Category: Fall 2014
Stith named university distinguished professor
Sandra Stith, an internationally known expert on understanding and treating intimate partner violence, has been named a university distinguished professor, a lifetime title and the highest honor the university bestows on its faculty members.
Stith, Virginia Mowrey McAninch professor of family studies and human services, directs the marriage and family therapy program in the College of Human Ecology. She is a board member, and Fellow, of the National Council on Family Relations and vice president of the American Family Therapy Academy.
This year she presented workshops on Couples Treatment for Domestic Violence in Vancouver, BC, Canada, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, Oslo, Norway, and Helsinki, Finland.
Currently, Stith leads a large meta-analysis project examining risk factors for partner violence. She continues to study dating violence and couples treatment for domestic violence
Since coming to the university in 2007, Stith has garnered nearly $8 million in grants. She is the author of one book and has edited four books on intimate partner violence and authored more than 90 articles and book chapters on the subject. Stith has received National Institute of Mental Health funding to develop and test a couple’s treatment program for intimate partner violence. She has worked with the U.S. Air Force Family Advocacy Program since 1998 as a manager of a variety of family violence-related research projects.
Her other honors include the American Family Therapy Association’s Distinguished Contribution to Family Systems Research Award in 2007 and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy’s Outstanding Contribution to Marriage and Family Therapy Award in 2004. In 2012 she became a fellow of the National Council on Family Relations.
Stith grew up in Oklahoma. She received her bachelor’s degree in education from Oklahoma State University. She earned her master’s degree in life span human development and her doctorate in marriage and family therapy from Kansas State University.
Report from the field: Darcy R. Easley working with problem sexual behaviors in children
After I graduated with a master’s degree in May 2006, I moved to Phoenix to work at the Youth Development Institute, a residential treatment center for at-risk children where my therapeutic specialty was working with clients with problem sexual behaviors. These behaviors range from sexually reactive behaviors due to trauma to people that have committed sexual crimes.
My amazing major professor, the late Tony Jurich, introduced me to this field. I chose K-State y specifically to work with him. My passion has always been working with adolescents and their families. Through my work with Tony and an internship through Riley County Community Corrections I was able to begin working with adolescents with sexualized behaviors.
Not only was he my major professor, but he was a friend, a father figure and my mentor. He reminded me to take the things I was passionate for and to make them a reality for myself. He taught me it is okay to laugh and smile with your clients. He taught me that the most important thing that my clients will take from me is the relationship and the way I treated them. I laughed with Tony, I cried with Tony and strive each day to make him proud of me. I know he is watching over me and I hope I am doing right by him.
I count my three years at Kansas State as the best in my life. The relationships I created at KSU have lasted well beyond graduation. I found happiness and joy in doing what I loved to do each day.
Candy Russell challenged me consistently. She encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and gain new experiences. The experiences she challenged me to seek out made me understand my clients much more. She taught me that although I will not always directly understand what a client may be going through, if I allow myself to be open their stories and their struggles I may learn and grow with them.
Mark White challenged my brain in ways that I would sometimes like to forget. Learning the DSM is definitely challenging, but Mark did his best to make it fun for us. Nancy O’Connor was beyond amazing; she told us over and over, “process over content.” When I catch myself listening to stories and the same information over and over in a session, I hear Nancy’s voice in my head and I am able to pull myself away from the content and focus on the process of what is happening.
I worked with more than 100 children in my six and a half years at YDI. There I developed relationships with court officials, probation officers and others that specialize in this field. It was a difficult decision to leave but I was offered a job at The Resolution Group where I now an outpatient therapist doing what I love on my own terms.
I have more fulfillment with my clients and I have learned the healthy balance of work and personal time. I am encouraged to create new programs and to try new techniques. I am currently creating a program for children with autism and developmental delays with sexualized behaviors and a training program for therapeutic foster parents who work with this population. I also teach Psychology of Human Sexuality at Paradise Valley Community College as an adjunct professor.
Report from the field: Matt Johnson at University of Alberta
After graduating from the MFT program at K-State in May 2012, I accepted an assistant professor position in family ecology at the University of Alberta where I have enjoyed success in both research and teaching. My area of scholarship is focused on intimate relationship formation, development and maintenance from the transition to adulthood into midlife, and understanding the key processes that contribute to personal health.
I began collaborating with professors in psychology and sociology, exploring how prior life experiences influence later intimate relationships. We received a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to explore midlife relationship functioning with data gathered from a sample of Canadians surveyed over 25 years. I have used these data to understand how changes in mental health (self-esteem, expressions of anger and depression) during early adulthood are linked with relationship outcomes during midlife. The results are exciting, highlighting the potential for early mental health intervention to enhance well-being in the future.
