Faculty Research Interests | Kean University

Department of Advanced Studies in Psychology at Kean University PsyD in School and Clinical Psychology Core Faculty Areas of Emphasis

The following is a current (2025-2026) list of core faculty members and their clinical/research priorities:

David Brandwein, Psy.D.

Associate Professor and Department Chairperson

Forensic Assessment and Evaluation in Civil Matters

As part of my work conducting forensic psychological evaluations in civil matters (i.e., parental fitness, child custody/parenting time, disability), I am interested in establishing a set of norms for the measures I use to conduct these assessments (i.e., MMPI-3, MCMI-IV, PAI, etc.) and identifying score patterns and response sets that can predict successful resolution of these matters. My database includes over a thousand forensic psychological evaluations and provides multiple opportunities for research and dissertation development.

Assessment Clinic: Learning Disabilities, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Accommodations in the Academic Setting (Adult)

I have a specialized clinic within Kean Psychological Services that focuses on providing full psychological and psycho-educational evaluations for college students and adults to help properly identify the presence or absence of a learning disability and/or a mental health condition that can adversely impact important life outcomes. These diagnoses are often co-morbid, and require a related series of accommodations or interventions to help individuals reach their academic and social potential, as per the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This team will include the empirical study of these assessment methods and the disorders that they are intended to assess. Currently, this includes a study of MMPI-3 protocols conducted within assessments for learning disabilities/ADHD.

Adrienne Garro, Ph.D.

Professor and Director of the School Psychology Professional Diploma Program

Clinic Team: Child Assessment and Therapy; Parent-Child Interactions; Parenting and Mindfulness

One of the main goals of this team is to provide psychological assessments and therapeutic services to children and adolescents, ranging in age from infancy through 21 years, along with their family members. For all child and adolescent clients, the emphasis is on providing a comprehensive assessment that takes into account individual strengths and needs, carefully considers important environmental contexts and yields meaningful results that will improve quality of life. Another main goal of this clinic team is to provide evidence-based therapy services for children and adolescents who may experience a range of psychological and/or developmental problems. To the greatest extent possible, these problems will be treated in the context of parents, families, and schools. Mindfulness approaches to parenting and/or mindfulness therapeutic activities for children will be utilized.

Use of Mindfulness Practices to Enhance Child, Family and School Functioning

This research focuses on the use of mindfulness practices with children, parents/families and school personnel in school and clinical settings. We will look at different types of practices and interventions and explore their application with different child and family populations and their impact on a variety of outcomes (e.g., emotion regulation, parenting stress). In addition, we will examine factors that can influence the use, feasibility, and effectiveness of mindfulness practices in different settings.

Pediatric Chronic Conditions and Developmental Disabilities

This research focuses on the study of family and child responses to pediatric chronic health conditions and developmental disabilities. We study specific child, family, and demographic variables that affect adjustment to these chronic conditions (Garro, 2011, 2010) and examine potential causal pathways between these variables and positive quality of life. In addition, this team focuses on the implications of these variables in the development and implementation of evidence-based psychosocial interventions for children with chronic conditions and their families

Early Childhood Assessment and School Readiness

This clinic and research team focuses on the application of specific assessment models and measures with toddlers, preschoolers, and young children who are at-risk for academic and/or social-emotional problems in school. The integration of norm-referenced and alternative (i.e., naturalistic, observation-based) assessment instruments and procedures are studied and applied in clinical and school settings (Garro, 2016). Strong emphasis is placed upon the development and use of assessment models that are culturally sensitive and family-focused (Garro, 2009). In line with these assessment models, this team conducts research examining parenting and family variables and interventions that facilitate positive outcomes for young children in the early school years.

Keri Giordano, Psy.D.

Associate Professor and Academic Review Committee Chairperson

My prior work in early childhood education repeatedly demonstrated the lack of appropriate psychological services for children in the birth to five population, especially children who are demonstrating challenging behaviors. This experience guided my interest in training professionals to support the social-emotional needs of infants and young children in early childhood classrooms and advocating for the development of systems to support professionals in this role. As a result of this, I have pursued three related lines of research: 1. enhancing the social emotional competencies of infants and young children, 2. identifying and addressing barriers to mental health services for the birth to five population, and 3. promoting the development of professionals equipped to meet the mental health needs of infants and young children

Enhancing the Social Emotional Competencies of Infants and Young Children

Infants and young children are in need of effective and efficient strategies and interventions to support their social-emotional development. This line of research focuses on evaluating interventions and examining the efficiency of delivering these interventions. The Pyramid Model for Promoting the Social-Emotional Competence of Infants and Young Children is an evidence-based framework that serves as the foundation for some of our work in this area. In this area, we have examined the effectiveness of peer coaches (Giordano, et al., 2020), outcomes when early childhood administrators participate in communities of practice (Giordano, et al., 2017), and the impact of mask-wearing on young children’s ability to read the emotions of others (Giordano, et al., in 2022). We also looked at the impact of interprofessional programming on enhancing the developmental outcomes of young children born during the COVID-19 pandemic (Lee, et al., in press).

