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Kent State University111 West Centre St

Department of Psychology Baltimore, MD 21201

Kent, OH 44242 Cell: (216)-704-6363

EDUCATION

2001-2005 Hamilton College, Clinton, N.Y.

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

2007-2010 Kent State University, Kent, OH.

Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology

Specialization in Child Psychology

Thesis Title: Caregiver characteristics and the development of PTSD following traumatic injury in children

Advisor: Douglas Delahanty, Ph.D.

2010-Present Kent State University, Kent, OH.

Ph.D. Candidate in Clinical Psychology

Specialization in Child Psychology

Dissertation Title: The relationship between parenting behaviors and bereavement-related symptoms in parents and siblings involved in pediatric palliative care (PPC)

Advisor: Douglas Delahanty, Ph.D.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS/COMMITEES

Sigma Xi, Student Affiliate

Society of Pediatric Psychology Division 54, Student Affiliate

International Society for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Student Affiliate

American Psychological Association, Student Affiliate

Clinical Training Committee, Graduate Student Representative

Graduate Student Senate, Clinical Psychology Representative

Honors and Awards

Graduate Student Senate Travel Award,2008, 2009, 2011

Kent State University, Kent OH

Applied Psychology Center Travel Award, 2008, 2009, 2011

Kent State University, Kent OH

Student Poster Winner Award,2010

International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies

Montreal, Canada

CLINICAL TRAINING:

John’s Hopkins Medical Center/Kennedy Krieger Institute
Pediatric Psychology Clinic and Consultation Service
Baltimore, MD / July 2013–present
Position:
Pediatrics Intern / Supervisors:
Keith Slifer, Ph.D.
Adriana Amari, Ph.D.
  • Provide consultation to allied health professionals in a variety of inpatient and outpatient pediatric settings at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, the Johns Hopkins Hospital Children's Center and various schools and community health care facilities.
  • Implement behavioral techniques to help avoid reliance on sedation or anesthesia for motion control or behavior management during medical procedures, as well as to supplement medical management of pain, anxiety and distress associated with medical disorders, tests and treatments.
  • Provide behaviorally-oriented individual child/adolescent psychotherapy with emphasis placed on teaching or strengthening skills for coping with stress, anxiety or pain, and on problem-solving skills for identifying and overcoming barriers to adherence with health care regimens and normative psychosocial adjustment.
  • Train parents and health care professionals to implement behavioral interventions that strengthen child coping, cooperation and adjustment to their medical conditions.

Akron Children’s Hospital
Akron, OH / July 2012–June 2013
Position:
Trainee in Behavioral Medicine / Supervisor:
Amy J. Ginsberg, J.D., Ph.D
  • Conducted feeding-specific evaluations and treatment as part of multi-disciplinaryteam, including speech/feeding specialists, nutrition specialists, occupational therapists, and pediatric behavioral psychologists
  • Provided assessments and interventions to address behavioral difficulties, adherence concerns, and coping difficulties for children withCystic Fibrosis in an outpatient medical clinic
  • Conducted inpatient consultationsfor patients with Cystic Fibrosis as part of the Inpatient Consultation/Liaison Service
  • Developed several research protocols assessing perceptions of the integration of behavioral psychology in medical clinics

KidsLink
Social Skills Program
Twinsburg, OH / June 2010-June 2012
Position:
Clinical Extern / Supervisor:
Michelle Depolo, Psy.D.
  • Co-facilitated 3 types of psychotherapy groups for children and adolescentswith autism spectrum disorder; a cognitive-behavioral skills group for children and adolescents with co-morbid anxiety and depression, and a child/adolescent group teaching social skills and cognitive-behavioral techniques for coping with stressors, and a teen social skills group
  • Provided feedback and recommendations to parents of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

Akron Children’s Hospital
Partial Hospitalization Program
Akron, OH / June 2010-June 2011
Position:
Clinical Extern / Supervisor:
Alanna Updegraff, Ph.D.
  • Provided individual, group, and family therapy to adolescents ages 13-17 with severe depression, anxiety, anger management problems, self-harm behaviors, suicidal ideations and suicide attempts in 5-10 day treatment program
  • Conducted intake assessments and personality assessments (MMPI-A) with adolescents
  • Conducted Dialectical Behavior Therapy group and check-in groups. Co-led psychotherapy and check-out groups
  • Coordinated care with outpatient therapists, psychiatrists, children’s services boards, court officials and schools
  • Supervision was received in weekly individual meetings, which emphasized case conceptualization and treatment planning; Attended daily multidisciplinary treatment team meetings
  • Maintained outpatient caseload of individual child and family cases, including several children with medical illnesses

