Biography

The research focus of the CatholicU Suicide Prevention Lab (SPL) centers on clinical risk assessment (using both quantitative and qualitative methods) with different populations of people who are suicidal across different clinical settings. We are particularly focused on a suicide-focused clinical intervention developed in the SPL called the "Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality" (CAMS). We are presently engaged in funded clinical trials to investigate the effectiveness of CAMS with patients in the US and abroad. There are now eleven published open clinical trials, seven published randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and two meta-analyses demonstrating the effectiveness of CAMS. There are five
ongoing RCTs and several other trials are being developed.
I have been working in suicidology since graduate school across various domains—public health, clinical research, epidemiology, and theory-building. I have also worked extensively within Veterans Affairs at both the local and national level. Over the past dozen years, I have been a consultant to each branch of the US military. In recent years my lab has become increasingly focused on teenagers and even children who are suicidal as we continued to adapt CAMS for other populations. As Chair of the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention Public Policy Council, I am also deeply involved in suicide and mental health policy, advocacy, and legislation at the national, state, and local levels.
 
As a professor I teach courses in clinical psychology, ethics and professional practice, psychotherapy, research methods, clinical theory, assessment interviewing, and a graduate seminar on suicide. I have a passion for teaching and my courses are infused with real-world examples and case studies that help bring the course material to life.