Identifying and Addressing Barriers to Service for the Birth to Five Population

Although research has indicated that interventions are more effective and cost less when they are implemented earlier, many children in the birth to five population are not getting the services that they need. My early research looked specifically at barriers to early intervention services in the state of New Jersey (Giordano, 2008). Another important aspect of this area involves looking at early suspension and expulsion practices; this includes a statewide examination of expulsion practices in the state’s community childcare programs (Giordano, 2019; Giordano, et al.i, 2021), a description of racial disproportionality in early suspension and expulsion practices (Giordano, et al., 2020), an examination of the relationship between program quality and expulsion (Giordano, et al., 2022), and the description of expulsion trends prior to, during, and following the COVID-19 pandemic (Giordano, et al., 2022; Giordano, et al., 2024; Giordano et al., 2025). We have also looked at the practice of soft expulsion in non-expulsion public school settings (Murphy et al., 2024; Hoffstein, et al., 2024). Research in this area will continue to discover various barriers to services and provide recommendations to improve systems to ensure eligible children are receiving the services they need.

Promoting the Development of Professionals Equipped to Meet the Mental Health Needs of Infants & Young Children

In order to properly serve children ages birth to five, there needs to be enough mental health professionals qualified to deliver these services. Currently, it is challenging to find psychologists who are willing and able to effectively work with infants and young children. This line of research investigates reasons why more psychologists are not looking to treat this population as well as develops strategies to effectively train more professionals to work with this group. A statewide study examining the services that licensed psychologists provide to children under five years of age (Giordano, et al., 2021) found a gap in these providers. Also included in this line of research are studies examining the process of teaching and learning and the effectiveness of various pedagogical strategies.

Aaron A. Gubi, Ph.D.

Associate Professor. Director, Center for Autism Assessment and Research Services (CAARS) clinic.

Trauma-informed Care in the Schools

Child abuse, neglect, and trauma impact the well-being and optimal development of countless individuals. Early treatment can support outcomes throughout the lifespan, though too often the most vulnerable youth do not receive the care they need within outpatient settings. Our public schools hold great potential to provide the care and services many youth need but never receive (Gubi et al., 2019; Gubi et al., In press). Our research team will investigate trauma-informed assessment, consultation and intervention practices. Our applied research will be conducted with students, families, and school staff to promote and validate trauma-informed care practices within school settings. While the emphasis will be on addressing these concerns through school settings and systems, we also conduct research within related child-serving institutions (e.g., children’s hospital and related settings).

Autism Assessment and Treatment

Students will have opportunities to complete clinical training and research within the Center for Autism Assessment and Research Services (CAARS) at Kean University. This clinic offers opportunities for students to complete training and develop professional competencies related to conducting:

Comprehensive autism diagnostic evaluations (for children, adolescents, and adults).
Individualized psychotherapy (for children, adolescents, and adults with high-functioning ASD).
Social skills groups (for older children, adolescents, and young adults).

In addition to clinical training students will have opportunities to engage with research through the clinic. The clinic has recently begun offering social skills groups, and there are plans to examine the effectiveness of social skills intervention for children with ASD. Other opportunities to examine assessment and treatment services offered by the clinic through research will also be available.

Jennifer Block Lerner, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Psy.D. Program Director

My experiences in higher education and professional practice over the past two decades have highlighted the value of inviting individuals to relate differently to their emotional experiences and fostering nurturing communities and coalitions of individuals from diverse backgrounds with shared vision regarding process and/or outcome. I am honored to co-lead a research team with Dr. Don Marks exploring the value of associated approaches. Most of this work centers around acceptance and commitment therapy/training (ACT) and other acceptance- and mindfulness-based behavioral interventions (e.g., Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 2012; Roemer & Orsillo, 2020; Kleiman et al., 2025). Their primary aim is to help individuals develop skills to relate to their thoughts, bodily sensations, and other aspects of emotion with kindness and curiosity. More recently, we draw on ecopsychological approaches (e.g., Adams, 2023) and perspectives from the psychological humanities (e.g., Freeman, M. (2023, November 1) to highlight our interconnectedness with one another and the larger natural world (also see Dr. Marks’ discussion, below, of critical psychology).

