Tyler Lefevor

Biography

Welcome! I am an associate professor and part of the combined clinical/counseling specialization at USU. I received my PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Miami in 2016, following which, I completed a year-long postdoc at Stanford University focusing on sexual and gender minority health. I taught at Rhodes College from 2017-2020 and am happy to be back in the land of the Rockies. At USU, I teach a variety of courses in both the psychology undergraduate program and the combined clinical/counseling PhD specialization. My specialties are in research methods, religion/spirituality, and LGBTQ+ mental health. My research examines how and when religiousness is related to health among sexual and gender minorities to better inform psychotherapy and public policy. In general, my research follows three trajectories: 1) I am interested in examining the health disparities experienced by sexual and gender minorities, particularly those from a conservative religious background. 2) I am interested in understanding how religiousness promotes or hinders health among sexual and gender minorities. 3) I am dedicated to translating my findings to help inform therapy, policy, and ministry. I integrate my research with clinical work in a scientist-practitioner model. I maintain a private practice where I primarily serve sexual and gender minority clients with a conservative religious background. I also enjoy supervising therapists and trainees who are looking to work more effectively with sexual and gender minorities from conservative religious backgrounds. Currently, I supervise doctoral students in our program in the Sexual and Gender Minority Services practicum, where students can get specialized training in working with LGBTQ+ clients. I am bilingual (English-Spanish) and occasionally do therapy in Spanish. Apart from work, I love running, hiking, getting good deals on airfare, good food, and live theater. I plan to take one new doctoral student each year, so please apply! Because of the number of applicants I get, I don’t usually have the bandwidth to talk with prospective applicants during application season (August – January). If you are interested in working with me and being part of my lab, please email me during off season, or send in your application, and I’ll reach out to you during application season. You can also check out my website and/or contact me via email.