Graduate students in Abbie Goldberg’s lab participate in a wide range of research-related activities, including: designing interview questions and selecting measures; interviewing participants; designing the newsletters which we send to our participants; coding and entering data; transcribing interviews; supervising undergraduate research assistants; writing peer-reviewed publications; and presenting our research at national conferences.
Prospective graduate students who are interested in topics as diverse as adoption and adoptive families, parent-school relationships, same-sex parent families, stigma and resilience in sexual minorities, transgender youth and young adults, the transition to parenthood, and perinatal mental health, are encouraged to apply to work with Dr. Goldberg.
Christine Sauck (PhD, 2010)
Christine Sauck, Ph.D., received her doctorate in clinical psychology from Clark University in 2010. She is broadly interested in culture, race, ethnicity, and gender in families. She has co-authored papers on adoptive families and parent-child relationships. Her dissertation explored the experiences of Brazilian immigrant families in Massachusetts. She works in the area of pediatric behavioral health, consulting with and counseling families, children, and adolescents.
Jordan Downing (PhD, 2013)
Jordan Downing received her doctorate in clinical psychology from Clark University in 2013. Her master’s thesis entailed a qualitative analysis of lesbian mothers’ constructions of the division of paid and unpaid labor. Her dissertation entailed an in-depth qualitative study of transgender and gender-variant individuals’ perceptions of gender and sexual identity development, with a particular focus on the process of transitioning within specific socio-cultural contexts. She completed her Predoctoral Clinical Internship at Tewksbury Hospital. She is Assistant Director of the Counseling and Wellness Center at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
Hannah Richardson (PhD, 2013)
Hannah Richardson received her doctoral degree in clinical psychology in 2013. For her master’s thesis, she researched the experiences of lesbian couples who completed transracial adoptions. During the last few years, she has developed a research interest in the impact of marriage equality on same-sex couples. Her dissertation entailed a qualitative analysis of how same-sex couples from Massachusetts view marriage equality as impacting their sense of well-being, relationship satisfaction, and connection to broader communities. Hannah completed her Predoctoral Clinical Internship at the Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology at Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine. She is a psychologist with the Cambridge Health Alliance, and affiliated with Harvard Medical School, where she combines teaching, research, and clinical work.
Lori Kinkler (PhD, 2015)
Lori Kinkler received her doctorate in clinical psychology in 2015. For her master’s thesis, Lori researched the perceived experiences and unique challenges faced by same-sex couples who adopted in non-metropolitan areas. Lori’s dissertation examined single parents by choice, including lesbian, gay, and heterosexual individuals who choose to adopt without a partner. She completed her Predoctoral Clinical Internship at American University’s counseling center and a postdoctoral fellowship at Trinity University, where she is currently a staff psychologist in the counseling services program.
April Moyer (PhD, 2018)
April Moyer received her doctoral degree in clinical psychology in 2017. She obtained an M.A. in Developmental Psychology at San Francisco State University prior to attending Clark University.
Her master’s thesis project focused on foster-to-adoptive parents’ preferences for their future children and violations of those preferences, using TAPP data. Her dissertation focused on youth in the foster care system and their experiences in educational settings. She completed her clinical internship at the UCSF Medical School during 2017-2018, where she is currently a postdoctoral fellow.
Kaitlin (Katie) Gabriele-Black (PhD, 2017)
Kaitlin Gabriele-Black received her doctoral degree in Developmental Psychology from Clark University. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Spanish from Houghton College, and her master’s degree in Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology, with a focus in Community Psychology and Social Justice, from Boston College. Her dissertation focused on the experiences of LGBTQ young adults raised in Evangelical households. She is currently an associate professor of psychology at Salve Regina University in Providence, RI.
Melissa Manley (PhD, 2021)
Melissa received her PhD in clinical psychology from Clark and her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan, where she co-authored a paper on sexual fluidity in polyamorous and monoamorous individuals. She has co-authored several papers on the experiences of women with diverse sexual identities and histories. Her master’s thesis focused on bisexual male-partnered women and their experiences of community. Her dissertation focused on the intersection of consensual nonmonogamy and parenting. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow with Wellman Psychology & Associates.
Reihonna Frost-Calhoun (PhD, 2022)
Reihonna Frost received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Clark. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Oberlin College. Reihonna’s research interests are united by the basic question, “What works in adoption?” She is curious about what it means to be an adoptive family and how adoption experiences differ for diverse families. She has co-authored several papers on diverse adoptive families and their experiences with friends, family, communities, and schools. Her master’s thesis focused on the second transition to parenthood for adoptive families, and her dissertation focused on sibling relationships among adults with a history in foster care. Reihonna is currently a post-doctoral fellow at Yale University Medical School.
Lea Silvert, MA
Lea Silvert is a second-year doctoral student in Clinical Psychology. Lea received her undergraduate degree in psychology, sociology, and English literature from the University of Toronto and her master’s degree in clinical psychology from Columbia University. Prior to Clark, she also served in AmeriCorps. She is currently the Eleanor Rosenblum Fellow 2022-2023, which focuses on the integration of psychology and public policy. She is interested in reproductive psychology and health, diverse family building, gender, sexuality, body image, feminist psychology, women’s health, and the transition to parenthood. She aims to approach her scholarship with an interdisciplinary and intersectional feminist lens.
Haylie Virginia, BA
Haylie Virginia is a fourth-year doctoral student in Clinical Psychology. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Canisius College. Haylie’s research interests broadly include gender, diverse sexualities, and identity development within the LGBTQ community. At Clark, Haylie wants to examine how gender, sexual orientation, and other sociocultural factors influence and shape individual and family development.
Laura Siracusa, MA
Laura Siracusa is a first-year clinical psychology PhD student interested in parent-child relationships and communication, youth identity development, sexuality, and sex education. Prior to coming to Clark, Laura worked as an intake coordinator for a Canadian mental heath program designed to help parents of children who experience anxiety and behavior challenges. She has also worked as a research assistant on projects focusing on stigma and diverse sexualities, telemental health interventions, youth-child trauma agreement, and gender-affirming approaches to care. She completed her undergraduate degree in social equity studies and literature and critical theory at the University of Toronto and her masters in clinical psychology at Columbia University.
At Hannah Richard’s dissertation defense, 2013
Nora McCormick at the American Psychological Association annual conference, 2019