Contextual Behavioral Interventions in Higher Education

This work centers around developing and implementing workshops, practice communities, and related services for undergraduate and graduate students at Kean and other colleges/universities, especially those training in the health sciences (see Block-Lerner & Cardaciotto, 2016; Danitz, Orsillo, Lenda, Shortway, & Block-Lerner, 2016; Dynan, Block-Lerner, & Marks, in progress; Geary, Shortway, Marks, & Block-Lerner, 2023; Hammond, Block-Lerner, & Marks, in progress; Marks, Block-Lerner, Barrasso-Catanzaro, & Kowarz, 2016; Uzoaru, Block-Lerner, & Marks, in progress). This, along with work with faculty, staff, and other university personnel, is aimed toward cultivating nurturing communities within higher education environments (Cardaciotto, Hill, Block-Lerner, & Biglan, 2016). I am especially interested in the value of culturally diverse (broadly defined) educational communities and coalitions (Dabiri, 2021); this dovetails with my role as co-chair (with Dr. Michael Camacho in Kean’s Department of Occupational Therapy) of the College of Health Professions and Human Services’ racial equity and justice task force and several developing projects.

Exploring Diverse Pathways to Developing and Sustaining Psychological Flexibility

I am interested in the value of a variety of flexibility-, awe-, and joy-fostering practices, including those from diverse cultural contexts. These include music-based practices (Carter, 2020), hatha yoga (Mullen, Protti, Block-Lerner, Marks, Sandoz, & Ricardo, 2021), poetry (Marks, Seltzer, Beck, & Block-Lerner, 2018), journaling (McManus, Block-Lerner, & Marks, in progress), engagement in spiritual and religious traditions, and spending time in nature.

Contextual Behavioral Interventions to Support Parents’ Well-Being

This work centers around understanding the needs of parents and those in the process of becoming parents (Sauer, Block-Lerner, Marks, & Giordano, 2023) and developing resources to support these populations.

Donald R. Marks, Psy.D.

Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Training

Critical Psychology

A principal focus of this research team, which is co-led with Dr. Jennifer Block Lerner, is the critical examination of psychological clinical science -- including consideration of both the advantages and costs associated with viewing the human person from a scientific perspective. Varieties of scientific practice in psychology, ranging from mechanistic philosophies of science to functional and descriptive contextualisms, are explored as outlined in presentations for the Philosophy of Science SIG of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (Marks, 2018, 2020). The team concentrates both on the critical history of psychology, including the field’s historical role in the marginalization of specific social groups, and on the development of alternative, more liberating, modes of psychological practice. The work is informed by methods of investigation commonly associated with the humanities, including open dialogical inquiry, critical theory, and hermeneutics.. Emphasis is placed on appreciation of the whole human person, including spiritual, aesthetic, and ecological dimensions. Examples of this work include explorations of responses to poetic texts (see Marks et al., 2018 cited above) and the phenomenological quandary of patients with chronic pain (Sessa, Marks, & Block-Lerner, in review).

Compassion-Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

In collaboration with Dr. Dennis Tirch, Dr. Laura Silberstein-Tirch, and Dr. Victoria Brady, the mindfulness- and acceptance-based research team has developed a protocol for systematic research of a new integrative transdiagnostic therapy – compassion-focused acceptance and commitment therapy (CFACT). As part of a comprehensive initiative led by Dr. Keryn Kleiman, the team has begun to conduct psychotherapy research at Kean Psychological Services regarding the acceptability and feasibility of this new therapy. Applications of CFACT for relapse prevention, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, chronic pains, and other forms of distress are currently in development.

Mindfulness and Acceptance in Health Psychology

Mindfulness and acceptance curricula have been found to improve quality of life, strengthen immune response, promote healthy eating, and reduce burnout and improve performance (Klatt, Duchemin, & Marks, 2013; Marks, 2008). This segment of our research team explores applications of mindfulness and acceptance practices in specific medical populations (e.g., individuals with chronic pain). Recent projects have examined potential benefits of these practices for individuals with chronic health conditions, including aphasia (Santo Pietro, Marks, & Mullen, 2019), as well as those with advanced illness, including psychological care at end of life (Wells-Di Gregorio, Marks, DeCola, et al., 2019). The team also pays specific attention to structure and process of care issues, such as financial distress, health care access, and health care disparities (Probst, Wells-Di Gregorio, & Marks, 2013).

