and a Substance Abuse Counselor in a Chemical Dependence Outpatient Program.
Melissa’s research interests broadly include predicting onsets of disorders related to trauma, examining coping strategies and other protective factors to promote resilience from trauma, as well as understanding the cultural variation in response to and during recovery from interpersonal violence and trauma. Specifically, her graduate program of research has focused on the role of cognitive and emotion regulation processes. Her master's thesis examined the role of cognitive schemas and processing styles in the perception of positive psychological changes following interpersonal violence. Melissa's ongoing dissertation project aims to explore the impact of attentional processes on the effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies in reducing distress following trauma.
Phylice Lim
Curriculum Vita
Ban Hong (Phylice) Lim received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Northern Illinois University. She earned her BA in psychology (with a minor in Social and Behavioral Sciences Methodology) from the University of Kansas. During her graduate studies, Phylice’s research program has focused on exploring pathogeneses of posttrauma pathology, as well as factors (e.g., meaning-making strategies and resilience variables) that may facilitate or hinder mental health following trauma. In her master’s thesis, Phylice explored the roles of more proximal factors (self-worth, self-blame, availability of support, and perceived control) through which insecure attachment may induce negative affect in a sample of trauma survivors. In her dissertation project, Phylice sought to clarify whether negative affect resulting from exposure to a stressful film could be partially attributed to skepticism about one’s memory. Her dissertation was successfully defended in April of 2016. Phylice completed an APA accredited internship at the St. Louis Psychological Internship Consortium where she has continued on as a postdoctoral fellow.
Curriculum Vita
Ban Hong (Phylice) Lim received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Northern Illinois University. She earned her BA in psychology (with a minor in Social and Behavioral Sciences Methodology) from the University of Kansas. During her graduate studies, Phylice’s research program has focused on exploring pathogeneses of posttrauma pathology, as well as factors (e.g., meaning-making strategies and resilience variables) that may facilitate or hinder mental health following trauma. In her master’s thesis, Phylice explored the roles of more proximal factors (self-worth, self-blame, availability of support, and perceived control) through which insecure attachment may induce negative affect in a sample of trauma survivors. In her dissertation project, Phylice sought to clarify whether negative affect resulting from exposure to a stressful film could be partially attributed to skepticism about one’s memory. Her dissertation was successfully defended in April of 2016. Phylice completed an APA accredited internship at the St. Louis Psychological Internship Consortium where she has continued on as a postdoctoral fellow.
Andrew Sherrill
Curriculum Vita
Andrew Sherrill received an M.A. (2013) and Ph.D. (2016) from the clinical psychology program at Northern Illinois University. He completed a predoctoral internship at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System (American Lake Division). Prior to graduate school, he earned a Psychology B.S. (2008) and an English B.A. (2008) from the University of Central Florida. He is currently working as postdoctoral fellow at the Veterans Program at Emory University School of Medicine.
Andrew’s research interests include understanding peritraumatic perceptual systems and posttraumatic memory systems. His approach can be viewed as a synthesis of trauma psychology, cognitive science, and contextual behavioral science, which are levels of analysis that can be viewed as complimentary, not contradictory. He is particularly interested in better understanding the complexity of contextual factors surrounding traumatic events and the inherent perceptual subjectivity of each unique brain. His studies attempt to probe the perspectives of trauma-exposed individuals (armed service members, perpetrators, victims, and third parties) to better understand how minds process the unfolding of a traumatic event and subsequently retrieve encoded information.
Andrew’s previous studies include experimental and qualitative projects that ask why “provocation” does not always lead to violence, “risk signals” do not always lead to deterrence, and “trauma” does not always lead to memory disturbance and other posttraumatic stress symptoms. Together, the aim of these studies is to better understand the moment-to-moment construal processes and contextual constraints that engender such clinically relevant perceptual subjectivity. He has published and presented original empirical work on peritraumatic encoding disruption, situational risk recognition, perceptions of intentionality, attributions of abuse, expected outcomes of violence, and the impact of inhibitive cues and provocative cues on aggressive responding. The results highlight important ways in which clinically relevant behaviors (e.g., aggression and avoidance) and memory characteristics (e.g., diminished retrieval) are functions of specific contextual factors and how certain cognitive mechanisms (e.g., mental model construction, perceptual predictions, and event segmentation) mediate the behavioral effects of contextual factors.
During his clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship, Andrew's research interests have extended from the laboratory to clinical trials. He is particularly interested in using recent insights from the basic research on event cognition and emotion to better understand (a) how evidence-based treatments work and (b) how to best package and deliver "active ingredients." He is currently pursuing studies that aim to better understand mechanisms of change (e.g., psychological flexibility, emotion regulation, and inhibitory learning) within behavioral interventions for trauma-exposed populations (e.g., trauma-focused exposure therapies and third-wave behavior therapies).
Curriculum Vita
Andrew Sherrill received an M.A. (2013) and Ph.D. (2016) from the clinical psychology program at Northern Illinois University. He completed a predoctoral internship at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System (American Lake Division). Prior to graduate school, he earned a Psychology B.S. (2008) and an English B.A. (2008) from the University of Central Florida. He is currently working as postdoctoral fellow at the Veterans Program at Emory University School of Medicine.
Andrew’s research interests include understanding peritraumatic perceptual systems and posttraumatic memory systems. His approach can be viewed as a synthesis of trauma psychology, cognitive science, and contextual behavioral science, which are levels of analysis that can be viewed as complimentary, not contradictory. He is particularly interested in better understanding the complexity of contextual factors surrounding traumatic events and the inherent perceptual subjectivity of each unique brain. His studies attempt to probe the perspectives of trauma-exposed individuals (armed service members, perpetrators, victims, and third parties) to better understand how minds process the unfolding of a traumatic event and subsequently retrieve encoded information.
