Diversity and Inclusion in Psychology Programs

The University at Albany Psychology Programs welcome, promote, and celebrate respect for all people of any race, color, religion, creed, sex, pregnancy status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, ancestry, age, veteran status, or disability. The Diversity Working Group continues to incorporate feedback and communicate changes in policies, programs, and resources to ensure inclusion and equity in our programs. We are committed to fostering an environment that values and emphasizes diversity and multiculturalism across our professional, clinical, and research endeavors, both within our program and for the wider communities we may serve.
 

Programs

 

Clinical Psychology

Two students talking over their notes

Our program offers unique opportunities to integrate multicultural knowledge built in the classroom with clinical training and practice. In addition to working with diverse local populations, some clinical practicum sites incorporate seminars and didactic training on topics related to diversity. Of note, we have the opportunity to serve the following communities:

  • Racial/ethnic minority youth and families (Rensselaer County Mental Health)
  • Low SES individuals & families (VA Medical Center, Albany Medical Center, Rensselaer County Mental Health, Psychological Services Center)
  • Learning, developmental, and intellectual disabilities in youth and adults (Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, Albany Medical Center, Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital)
Teaching

Graduate teaching in our program

  • Fosters an inclusive classroom environment
  • Assigns weekly readings that focus on diverse samples and authors, including socioeconomic status, race & ethnicity, and gender differences.


Selected Diversity-Related Courses

  • Diversity Issues in Mental Health

  • Professional Issues and Current Directions in Clinical Psychology

  • Clinical Child Psychology

  • Survey of Developmental Psychology

Research

Many faculty and students have strong interests related to diversity issues and actively explore these in their scholarship and research. We seek to recruit diverse research samples in conducting our research. Below are some highlights of representative research conducted within the program.


Disparities in mental health care

  • Diversity in perceptions of psychotherapy and mental health care (Boswell lab)

  • Perceived racism and mental health among college students: the role of global and racial/ ethnic self-concept (Lin lab)

  • Intergenerational transmission of health disparities (Lin lab)

  • Life course stress, temperamental and physiological stress reactivity, and adjustment in racial/ethnic minority families (Lin lab)

  • Depression and racism 

  • Gender and racial/ ethnic differences in help-seeking in adults with lifetime DSM-5 eating disorders (Hormes lab)

  • Addressing the mental health needs of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (Christodulu lab)


Diversity issues in treatment and intervention

  • Therapists’ multicultural competency in a text- based therapy format (Boswell lab)

  • Examining attitudes and practices of palliative care providers (Earleywine lab)

  • Safer sex in a digital world: A Web-based motivational enhancement intervention to increase condom use among college women (Earleywine lab)

  • Intention of meditation: Examining psychosocial correlates of utilizing meditation to control or open up to one’s experience (Forsyth lab)

  • Identifying barriers to cultivating self-compassion in young adults (Forsyth lab)


Diversity issues in maternal and child health and early childhood

  • Predictors of excess gestational weight gain in ethnic/ racial minority women with pre-pregnancy overweight/ obesity (Hormes lab)

  • Ethnic/racial differences in family adversity and aggression (Gordis lab)

  • Parent-child and family coregulatory processes in ethnic minority samples (Lin lab)


Diet, weight, and eating-related pathology in traditionally understudied and underserved populations

  • Eating behaviors across genders and in traditionally understudied populations, e.g., sexual minority men and female athletes (Anderson, Hormes labs)
  • Interventions to enhance diet and nutrition in individuals living with food insecurity (Hormes lab)
  • The impact of ethnic identity on the development of eating pathology in Black women (Anderson lab)
  • Eating behaviors during Ramadan (Hormes lab)


Diversity and professional issues

  • Status of women in academia (Hormes lab) 
  • Motivations, experiences and career paths among Black therapists (Boswell lab)


Diversity issues in research participation and methodology

  • Validating eating disorder assessments in demographically diverse populations (Anderson, Hormes labs)

  • Gender bias in the assessment of cannabis problems (Earleywine lab)

  • Effect of ethnicity of raters on performance of social evaluative stress test (Gordis lab)

  • Individual differences in stress psychophysiology baseline and reactivity within ethnicity groups (Gordis lab)

  • Understanding the female presentation of autism (Christodulu lab)

 

Involvement Opportunities

Psychology Undergraduate Mentorship Program (PUMP) pairs undergraduate students with graduate students to provide guidance in navigating the field.

Clinical Psychology Diversity Working Group works to create, promote, and maintain activities and programs that are conducive to the intellectual, emotional, and social development of our diverse community.