Part Two: Back to School – Erin’s Journey to a PhD

I decided that research about clinical practice may hold the answers I was looking for. I wanted to research and better understand treatments for children, teens, and adults who had experienced trauma. Even more, I wanted to figure out why what we learn about treatment in graduate school is so very different from how we practice with real people in real settings. 

But How Do You Get a PhD?

To get a PhD you must have a faculty member whose research interests align with yours and with whom you will work closely for the duration of your graduate program. I found that in Dr. Carl Weems who, at the time, was a professor in the psychology department at the University of New Orleans. Dr. Weems’ research focuses on:

1. Developmental psychopathology, or how mental health disorders develop
2. What factors help or hurt a person’s outcome after experiencing a traumatic event, and
3. “Translational science, intervention, and prevention”

(In plain English, this last area means that Dr. Weems studies how we connect research with clinical intervention and prevention efforts. When we can do this, we can help to improve the health and lives of individuals and communities.)

These were exactly the areas I wanted to learn more about!

Erin’s Journey to a PhD: University of New Orleans

At the University of New Orleans I completed my master’s degree in applied developmental psychology. I wrote, defended, and later published my thesis entitled:

“Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Child Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Testing Direct and Reciprocal Effects on Maternal Depression.”

Through this research I found evidence of how children and moms affect each other. That is, even though only the kids went to therapy, when the kids started showing less PTSD symptoms, moms started showing less depression symptoms as well. This was some of the first research in this subject area to really show this link between moms and kids. You can read more about it here as well.

Erin’s Journey to a PhD: Iowa State University

When Dr. Weems moved from the University of New Orleans to become the department chair of the Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) at Iowa State University (ISU), I transferred to ISU to continue working with him. HDFS turned out to be a great place to combine my training in social work and applied developmental psychology!

Ultimately I got to conduct my own research study where I looked at exactly how real life therapists were using CBT and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) in their clinical practice. I collected data from therapists across the US and even interviewed 10 therapists about their experiences. My dissertation, entitled, “The Use of Empirically Supported Treatment Components for Trauma Exposure: The Role of Therapist Training and Characteristics,” had several interesting findings…