Kent State University
Child/Adolescent Specialty Practicum
Kent, OH / June 2008-June 2011
Position:
Graduate Student Clinician / Supervisors:
Beth Wildman, Ph.D.
Joel Mowrey, Ph.D
  • Conducted intellectual, personality, and diagnostic assessment and provided individual psychotherapy to an adult client population from the Kent State University and greater Kent community
  • Provided individual and family psychotherapy for children and adolescents with behavior problems, depression, and/or anxiety; utilized evidence-based treatments for treating child anxiety and externalizing behavior problems
  • Implemented parenting training strategies, primarily Triple P, as well as a systems framework in family therapy
  • Created and implemented treatment plans varying in length from brief to long-term, which incorporated various theoretical orientations (e.g., Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical and Behavioral Therapy, and Family Systems)
  • Conducted intellectual assessments for children and adolescents ages 7 to 17 years
  • Provided feedback and recommendations utilized in school admissions and placement programs
  • Provided formal case conceptualization presentations to supervisors and peers
  • Supervision was received in weekly individual and small-group formats and involved videotape review

Kent State University
General Adult Practicum
Kent, OH / June 2008-June 2010
Position: Graduate Student Clinician

Clinical supervisors:

John Schell, Ph.D.,

Joel Hughes, Ph.D.

John Akamatsu, Ph.D

/

Assessment supervisors:

Yossef Ben-Porath, Ph.D.

Martin Sellbom, Ph.D.

  • Conducted intellectual, personality, and diagnostic assessment and provided individual psychotherapy to an adult client population from the Kent State University and greater Kent community
  • Provided short- and long-term individual psychotherapy for clients with a variety of adjustment and clinical disorders including mood and anxiety disorders, substance abuse, eating disorders, and Axis II disorders
  • Conducted semi-structured clinical interviews (SCID), administered psychological tests (e.g., MMPI-2; WAIS-III; sentence completion; TAT), and completed brief and comprehensive reports

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

Executive Functions:

Concepts, Assessment, and Clinical Presentations2012

Akron Children’s Hospital, Akron, OH

Trauma Focused CBT (TF-CBT) Training2012

Coleman Professional Services Ravenna, Ohio

The Practical Art of Eliciting Suicidal Ideation: 2011

The ChronologicalAssessment of Suicide Events

Akron Children’s Hospital, Akron, OH

Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Training2010

Akron Children’s Hospital, Akron, OH

Dialectical Behavior Therapy 2010

with Adolescents Suicidal Adolescents Training

Akron Children’s Hospital, Akron, OH

Using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality 2008

Inventory-Restructured Format in Clinical Settings

Kent State University, Kent OH

Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) 2008

Training Workshop: Group Level

Kent State University, Kent OH

Using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality 2008

Inventory in Clinical Settings

Kent State University,Kent OH

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Graduate Research Assistant June 2007-Present

Kent State University

Advisor: Douglas L. Delahanty, Ph.D.

  • Involved in research investigating biopsychosocial predictors of PTSD in children and adults
  • Involved in research examining predictors of psychological outcomes in families involved in pediatric palliative care
  • Conduct subject enrollment including recruitment, screening, obtaining informed consent for NIMH grant (R01 MH62042-01) examining the efficacy of early hydrocortisone treatment at decreasing PTSD symptomatology in trauma survivors
  • Insure the transfer of biologic samples to the laboratory
  • Perform clinical interviews usingthe Structured Interview for DSM-IV Disorders (SCID) and the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) for both adults and children
Graduate Research Assistant August 2011-July 2012
Kent State University
Supervisor: Christopher Flessner, Ph.D.
  • Involved in research examining neuropsychological functioning and parenting practices in children diagnosed with OCD and related disorders
  • Prepared and submitted three research proposals
  • Conducted subject enrollment including recruitment, screening, obtaining informed consent for research studies
  • Administered several structured diagnostic interview, including the Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL), the Children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) and Trichotillomania Diagnostic Interview (TDI)
  • Administered several behavioral rating scales and symptom report measures, including the Conner’s 3, parent report, Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC), and the Child Depession Inventory (CDI)
  • Administered the Cambridge Automated Neurocognitive Assessment Battery (CANTAB)

Intervention Co-facilitatorJanuary 2009-June, 2010

Kent State University

Advisor: Beth Wildman, Ph.D.

Project title:Parenting practices, child behavior, and injury

Responsibilities:

  • Conducted evidence-based manualized behavioral parent training with parents of children ages 3-7 with externalizing behavior problems in hospital setting
  • Coordinated care with physicians referring children for treatment

Clinical Research Coordinator June 2005-June 2007

James J Peters VA Medical Center and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine

Division of Traumatic Stress Studies

Supervisor: Rachel Yehuda, Ph.D.

