My research interests are concerned generally with the diagnosis and classification of psychopathology. I am more specifically interested in the validity of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV); dimensional models of personality disorder; assessment of personality disorders with self-report inventories, unstructured clinical interviews, and semi-structured clinical interviews; gender biases in the diagnosis of mental disorders; the relationship of personality to psychopathology; and the differentiation of normal from abnormal psychological functioning. I will typically have anywhere from four to eight graduate students, and one undergraduate honor’s thesis student, completing either their thesis or dissertation within my lab.

I currently serve as Associate Editor for the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, and Journal of Personality Disorders. I also serve on the editorial board of additional journals as a Consulting Editor (e.g., Psychological Bulletin, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, Journal of Personality Assessment, and Assessment). I am currently a member of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and American Psychiatric Association Research Planning Committee for DSM-V. In the past I have served as a panel member for NIMH review committees for Clinical Psychopathology and for Behavioral & Biobehavioral Processes and as the Research Coordinator for DSM-IV, helping to develop and monitor the process by which the construction of the diagnostic manual was guided by empirical research.

My clinical interests are concerned primarily with the treatment of anxiety, mood, and personality disorders. My theoretical perspective for clinical treatment is guided largely by cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic principles. I also have a strong interest in ethical and legal issues, teaching a course on Ethical Issues in Clinical Psychology and serving in the past as an investigator for the Commonwealth of Kentucky State Board of Psychology.

Finally, it might be important to note that I have two cats, Lisa and Charles. Both Lisa and Charles obtained their primary psychological training at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Lisa completed her internship at the University of Florida Medical Center; Charles at Northwestern University Medical Center. Neither of them, however, are now allowed to leave the house.