Shannon Wiltsey Stirman, on embracing the messy and dissemination and implementation science
Release Date: 11/12/2019
Dr. Jackie Persons on Integrating Research into Private Practice and Advancing CBT
Research Matters Podcast
Dr. Jacqueline (Jackie) Persons is a distinguished clinician, researcher, and Clinical Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. She served as president of the Association of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies (ABCT) in 1999 and currently works in private practice at the Oakland Cognitive Behavior Therapy Center. With over 35 years of experience, Dr. Persons is recognized globally for her pioneering work in integrating research into private practice, particularly in the areas of case formulation and measurement-based care. In this insightful conversation, we dive into Dr....
info_outline
Patricia Arean, PhD: Effective Strategies for Community Engagement and Digital Innovations in Mental Health Research.
Research Matters Podcast
Dr. Patricia Arean is is the Director of the Division of Services and Intervention Research at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), as well as a clinical researcher and former professor at the University of Washington’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. With over 30 years of experience, Dr. Arean has focused her career on increasing access to mental health services for underserved communities. She has led multiple research initiatives, including the UW Alacrity Center, which aims to redesign psychosocial interventions for underserved populations, and the Creative...
info_outline
Tony Biglan, Ph.D., on balancing funding with following your true passions
Research Matters Podcast
Tony Biglan, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist at Oregon Research Institute and Co-Director of the Promise Neighborhood Research Consortium. For the past thirty years, he has conducted research in the development and prevention of child and adolescent problem behavior. He is a former president of the Society for Prevention Research and was a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Prevention.
info_outline
Dean McKay, Ph.D., A.B.B.P. on mental health in academia, getting into grad school, authorship, and personal planning
Research Matters Podcast
Dean McKay, Ph.D., A.B.B.P. is Professor of Psychology at Fordham University where he is a member of the clinical psychology doctoral program. His lab, Compulsive, Obsessive, and Anxiety Program (COAP) provides instruction to undergraduate, masters, and doctorate levels. Dr. McKay’s expertise is in anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behavior, with his current focus being on Covid-19 related stress and anxiety.
info_outline
Steven C. Hayes, PhD, on controversy, his lab culture, and how political organizing can help you in science
Research Matters Podcast
Dr. Hayes is a Nevada Foundation Professor of Psychology in the Behavior Analysis Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. An author of 46 books and nearly 650 scientific articles, he is especially known for his work on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which is one of the most widely used and researched new methods of psychological intervention in the last 20 years.
info_outline
Jessica Borelli, Ph.D., on Work/Family Conflict, Gender Roles, and Intervention Research with Diverse Communities
Research Matters Podcast
Jessica Borelli, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychological Science at the University of California, Irvine. She is a clinical psychologist specializing in the field of developmental psychopathology, and her research focuses on the links between close relationships, emotions, health, and development.
info_outline
James Kirby, PhD, and Jeffrey Kim, on incorporating physiological data in psychological research
Research Matters Podcast
James Kirby, Ph.D., is a researcher and senior lecturer at the University of Queensland in Australia, who studies the effects of kindness and compassion. Jeff Kim, a graduate student under Dr. Kirby, joins my discussion with Dr. Kirby on measuring and incorporating physiological data into their research. Today’s conversation is focused on measuring heart rate variability.
info_outline
Bethany Teachman, PhD, and Jeremy Eberle, on embracing an open-science mindset
Research Matters Podcast
My two guests today, Bethany Teachman, Ph.D. and director of the PACT lab at the University of Virginia, and Jeremy Eberle, a 4th-year graduate student in her lab share the steps they’ve taken to embrace the open-science mindset and open-science practices in their lab.
info_outline
Jessica Schleider, PhD, on Open Science and Replicability Practices and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Academia
Research Matters Podcast
Jessica Schleider, PhD, is an assistant professor of clinical psychology at Stony Book University and a graduate of the Clinical Psychology Program at Harvard University. When in graduate school, she learned about open science – not from her courses but from the Twitter-spere and later from The Black Goat Podcast. What she learned was compelling and unsettling and kept her up at night as she thought about the state of scientific research in general and her research in particular.
info_outline
Maria Karekla, PhD, on wearables in research and getting a psychophysiology lab up and running
Research Matters Podcast
Dr. Maria Karekla is an assistant professor at the University of Cyprus where she studies anxiety and cravings and specializes in utilizing psychophysiological measurements in her research. I decided to interview her because she has one of the few labs in the world that has done research comparing consumer grade wearable physiological measurement devices to research grade stationary devices.
info_outlineShannon Wiltsey Stirman, PhD, of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University Medical School and is Acting Deputy Director, Dissemination and Training Division, National Center for PTSD. She’s a leading researcher in the area of disseminating evidence-based therapies. As part of this, she juggles two RO1 research grants from NIMH, working with multiple teams, and having team members scattered across the US and Canada who are conducting research in various settings. She balances all of that with being married with three kids…and carves out time to keep up her running.
In today’s episode, we dive into how stays organized with her various projects and how she deals with the messiness of dissemination research that involves intense involvement with front line providers and sites. She also talks about how to vet collaborating organizations in the community and how to look for win-win collaborations for those you work with. We also discuss her perspective on open science and the need to stay nimble when it comes to data collection.
You’ll also hear Dr. Wiltsey shares tips for squeezing in time for writing, her tips for finding work-life balance, being led by what is exciting for you, and her advice for graduate students.
The opinions expressed by Dr. Stirman on this podcast are solely her own and do not express the views or opinions of her employers.
Some abbreviations mentioned in the episode:
- CPT – cognitive processing therapy
- IPV – intimate partner violence
- DBT – dialectical behavior therapy
- CBT – cognitive behavioral therapy
In this episode, you’ll learn…
- How Dr. Wiltsey manages various groups and teams across multiple settings
- How she deals with bureaucracies from multiple organizations
- How to form teams and foster win-win collaboration
- How to determine if a site is a good match for your study
- How to deal with the messy realities of research
- Wiltsey’s perspective on open research
- Tips for getting your writing done
- Tips on work-life balance
- Wiltsey’s advice for grad students
Tips from the episode
On how to how to stay organized across project and teams…
- Distribute the work.
- Host once-a-week team calls.
- Take detailed notes and document all decisions made.
- Reach out when you need something. Don’t be afraid to tap into the expertise of others.
- Respect team members’ time. Only pull them in when they’re really needed.
On writing...
- Utilize time on flights.
- During your writing time, don’t turn on Wi-Fi. If you need to look something up, make a list or leave a comment and do it later.
- Utilize time in the evenings if the rest of the family is occupied or asleep.
- Take advantage of the times in the margins of your day.
On work-life balance...
- Prioritize family dinner. In general, don’t schedule activities for the kids around dinner time.
- Carve out time for exercise.
- Only work on weekends if the rest of the family is busy.
- Take a day or a half-day off
- Delegation is critical.