Project title: Genetics, Endocrinology, and PTSD Risk in the Population

  • Conducted subject enrollment including recruitment, screening, obtaining informed consent, and maintaining subject-specific databases using SPSS
  • Administered self-report measures
  • Corresponded with Internal Review Board/Grants & Contracts Office to ensure regulatory compliance for NIMH and VA MERIT funded studies
  • Scheduled blood draw for NPY, DHEA and glucocorticoid receptor measures and insure the transfer of biologic samples to the laboratory
  • Mentored and trained junior clinical research coordinators
  • Collaborated with members of an inter-disciplinary team including clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and other research coordinators

ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS IN PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS

Delahanty, D. L., Gabert-Quillen, C. A.,Ostrowski, S., Morris, A. T., Fallon, W. (submitted). The efficacy of early hydrocortisone treatment at decreasing symptoms of PTSD.Psychoneuroendocrinology, 18, 103-111.doi:10.1017/S1092852913000096

Morris, A., Lee, T., Delahanty, D. (2013). The relationship between parent and child negative event appraisals and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in children: a moderation analysis. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Practice. doi: 10.1037/a0029894

Morris, A., Gabert-Quillen, C., Delahanty, D. (2012). The association between parent PTSD/depression symptoms and child PTSD symptoms: a meta-analysis. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 37(10):1076-88.doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jss091

Morris, A, Mckee, T. (2009). Disaster-related trauma and children: A proposed parent training program. Early Childhood Services, 3, 99-112.

Yehuda, R., Schmeidler, J., Labinsky,E., Bell, A., Morris, A. ,Zemelman, S., Grossman, R. (2009). Ten-year follow-up study of PTSD diagnosis, symptom severity and psychosocial indices in aging holocaust survivors. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 119, 25-34.

Yehuda R, Morris A, Labinsky E, Zemelman S, Schmeidler J. (2007). Ten year follow-up study of cortisol levels in aging Holocaust Survivors with and without PTSD. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 20, 757-61.

Yehuda R, Teicher MH, Seckl JR, Grossman RA, Morris A, Bierer LM. (2007). Maternal but not paternal PTSD is a ‘vulnerability’ factor for low cortisol trait in offspring of Holocaust survivors. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64, 1040-8.

PUBLICATIONS UNDER REVIEW

Flessner, C., Morris A. (submitted) Intermediate Phenotypes, Anxiogenic Parenting Practices, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): A Testable Model for Describing the Pathogenesis of Child-onset OCD. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology

ABSTRACTS/SYMPOSIA/PRESENTATIONS

Morris, A., Gabert-Quillen, C., Delahanty, D. (2011, November). The relationship between parent functioning and the development of child posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms: a meta-analysis. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, Baltimore, MD.

Babyar H., Morris, A., Wildman B., Duby, J. (2011, April) Effects of Behavioral Parent Training on Parental Psychosocial Functioning, Discipline Styles, and Injury Risk Behaviors in Children. Poster presented at presented at the meeting of the Society of Pediatric Psychology, San Antonio, TX.

Babyar, H., Morris, A., Wildman, B., Duby, J. (2010, September). Effects of Behavioral Parent Training on Injury Risk Behaviors in Children. Poster presented at presented at the meeting of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (SDBP), Boston, MA.

Morris, A., Delahanty, D., & Christopher, N. (2010, November). Caregiver characteristics and the development of PTSD following traumatic injury in children. Poster presented at the meeting of International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Montreal, Canada.

Morris, A., Nugent, N., Christopher, N., Delahanty, D. (2010, November). Depression as a moderator of early propranolol administration to prevent PTSD in child trauma victims. Poster presented presented at the meeting ofthe International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Montreal, Canada. (First Place, Student Poster Award)

Gabert, C. A., Ostrowski, S., Morris, A., Humphrys, K., Fallon, W., Bon, J., & Delahanty, D.L. (2009, January). Early secondary interventions with hydrocortisone for in-hospital trauma patients. Poster presented at the meeting ofthe Northeastern Ohio Regional Trauma Network (NORTN), Canton, OH.

Gabert, C. A., Ostrowski, S., Morris, A., Humphrys, K., Fallon, W., Bon, J., & Delahanty, D.L.(2008, November). Early secondary interventions with hydrocortisone for in-hospital trauma patients. In Zatzick, D. (Chair)Acute Medical Interventions for Prevention andTreatment of PTSD: Considerations and New Findings. Symposium presented at the meeting ofthe International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Chicago, IL.

Morris, A., Sledjeski, Fallon, W., Spoonster, E., Delahanty, D. (2008, November). Longitudinal Analysis of Memory for Trauma and Symptoms of PTSD. Poster presented at the meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Chicago, IL

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Course Instructor

Psychological Interventions Summer 2011

Department of Psychology, Kent State University. Junior-level undergraduate course with 30 students. Independently developed and carried out curriculum including lectures, class discussion, multiple-choice exams, and supplemental reading materials.

Course InstructorFall 2009, Spring 2010

Child Psychology

Department of Psychology, Kent State University. Sophomore-level undergraduate course with 300 students. Independently developed and carried out curriculum including lectures, class discussion, multiple-choice exams, and supplemental reading materials.

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