Clinical Sport Psychology

Finally, the team is also committed to developing an increased understanding of psychological concerns that affect athletes and other members of sport communities (e.g., coaches, family members). Current research projects are examining the prevalence of psychological distress among college athletes (Wolanin & Marks, 2018; Wolanin, Hong, Marks, Panchoo, & Gross, 2016), impression management among college athletes, and athletes’ psychological responses to injury and rehabilitation (DeGaetano, Wolanin, Marks, & Eastin, 2016). One recent outgrowth the team’s efforts in this area The Routledge Handbook of Clinical Sport Psychology (Marks, Wolanin, & Shortway, 2022), the first comprehensive text for this emerging field.

Jessica P. Trindade, Psy.D.

Lecturer and Associate Coordinator of Clinical Training

My previous research has involved topics related to school psychology such as ADHD and protective factors, services provided to the bully in harassment, intimidation and bullying incidents, and cultural and linguistic diversity among graduate students and the associated benefits to our field. The gaps between research and practice in the classification process for specific learning disabilities (SLDs) in the school setting have been well-documented. My current research considers the classification methods used by practicing school psychologists for SLDs, the primary reason for their use, and how problems with the chosen methods may be addressed systematically. Recently, two separate bills have been introduced to the Assembly Education Committee regarding this exact issue, which has increased interest about the future classification process for SLDs in New Jersey.

Social and Emotional Learning at a Universal Level

I co-lead a research team with Dr. Adrienne Garro, with a focus on applying research-based strategies to support children and adolescents in developing social emotional skills for improved self-regulation. Our current project involves collaborating with local school districts to implement a mini social-emotional program for young children, emphasizing emotional awareness, understanding, and the use of developmentally appropriate emotion regulation strategies. Looking ahead, our team plans to extend this to older children and eventually adolescents.

Enhancing Training Protocols for Cognitive Assessment in Graduate Education

I am currently co-leading a national faculty workgroup focused on developing a centralized repository for trainers. Cognitive assessments are widely used across settings, and their outcomes often influence high-stakes decisions with significant impacts on individuals’ lives. Through this collaborative work, I aim not only to strengthen resources for the field but also create meaningful research opportunities for students in our program.

Aditi Vijay, Ed.M., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor and Director of Research

My research focuses on emotion regulation as a transdiagnostic process. Contemporary conceptualizations of emotion regulation suggest that it is a multisystemic process which includes cognitive, neurobiology, mindfulness/increased awareness and behavioral components. All of this occurs within a specific context that also influences an individual’s ability to regulate their emotion. My work focuses on the interpersonal and social context of emotion regulation; how might the environment impact an individual’s capacity to regulate their emotions and what is the subsequent impact on quality of life? My research investigates the interpersonal and social context of emotion regulation in the areas of 1) Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Borderline Personality Disorder, 2) Trauma/Trauma-related distress, and 3) in Antiracism work.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Borderline Personality Disorder

DBT is a model of treatment that includes multiple components: individual therapy, skills group, DBT consultation team, phone coaching and environmental interventions. My research investigates the different components of the model with the goal of supporting therapists in providing effective treatment. Current projects include a study on Burnout in DBT Therapists, developing a measure to assess the effectiveness of DBT consultation teams, and implementing behavioral theory during individual DBT sessions. There are opportunities to collaborate on projects related to implementation of DBT/DBT skills in a school setting or loneliness as a moderator of emotion dysregulation in people with Borderline Personality Disorder.

Emotion Regulation, Trauma and Trauma-Related Distress

This line of research investigates the role of emotion regulation in the development and maintenance of trauma symptoms. Current projects include an investigation of the impact of emotion regulation (how well or how poorly participants can regulate emotion in stressful situations) on risk perception, the relationship between rejection sensitivity and trauma, predictors of traumatic stress, and emotion regulation and trauma in the formerly incarcerated. In the future we hope to expand this to investigate cultural factors that impact responses to trauma.

Antiracism, Emotion Regulation, and Therapy

Recently, the American Psychological Association identified racism as a public health issue that affects the lives of everyone. In this area, we apply a DBT lens to racism with the goal of understanding the role of emotion regulation in microaggressions and recovering from microaggressions. We hope that a better understanding of the underlying processes will function to support therapists in adopting an antiracism stance in their clinical work. Our current project examines the relationship between emotion regulation and antiracism in an ethnically diverse sample. In the future we hope to 1) develop and test teaching videos to help therapists better identify microaggressions and learn to repair with clients and 2) explore the predictors of academic achievement/personal achievement/retention of ethnic minority students at the college level.