Andrew’s previous studies include experimental and qualitative projects that ask why “provocation” does not always lead to violence, “risk signals” do not always lead to deterrence, and “trauma” does not always lead to memory disturbance and other posttraumatic stress symptoms. Together, the aim of these studies is to better understand the moment-to-moment construal processes and contextual constraints that engender such clinically relevant perceptual subjectivity. He has published and presented original empirical work on peritraumatic encoding disruption, situational risk recognition, perceptions of intentionality, attributions of abuse, expected outcomes of violence, and the impact of inhibitive cues and provocative cues on aggressive responding. The results highlight important ways in which clinically relevant behaviors (e.g., aggression and avoidance) and memory characteristics (e.g., diminished retrieval) are functions of specific contextual factors and how certain cognitive mechanisms (e.g., mental model construction, perceptual predictions, and event segmentation) mediate the behavioral effects of contextual factors.
During his clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship, Andrew's research interests have extended from the laboratory to clinical trials. He is particularly interested in using recent insights from the basic research on event cognition and emotion to better understand (a) how evidence-based treatments work and (b) how to best package and deliver "active ingredients." He is currently pursuing studies that aim to better understand mechanisms of change (e.g., psychological flexibility, emotion regulation, and inhibitory learning) within behavioral interventions for trauma-exposed populations (e.g., trauma-focused exposure therapies and third-wave behavior therapies).
Christine E. Valdez
Curriculum Vita
Christine Valdez received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Northern Illinois University. She earned her B.A. in Psychology in 2008 from California State University, East Bay. There her research spanned the area of traumatic life experiences, with a particular focus on intimate partner violence and the role of attachment in abusive relationships.
Before coming to NIU, Christine worked in research at the VA National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Palo Alto, California. She worked on projects exploring veteran’s healthcare utilization and treatment outcome with the goal of improving VA services to aid recovery of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Christine's broad research interests include interpersonal trauma and revictimization. In particular, she is interested in studying cognitive and emotional processes that contribute to posttraumatic sequelae, and recovery from trauma. Her thesis project examined coping strategies as they relate to gender disparities in PTSD, focusing on gender role socialization and thought control strategies among trauma survivors, Her dissertation examined the role of ruminative processes in posttraumatic stress. Christine completed an APA accredited internship at the University of California, San Francisco where she continued as a postdoctoral fellow for one year. Christine started her position as Assistant Professor of Psychology at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) in Fall of 2016.
Curriculum Vita
Christine Valdez received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Northern Illinois University. She earned her B.A. in Psychology in 2008 from California State University, East Bay. There her research spanned the area of traumatic life experiences, with a particular focus on intimate partner violence and the role of attachment in abusive relationships.
Before coming to NIU, Christine worked in research at the VA National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Palo Alto, California. She worked on projects exploring veteran’s healthcare utilization and treatment outcome with the goal of improving VA services to aid recovery of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Christine's broad research interests include interpersonal trauma and revictimization. In particular, she is interested in studying cognitive and emotional processes that contribute to posttraumatic sequelae, and recovery from trauma. Her thesis project examined coping strategies as they relate to gender disparities in PTSD, focusing on gender role socialization and thought control strategies among trauma survivors, Her dissertation examined the role of ruminative processes in posttraumatic stress. Christine completed an APA accredited internship at the University of California, San Francisco where she continued as a postdoctoral fellow for one year. Christine started her position as Assistant Professor of Psychology at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) in Fall of 2016.
Rachel Price
Curriculum Vita
Rachel attended Birmingham-Southern College (BSC), a small liberal arts college in Alabama, for her undergraduate training. As an undergraduate, she worked on the Clinical Psychology Research Team with Dr. Tricia Witte, and studied IPV, sexual victimization, and risk recognition. Rachel graduated from BSC in 2007 and began her graduate training in August 2007, where she worked under Drs. Holly Orcutt, Michelle Lilly, and Kathryn Bell.
Rachel is a former member of Dr. Michelle Lilly’s Trauma Laboratory. Her research predominantly examined intervening variables that predict intimate partner violence perpetration and adverse mental health outcomes following trauma, with a specific focus on the roles of emotion regulation, anger, and substance abuse. Her thesis project investigated the effect of alcohol expectancies on IPV perpetration, and her dissertation was a longitudinal study examining the relationship between risk recognition, PTSD, and IPV victimization. She successfully defended her dissertation in June 2014. Rachel has completed an APA-approved internship at Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System and graduated from the NIU Clinical Psychology graduate program in August 2014.
Curriculum Vita
Rachel attended Birmingham-Southern College (BSC), a small liberal arts college in Alabama, for her undergraduate training. As an undergraduate, she worked on the Clinical Psychology Research Team with Dr. Tricia Witte, and studied IPV, sexual victimization, and risk recognition. Rachel graduated from BSC in 2007 and began her graduate training in August 2007, where she worked under Drs. Holly Orcutt, Michelle Lilly, and Kathryn Bell.
Rachel is a former member of Dr. Michelle Lilly’s Trauma Laboratory. Her research predominantly examined intervening variables that predict intimate partner violence perpetration and adverse mental health outcomes following trauma, with a specific focus on the roles of emotion regulation, anger, and substance abuse. Her thesis project investigated the effect of alcohol expectancies on IPV perpetration, and her dissertation was a longitudinal study examining the relationship between risk recognition, PTSD, and IPV victimization. She successfully defended her dissertation in June 2014. Rachel has completed an APA-approved internship at Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System and graduated from the NIU Clinical Psychology graduate program in August 2014.