How did you get involved��in doing research?

I first became heavily involved in research during my first semester in the doctoral program at ��������. I joined an already established team that was researching the term that we coined,��Cultural Responsibility, in mental health providers. Through that process, I found a love for conducting psychological research and began engulfing myself in any and every project that aligned with my interests.

What are your current research��interests? And how did you narrow your research��focus?

My research interests include culture, identity, and trauma, with a particular emphasis on culturally grounded, community-centered approaches, racial trauma, and movement-based interventions. I narrowed my focus through a continuous process of self-reflection and rediscovery. The “why” in everything that I do is bridging the gap between social justice and mental health. My work is deeply rooted in Humanistic, Black Feminist, Liberation, and Embodiment frameworks, with aims to foster the empowerment and liberation of individuals and communities experiencing marginalization and oppression.

What type of research do you do?

Currently, my four research teams are studying: 1) the efficacy and effectiveness of movement-based therapies, 2) the psychological pain of loss or lack in relationships, human respect, and social privilege, 3) the intergenerational transmission of vicarious racial trauma, and 4) disparities in Black maternal health.

Are you accepting students for your research��team? If so, what qualities do you look for in a research team member?

Although I am not currently accepting new team members, in the future, I may be looking to add students who are driven, reliable, and passionate about culturally- and trauma-informed care.

The post Faculty Research Spotlight: Dr. Courtney Cabell, Core Faculty, MA Faculty appeared first on The �������� (��������).

How did you get involved��in doing research?

I became involved in conducting research during my last year of undergrad at the University of Michigan Dearborn. I participated in a qualitative research project, utilizing phenomenological methods, alongside my partner, Dr. Vanessa Brown, and presented the findings as a poster at the 2011 Third Annual Division 32 Conference.

What type of research do you do?

��I am passionate about both quantitative and qualitative research.��

What are your current research��interests? And how did you narrow your research��focus?

My current research interests include episomologies of reparative justice for American Descendants of Slavery, and in conjunction with this research, on ecopsychology, climate psychology, and social justice work.

Are you accepting students for your research��team? If so, what qualities do you look for in a research team member?

I am currently accepting students. Our current study examines the perceived scarcity mindset and its relationship to empathy in relation to engagement in climate action. I look for team members who are motivated, able to organize their time, and are self-directed.

The post Faculty Research Spotlight: Dr. Derrick Sebree, Core Faculty MA Faculty appeared first on The �������� (��������).

It is only in the middle weeks of October each year that my 32 months of work becomes discussable in average social settings. With Halloween impending, people seem more attuned to the idea of “dressing up” for the holiday. This entire article was born from an experience shopping in a store, and as I pushed my cart past the Halloween costumes, I heard a young boy insist to his mother that “I want to be something else this year.” It is the “something else” that is always the point of my fascination; and three of the themes from my dissertation seem present in the Halloween rituals and festivities.

The first theme which emerges in observing Halloween participants is that there is an immense freedom in what one can be for an evening. We are no longer confined to the roles that we embrace for the rest of the year. On this one evening, we are allowed supreme freedom to be almost anything. Regular people become aliens from another planet, Vikings, flappers, pirates and witches.�� It is permissible to wear clothing or hairstyles that were fashionable two decades ago, change your profession, your age, even your gender. It might be the one evening of the year that indulges creative expression, as long as people follow the Cinderella rule and after��midnight��return to their regular selves.

With this fleeting freedom, the next idea is how do we narrow down all the choices? Two of the ideas from my dissertation state that people choose a persona (and in this case, a costume) based on wanting to either experience something they perceive as foreign to their identity, or to embrace a part of themselves that typically remains undeveloped or underdeveloped in “normal” life. In the former case, a typically reserved individual might embrace something gregarious and outlandish. In the latter case, an undergrad psychology student might journey to a Halloween costume store, and shortly after purchasing a white beard, transform themselves into Sigmund Freud for the evening. Or the avid reader who enjoys mysteries procures a pipe, an overcoat and a magnifying glass and becomes the great Sherlock Holmes.

The devil being in the details holds true here as well, for it is not merely the wardrobe that makes for a great costume. If one is to truly embrace a role (the principle I refer to as conscious embodiment), the behavior must equally reflect that role. For our person-as-Freud, the costume would not be as complete if throughout the night they did not on occasion ask others to “Tell me about your Mother” in a thick Viennese accent. Someone dressing as Dr. Gregory House would not “be” Dr. House without a cane, a limp, some Mike & Ike’s to pop occasionally as if they were a handful of pills, and a heavy dose of sarcasm. Someone who manages to get a chef’s coat would still not be able to pull of being Gordon Ramsay for an evening without at least speaking in a British accent and exerting doses of profanity specific to various foods based on temperature, flavor, or texture. These are the behaviors that bring a character to life, and when they are done moderately well other people respond to them. Another partygoer will describe a dream to Dr. Freud, expecting overt sexual interpretations. People will ask Sherlock Holmes about a mystery of their own, a person guised as Marilyn Monroe might be asked to sing “Happy Birthday” to someone else who is being the President. Wonder Woman might be asked to use her Lasso of Truth on another partygoer, who now must answer questions honestly. It can be a playfully contagious affair, and people that place energy into this activity generally find it enjoyable and rewarding. For an evening, people can blur the lines of reality and experiment with their own creative potential.

It might be easy to get roped into Halloween apathy because of the neighborhood decorating expectations or having to purchase mass quantities of over-priced candy. You might be put off by having to answer the door more times in one evening than you might in an entire year, but I hope even if those things apply, they will not deter you. This is the one night of the year that social permission is given to be anything you have ever wished you could be. I hope that this year you will embrace this opportunity and veto reality for a few hours. The least of the result is that you engage in social creativity for an evening, and if you look deeply at your process, you may discover elements of yourself waiting to emerge that have been obfuscated far too long by the routines of everyday life we each engage in.

Author: Dr. Ryan Blackstock, PsyD, CAADC, ICAADC, Faculty at ��������

This post was originally published on 10/21/2013 and was updated on 10/31/2025.��

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