Graduate Students

 Brooke Smith (Advisor: Dr. Twohig)

Brooke Smith is a doctoral candidate in the Combined Clinical/Counseling Psychology program at Utah State University. She is currently completing her internship in clinical psychology at the VA Puget Sound, American Lake Division. She grew up in Lake Tahoe, CA and spent much of her time skiing, hiking, and camping. She received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno, where she worked in the lab of Dr. Steven Hayes and became interested in behavior analysis and mindfulness-based behavior therapies, particularly Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). In 2015, she received a M.S. in Psychology from Utah State University under the advisement of Dr. Michael Twohig. Brooke’s research interests involve processes of change and their translation from basic behavioral principles to applications in mindfulness, exposure, and acceptance-based psychotherapies. She is also interested in novel methodological approaches to measuring processes of change.

 Ben Pierce (Advisor: Dr. Levin)

Ben is a sixth year doctoral student in the combined psychology program at Utah State University. He received his BA from the University of British Columbia, Canada. His research interests include acceptance and mindfulness informed interventions and skills, statistical modeling and measurement, and social justice issues. He is currently on internship at the University of Pennsylvania Counseling Center.

Eric Lee (Advisor: Dr. Twohig)

Eric Lee is a doctoral student in the Clinical/Counseling Psychology program at Utah State University. He received his masters degree in clinical psychology at University of Houston – Clear Lake. He is currently on internship at Baylor College of Medicine. Eric is interested in clinical research related to modern cognitive behavior therapies and the mechanisms of action that lead to meaningful improvements in people’s lives. He has a particular interest in anxiety and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders.

Woolee An (Advisor: Dr. Levin)

Woolee An is a fifth-year doctoral student in the combined clinical and counseling psychology program at Utah State University. She received her M.S. in Clinical Psychology from Missouri State University in 2014. Her major research interest is cross-cultural perspectives on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with various populations.

Clarissa Ong (Advisor: Dr. Twohig)

Clarissa is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Combined Clinical/Counseling Program at Utah State University. She received her B.A. from Smith College in 2013. Her research interests include developing and testing process-based interventions for anxiety and obsessive-compulsive related concerns.

Jennifer Krafft (Advisor: Dr. Levin)

Jennifer Krafft is a fourth-year graduate student in the combined clinical and counseling psychology PhD program at Utah State University. She received her BA from Carleton College in 2010. She is interested broadly in processes of change and assessment in mindfulness and acceptance-based treatments.  Her research focuses on application of acceptance and commitment therapy to anxiety, OCD, and hoarding, how mindfulness and acceptance processes impact stigma, the utility of self-help interventions, and assessing mindfulness and acceptance processes with greater precision.

Jeremy Fruge (Advisor: Dr. Twohig)

Jeremy Fruge is a second-year graduate student in the Combined Clinical and Counseling Psychology PhD program at Utah State University. He completed his B.A. in psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2017. His is primarily interested in clinical work. His broad clinical and research interests are in treating military members and veterans, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, trauma, anxiety disorders, and rural psychology.

Jen Barney (Advisor: Dr. Twohig)

Jen Barney is a second-year graduate student in the combined clinical and counseling psychology PhD program at Utah State University. She received her BA in Psychology and Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Connecticut in 2013 and her MS in Psychology from Drexel University in 2017. Her primary clinical and research interests are in improving eating disorder treatment efficacy, implementing acceptance and values based interventions for eating disorders and other difficult to treat populations, and assessing therapeutic mechanisms of change.

Julie Petersen (Advisor: Dr. Twohig)

Julie Petersen is a first-year doctoral student in the combined clinical/counseling program at Utah State University. She received her B.S. in psychology from Haverford College in 2016. Before coming to USU, she worked as a research assistant at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety. Her research interests are centralized around Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and its treatment.

Carter Davis (Advisor: Dr. Levin)

I am a first year graduate student in the clinical/counseling psychology PhD program. I received a BFA in printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design. I came across contextual behavioral science while running art therapy groups at a psychiatric hospital and knew I had found a home. After graduating, I worked as a research assistant at Butler Hospital in Providence on projects that tested the efficacy of ACT with underserved populations (such as inpatients with psychotic disorders) and using creative treatment delivery methods (such as video storytelling). In joining the lab, I hope to explore how understanding processes of change in acceptance and mindfulness-based self-help interventions can extend their reach to many different people and problems. I am also interested in how the CBS philosophy can help to facilitate meaningful action in a historical moment that seems to be defined, in many contexts, by darkness and uncertainty,