I have maintained the fruitful professional relationship with my major professor from K-State, Jared Anderson. We have collaborated on projects ranging from couple relations’ impact on health outcomes to intimacy among Chinese young adults. I recently received another grant from SSHRC to fund exploration of data from the German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relations and Family Relationships, a long-term study documenting couple relations in three age cohorts.
In addition to teaching an introductory survey course about intimate relationships and graduate-level research methods courses, I teach an undergraduate course focused on families. I love teaching this course, as it provides an avenue to apply my family therapy knowledge and experience. Students are exposed to basic family assessment tools and skills to engage the entire family in intervention efforts.
My experience in the MFT program was crucial in preparing me to be successful as a faculty member in a research-intensive university setting. I developed a scholarly writing style that helped me secure two federal grants and publications in top family journals. The excellent mentoring I received as a student provided me a great example to follow with my own students. The opportunity to develop and teach my own course as a doctoral student gave me an advantage in the classroom. In all, the high-quality education I received gave me a solid foundation on which I’ve been able to enjoy early career success that I intend to continue into the future.
Meet the MFT faculty
Joyce Baptist: The associate professor co-led a study abroad trip to Malaysia this year that included a conference on human/sex trafficking and cultural genocide balanced with a visit to the tallest twin towers in the world and a rustic adventure in Borneo. Joyce edits the Journal of Feminist Family Therapy and is focusing her research on the neurological effects of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) when used to treat depression. She is also entering the next phase, to include the family unit, in her military research. Joyce’s most exciting project is her 21-month-old daughter who is “a spitball of energy whose growth is exponential!”
Marcie Lechtenberg: The instructor/supervisor earned a Ph.D. from K-State’s marriage and family therapy program in May 2014.
Jared Durtshi: The assistant professor was awarded the Dawley-Scholer Award for Faculty Excellence in Student Development from the College of Human Ecology. Jared contracted with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapist’s Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) to provide an advanced statistical workshop to 25 MFP doctoral students. He attended a 4-day emotionally focused couple’s therapy training with Susan Johnson and Scott Woolley; he now provides psychoeducation to groups of pregnant and postpartum couples geared towards strengthening their romantic relationship as they adjust to parenthood. Jared’s research focuses on predictors and processes linked with relationship quality, relationship quality trajectories, transition to parenthood, and family process between parents and children.
Nancy O’Conner: The clinical associate professor and director of the Family Center received two major awards this year – Service to the Profession award from Kansas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the Barbara Stowe Faculty Development Award for College of Human Ecology to study elder mediation. She became a state approved mediator and trainer for domestic and core medication. This year she co-led a study abroad experience in conflicts resolution to Northern Ireland and worked with Northern Regional College to develop opportunities for our doctoral students to teach and study trauma there. Nancy also works with the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services on Home-Based Family Therapy.
Jared Anderson: The associate professor was contracted with the Kansas Department for Children and Families as PI or Co-PI to track indicators of child and family well-being and to evaluate the Strong Dads Program. Jared’s research focus areas are cognitive and relational factors that are associated with diabetes management in couples, relationship development in China, and processes related to marital quality and stability using secondary data. Papers related to these studies have been publish or are in press in Health Psychology, Journal of Family Psychology, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, among others. This year Jared is teaching the doctoral MFT Research Methods course.
Camille Lafleur: The research professor and clinical supervisor is a licensed clinical marriage and family therapist who is active on the Kansas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy board and the Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board (BRSB) Advisory Committee as well as other community boards. Camille leads trainings for in-home family therapists in the state of Kansas through the Home-Based Family Therapy Partnership in collaboration with the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services. She also provides clinical supervision for the MFT masters and doctoral students.
Blake Berryhill: The research associate works with Sandi Stith on the Air Force research team. He received his Ph.D. in marriage and family therapy from K-State in 2014.
Amber Vennum: The assistant professor is leading research projects on students regarding relationship cycling, decision making, commitment, and factors related to emerging adult relationship quality that help better understand how to help them establish healthy, stable relationships. One research team conducted focus groups to find out what emerging adults would find helpful in a smart phone relationship app. Another team focuses on developing a framework for MFTs to increase access to mental health for underserved adolescents and their families and increase school success. Amber is leading a Kansas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy work group to explore amending legislation to include MFTs as approved mental health providers in Kansas schools.
The Family Center: healing, researching, training
The Family Center is the applied science hub of the marriage and family therapy program.
It is a training clinic.
Last year 39 therapists treated a variety of presenting problems from individual issues to parenting and family problems to couple and interpersonal problems. Four adult therapy rooms and two play therapy rooms are equipped with one-way mirrors for supervision and opportunities for MFT students to observe sessions. The clients come from several different cultures because of the diversity of a university setting and our location near Ft. Riley Army base.
It is home to research teams.
Four projects are based in the center, housed in the Campus Creek Complex along with the communication sciences and disorders clinic. They are:
- Sandra Stith’s Air Force research team that studies domestic violence.
