School Mental Health Lab Spotlight
The psychology departments labs are designed to help each of our students discover what areas of focus they are passionate about by conducting research alongside their peers and mentors. One of the labs for the School Psychology Ph.D. program is The School Mental Health Lab who “aims to improve the accessibility and quality of school-based mental health services for the benefit of youth, families, educators, and communities.” This lab is mostly made up of Doctorate students who are working to complete the School Psychology program and is directed by Dr. Tyler Renshaw. Dr. Renshaw is an associate professor, and program director for the School Psychology PhD program and believes that "schools should offer both prevention and treatment and should balance reducing suffering with improving wellbeing. Most importantly, I believe school-based services are integral to promoting mental health equity.”
Students in the School Mental Health Lab are encouraged to conduct research that connects with their individual values and interests, but the lab as a whole conducts research in three main areas: 1. validating rating scales for assessing key mental health variables, 2. evaluating the effects of simple mindfulness interventions with students, teachers, and parents, and 3. systematically reviewing the effects of interventions. Currently, a few of the graduate students in the lab are working on their thesis projects where they are “using single-case designs to explore how brief mindfulness interventions with parents, teachers, and students affect wellbeing and perceptions of behavior over time.”
This lab works as a team within the department, but they also have the opportunity to collaborate with researchers at other universities around the world. Dr. Renshaw expanded on this saying, “this year, the lab is collaborating with research teams in international contexts – including the United Kingdom, Poland, Serbia, China, and India – to develop and validate language and cultural adaptations of school based mental health screeners originally developed by our lab for use with U.S. students.” These opportunities help our students recognize the impact our work can have on a global scale.
Each person involved with the lab is passionate about the work they are doing saying, “We hope our research will help more people make better decisions, use better tools, and provide more equitable mental health services in more schools."
If you are interested in getting more information about the School Mental Health Lab, check out the lab page here.