Graduate Students

Carol Lee

Carol entered the clinical psychology graudate program at the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2013. Carol is interested in the mechanisms of therapeutic exposures and behavioral experiments. In an effort to examine one piece of this, Carol's current research draws from both social and clinical psychology to examine potential mechanisms of behavioral action (the active engagement of a behavior regardless of any fear or anxiety associated with that behavior) in social anxiety. Clinically, she is interested in working with high risk populations and hold a fondness for DBT. For self-care, Carol enjoy rock climbing, reading mystery books, organizing things, and treating myself to office supplies.

Carol is currently an intern at the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System in Honolulu, HI.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Email:carol.lee001@umb.edu

Jacqueline Hargrove

Jacquie entered the clinical psychology graudate program at the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2013. Jacquie's dissertation has used participatory action research to examine mental health stigma amoung black transitional age youth.

Jacquie is currently an intern Mt. Sinai Medical Center/Adolescent Health Center in New York City.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Email:jacqueline.hargrove001@umb.edu

Bryan Balvaneda

Bryan entered the clinical psychology graudate program at the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2014. Bryan is interested in the interpersonal context of clinical processes, specifically mindfulness, self-compassion, and social anxiety. His master's thesis investigated the interpersonal effects of mindfulness and social anxiety in romantic relationships, and his dissertation-in-progress will focus on the interpersonal effects of self-compassion in roommate dyads. For 2018-2019, Bryan will be serving as a consultant and outreach coordinator for UMB-UR-BEST to serve students at UMass Boston, and will also serve as a research therapist at Fenway Health on a study evaluating a CBT-enhanced substance abuse intervention for populations at risk for HIV. Bryan identifies as Mexican-American and Latino and as a first-generation college and graduate student, and is also a native Spanish speaker. He strives to use his background and language skills to continue to work with underserved communities and underprivileged communities.

Pronouns: he/him/his

Email:bryan.balvaneda001@umb.edu

Lorraine Alire

Lorraine entered the clinical psychology graudate program at the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2016. Lorraine Alire received her B.S. in Psychobiology from UCLA in 2014. After graduating, Lorraine worked on several studies within the UCLA Anxiety and Depression Research Center, focusing on the etiology and treatment of anxiety disorders, dissemination of technology-based interventions, and optimization of exposure therapies through the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy and basic science of fear learning. During her free time, Lorraine enjoys watching movies, going to the gym, and mentoring underprivileged children. At UMB, Lorraine is interested in examining mechanisms to improve therapy outcomes particularly for low income, ethnic minorities diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Her interests also lie in the dissemination of culturally-sensitive cognitive behavioral therapies in community settings.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Email:lorraine.alire001@umb.edu

Stephanie Marando-Blanck

Stephanie entered the clinical psychology graudate program at the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2017. Stephanie Marando-Blanck received her BA in Psychology and Classics from Johns Hopkins University in 2014. Following graduation she has been working on several projects with Drs. James Herbert and Evan Forman at Drexel University in Philadelphia. In this work, she has been particularly involved in a trial comparing traditional cognitive behavior therapy to an acceptance-based behavior therapy for social anxiety disorder. She has also been involved in studies that assess brief interventions - both an acceptance-based intervention for public speaking anxiety and brief web-based interventions for improving the adjustment to college. Additionally, she has been involved with research expanding the uses of mindfulness by examining laypersons' understanding of mindfulness and by applying mindfulness interventions to health contexts. In addition to this work with anxiety disorders, she has also provided intensive applied behavior analysis treatment to children and adolescents with developmental disabilities and/or severe behavioral disorders. At UMB, Stephanie is interested in examining mechanisms of change in acceptance and mindfulness based therapies and to further study how these interventions can be used across contexts to promote well-being.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Email:s.marandoblanck001@umb.edu

Ryan Parigoris

Ryan entered the clinical psychology graduate program at the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2018. Prior to the University of Massachusetts Boston, he earned his B.A. in Clinical Psychology from Tufts University, and worked as Research Coordinator at the University of Washington. Ryan is interested in understanding the psychological mechanisms underlying racial anxiety in white individuals in order to pinpoint targets for anti-racist intervention. He is also interested in the community-based dissemination and implementation of culturally humble evidence-based treatments. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, bar trivia, and affordable yoga.

Pronouns: he/him/his

Email:r.parigoris001@umb.edu

Lab Alumni

Amber Calloway

Amber graduated in 2018. Her dissertation examined treatment engagement and client competence in CBT for social anxiety disorder. Amber is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Lauren Page Wadsworth

Lauren graduated in 2018. Lauren's dissertation examined perceived control and its relation to anxiety. In particular, she was interested in whether an acceptance based intervention would impact anxiety in a situation with low external control. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Lauren's clinical and research work are both largely informed by a commitment to continuously becoming a more culturally competent clinician and researcher. In her other life, Lauren is a professional photographer (click here to see her work) and we are grateful to her for all of the amazing photographs she has taken of and for the team.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Email:lauren.p.wadsworth@gmail.com

Shannon Sorenson

Shannon graduated in 2016. Her dissertation focused on developing a measure for fusion and decentering, called the Relationship to Internal Experiences Scale. Shannon is currently a staff psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at Brigham and Women's hospital, an instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and an adjunct professor at Lesley University.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Ashley Smith

Ashley completed an honor's thesis with our team in 2018 which focused on the cognitive distortions embedded in the automatic thoughts that clients reported during CBT for social anxiety disorder. Ashley is now working as a research coordinator at Boston Medical Center.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Former Research Coordinators

The AMPT will also be eternally grateful of our former research coordinators Daniel Paulus and Megan Garrad who played a major role on this team before going off to graduate school.

Collaborators

Lizabeth Roemer
Lab webpage

Vivian Ciaramitaro
Lab webpage