- Camille Lafleur’s Home-Based Family Therapy Partnership that provides training for clinicians who see families in the home. The group has developed a self-care website for clinicians and is engaged in a fidelity study regarding a model of home-based therapy.
- Joyce Baptist’s clinical research study using eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) with depressed individuals.
- Amber Vennum’s work with schools program and student therapists to provide services to local high schools.
It is a distinctive opportunity for students.
Through their work with a variety of client populations, therapists at the Family Center have the opportunity to develop specializations. One of them is Erika Smith, a Ph.D. student.
“I am trained in EMDR and am in the process of becoming certified. I have found this treatment modality to be very effective for working with survivors of sexual violence and am grateful for the opportunity to work with survivors here at the Family Center,” she said.
“At the Family Center, I can work with children and families using play therapy to heal,” said Heidi Swanke, master’s degree student.
Jenny Brown, another master’s degree student, welcomed the Family Center opportunities.
“I was able to further my passion for working with the LGBT community – with transgender individuals, couples, groups and families. It has been an amazing experience to support and advocate not only for clients but for the community as a whole,” she added.
“We constantly search for opportunities for students to specialize their work through the Family Center or through external placements,” said Nancy O’Conner, center director. “Our goal is twofold – providing students with a diverse training experience and clients with the opportunity to engage with quality therapy services.”
Tip of the hat to our students
Students received an array of scholarships and accolades this year, ranging from fellowships to leadership awards.
Scholarship and grant awardees are:
- Erika Smith – Kansas State University Division of Continuing Education Distance Learning Grant and EMDR International Association Memorial Scholarship;
- Bryan Cafferky, Una Henry, Allen Mallory, Jonathan Kimmes , Kimberly Van , Chandra Lasley and Charity Clifford – Donoghue Scholarships;
- Allen Mallory, Charity Clifford and Sharon Luu – Hellen Jones Manus Memorial Scholarship;
- Charity Clifford – Hoag and Robi Scholarship;
- Una Henry, Nathan Hardy, Erika Smith and Scott Sibley – Poresky Assistantship in Family Studies and Human Service;
Research awards went to:
- Maria Dominguez, Prerana Dharnidharka, Erika Smith, Jessica High and Bryan Cafferky, “The intergenerational transmission of family violence: A meta-analytic review,” Research and the state, second place poster;
- Erika Smith, Maria Dominguez and Bryan Cafferky, K-State Research Forum First Place Poster in Social Sciences, Humanities and Education;
- Kristy Soloski, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy Doctoral Apprentice Reviewer of the Year Award.
Student honors through AAMFT:
- Maria Dominguez, Sharon Luu, Una Henry, Erika Smith , Chandra Lasley, Jonathan Kimmes, and Kristy Soloski- AAMFT Minority Fellowship Program Fellows;
- Una Henry and Jonathan Kimmes- Minority Fellowship Program Research Grant;
- Jonathan Kimmes and Aaron Norton- AAMFT Thesis Award;
- Una Henry and Kristy Soloski- Minority Fellowship Dissertation;
- Una Henry “Growth Trajectories of Delinquency Among Minority Youth” AAMFT Cutting Edge Research Posters;
- María Dominguez, Bryan Cafferky, Erika Smith, Prerana Dharnidharka “Childhood Exposure to Violence: A Meta-Analysis” AAMFT Cutting Edge Research Posters;
- Bryan Cafferky “Four Group SEM Comparing Differences Among Military Wives” AAMFT Cutting Edge Research Posters;
- Bryan Cafferky, María Dominguez, Prerana Dharnidharka, Nicole Lawson and Nicole Bird “A Meta-Analysis of Relationship Factors Impacting Couples with IPV” AAMFT Cutting Edge Research Posters;
- Kristy Soloski “Growth Mixture Modeling: Relationship Quality Trajectories” AAMFT Cutting Edge Research Posters.
Student honors and awards:
- Aaron Norton- Golden Key International Honor Society’s Graduate Teaching Assistant of the Year;
- Sharon Luu and Maria Dominguez- NCFR Honors Student;
- Marcie Lechtenberg- Tony Jurich Community Commitment and Leadership Student Awards;
- Erika Smith- Kansas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Jurich Student Leadership Award;
- Kristy Soloski- KAMFT New Professional Award;
- Kyle Horst, Chandra Lasley and Marcie Lechtenberg- Family Process – New Writers Institute;
- Nicole Bird, Sol Erdozian and Heidi Swanke- KC Play Institute 2014 Graduates;
- Bryant Miller, Jessica High and Jordon Weideman- Mediation and Conflict Resolution Certificate;
- Scott Sibley, Erika Smith and Jessica High- GTA Recognition of Achievement in Professional Development;
- Bryan Cafferky- University Distinguished Professor Development.
Meet our new PhD cohort
