Section Items

Current Grad Students

Miranda Berrigan, B.S., 2016, Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University. Advisor: Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan. Interests: parental leave, coparenting, transition to parenthood, attachment, social-emotional development in early childhood. Email: berrigan.6@osu.edu   

Patrick R. Bortz, MFT, 2017; M.S., 2016, Couple and Family Therapy, University of Kentucky; B.S., 2013 with Research Distinction in Psychology summa cum laude, The Ohio State University. Advisor: Suzanne Bartle-Haring. Interests: efficacy of a smartphone app for increasing couple satisfaction, fluidity in gender and sexuality. Email: bortz.8@osu.edu

David D. Bowers, B.A., 1985, English Literature, University of the South. M.Div., 1989, Theology, Nashotah House Seminary. M.B.A., 2013 Western Governors University, Strategy and Leadership. M.A., Marriage and Family Therapy, specialization in Chemical Dependency Counseling. Advisor: Suzanne Bartle-Haring. Interests: What might a therapy session look like with Žižek as therapist?...as client? Given Althusser’s concerns regarding both the academy and the family, (how) can relationally oriented therapy result in something other than docile bodies? How might Lacan’s insights into the inter-psychically constructed unconscious (among other things) prove helpful to therapy within a family systems paradigm? Where might queer and feminist gender theory find application in the therapy room for those who don’t identify as queer or feminist? Is theory an effective technique? Email: bowers.461@osu.edu

Meingold H. M. Chan, B.S., 2015, Psychology and Counselling, University of Hong Kong; M.Phil., 2016, Social and Developmental Psychology, University of Cambridge. Advisor: Xin Feng. Interests: social-emotional development in children, emotion regulation, emotion socialization, depression, cross-cultural difference. Email: chan.742@osu.edu

Sugene Cho, B.A., 2008, Consumer and Child Studies, Seoul National University; M.A., 2010, Consumer Science, Seoul National University. Advisor: Kelly M. Purtell. Interests: patterns of transition to adulthood, the role of early family contexts and sociopsychological attributes behind future educational and occupational attainment. Adolescents’ time use in organized activities. Email: cho.832@osu.edu

Laura Cully, B.S., 2016, Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University; M.S., 2018, Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University. Advisor: Natasha Slesnick. Interests: Intergenerational transmission of trauma, especially intimate partner violence, and the effects of family therapy on this population; substance abuse treatment; homeless youth and families. Email: cully.9@osu.edu

Megan Ferriby, B.S., 2013, Psychology, The Ohio State University. Advisor: Suzanne Bartle-Haring, co-advisor: Keeley Pratt. Interests: Individual and family functioning over normative and non-normative transitions and how marriage and family therapists can intervene to build upon strengths and minimize stressors of the family. With Dr. Bartle-Haring, exploring family support during normative transitions such as emerging adulthood. With Dr. Pratt, understanding how marriage and family therapists can improve health and relational outcomes for bariatric patients. Email: ferriby.2@osu.edu

Micah Gerhardt, B.S., 2014, Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University; M.S 2016 Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University. Advisor: Xin Feng. Interests: Father's role in child development, children's socioemotional development, temperament and personality, psychometrics. Email gerhardt.35@osu.edu

Diandra R. Gordon, B.A., 2011, Psychology, Hampton University. M.S. Human Development & Family Science, The Ohio State University. Advisors: Dr. Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, PhD & Dr. Keeley Pratt, PhD. Interests: intimate partner violence; under-represented populations; the African Diaspora; bridging the gap between research and the community; applied research; policy; early and middle childhood experiences; and family wellness. Email: gordon.552@osu.edu

Barbara T. Hodgdon, B.A., 2015, Psychology, The Ohio State University. Advisor: Jen D. Wong. Interests: health and well-being of caregivers in midlife and late adulthood with a focus on work and family, leisure, and subjective age. Email: hodgdon.9@osu.edu

Codina Kawar, B.A. 2013, Psychology with Honors, Syracuse University, New York; M.A. 2015, Marriage and Family Therapy, Syracuse University, New York; pursuing PhD within Human Development and Family Science with Couple and Family Therapy specialization, The Ohio State University. Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Bartle-Haring. Interests: contextual therapy, relational ethics, infidelity, dyadic data, intergenerational and interpersonal relationship dynamics seem through a contextual theory lens, associations among experiences of trauma, differentiation, emotional regulation, therapeutic alliance, and relationship satisfaction in dyadic data in clinical samples. Email: kawar.2@osu.edu

Jin-kyung Lee, B.A., 2006, Consumer and Child Studies, Seoul National University, M.A., 2009, Child Development and Family Studies, Seoul National University. Advisor: Sarah J. Schoppe-Sullivan . Interests: child social-emotional development, gene and environment interaction, coparenting, fathering, parenting, family poverty. Email: lee.5944@osu.edu

Meghna Mahambrey, B.S., 2007, Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University; M.Ed., 2010, Montessori Education, Xavier University. Advisor: Anastasia Snyder. Interests: romantic relationships, the evolution of marriage, infidelity, contemporary alternatives to marriage, relationship and sex education. Graduate Associate Teaching Award (GATA) Recipient, 2018. Email: mahambrey.2@osu.edu

Aaron Murnan, B.S., 2013, Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; M.S., 2015, Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University. Advisor: Dr. Natasha Slesnick. Interests: intervention development with prostituting women and their children, substance use treatment, and family systems therapy. Email: murnan.6@osu.edu

Anna L. Olsavsky, B.S., 2015, Human Development and Family Studies, Psychology, Central Michigan University, M.S., 2017, Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University. Advisor: Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan. Interests: attachment relationships, family systems theory, coparenting, couple relationships, parent-child relationships, fathering. Email: olsavsky.8@osu.edu

Michael Shepard, B.S., 2016, Family Life, Brigham Young University. Advisors: Anastasia Snyder and Mike Betz. Interests: Individual and family outcomes in extraction communities; outcomes for families impacted by opioid abuse. Email: shepard.191@osu.edu

Alexandra M. VanBergen, M.S., 2016, Mental Health Counseling, SUNY New Paltz; B.S., 2013, Psychology, cum laude, with minors in Statistics and Public Health, SUNY Fredonia. Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Bartle-Haring. Interests: intergenerational transmission of trauma, substance use and depression in LGBTQ+ youth and adults, LGBTQ+ romantic relationships. AAMFT Doctoral Minority Fellow, 2017-2018. Email: vanbergen.3@osu.edu

Catherine Van Fossen, B.S., 2014, Human Sciences, The Ohio State University; M.S., 2016, Human Sciences, The Ohio State University. Advisor. Keeley Pratt. Interests: Couple and Family Therapy, Medical Family Therapy, Integrated Health Care, Obesity, Underserved and minority families. Email: vanfossen.49@osu.edu

Sarah M. Worch, M.S., M.A., LMFT, Ph.D. student. Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Bartle-Haring. Research interests: Differentiation of self as a predictor of chronic illness and patient treatment adherence; medical family therapy; Bowen theory as a potential framework for preventive medicine; intersections of Theravada Buddhism and Bowen theory; understanding how meditation practice can improve family therapists’ neutrality, emotional reactivity, systemic understanding, and the client-therapist relationship; cross-cultural application and validation of Bowen theory. Email: worch.15@osu.edu

Julia Jia Yan, B.S., 2015, Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; M.S., 2017, Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University. Advisor: Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan. Interests: parenting and co-parenting; fathering; child socioemotional development; family interactions and relationships; research methodology. Email: yan.775@osu.edu