People – Current

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Jennifer Cheavens | Department of Psychology

Jennifer S. Cheavens, Ph.D.
Dr. Cheavens joined the faculty of OSU in September, 2007. Her research interests are related to increasing the efficacy of treatments for depression and borderline personality disorder through both basic and applied research efforts. She is particularly interested in identifying and targeting constructs that interfere with (e.g., avoidant emotion regulation) or promote (e.g., validation, hope) efficacious treatments. For more details, please see:

https://psychology.osu.edu/people/cheavens.1
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=N-B6Ga0AAAAJ&hl=en
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jennifer_Cheavens.

Graduate Students

 

Daniel Brunette

Daniel joined the MAPS lab in 2020. He completed his undergraduate studies at Northwestern University, where he earned high honors in psychology with additional majors in sociology and statistics. At NU, Daniel researched the impact of mindfulness meditation on the intrusion of difficult thoughts as well as aiding in the adaption of couples ACT workshops for low SES and Latinx communities. In his senior year, he independently developed an Honors Thesis related to his research interest of ‘personalized treatment.’ For his Honors Thesis, Daniel investigated potential moderators impacting outcomes of two brief emotion regulation techniques, cognitive reappraisal and defusion. Daniel is primarily interested in studying the individualization of psychotherapy by understanding what mechanisms and features work for whom in what circumstances, in order to improve treatment outcome. Contact Daniel at brunette.4@osu.edu.

 

Cameryn Cooley

Cameryn joined the MAPS lab in 2022 after graduating from New York University in 2020 where she earned her bachelors in psychology with a triple minor. After graduation, Cameryn worked at the Mood and Personality Disorder Research Program at the Icahn School of Medicine and the Bronx VA. Cameryn worked on projects related to affective instability, emotional granularity, cognitive reappraisal by distancing, and social decision-making. In specific, she worked closely with people who have BPD. Her interests now lie in researching how those who have trouble regulating their emotions interact in social situations and to specifically look at this topic with diversity in mind. You can contact Cameryn at cooley.288@osu.edu.

For publications, please see: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=2cFREPQAAAAJ

 

Kassidie Harmon

Kassidie joined the MAPS lab in 2020 after earning her BS in psychology from The Ohio State University, where she studied the impact of stereotype activation on Black women with natural hairstyles. Her current research interests include improving treatment for mood disorders and studying emotion regulation difficulties. She is particularly interested in designing interventions to improve treatment outcomes for Black Americans with mood disorders. You can contact Kassidie at harmon.410@osu.edu.

 

Dorian Hatch

Dorian joined the MAPS lab in 2021 shortly after completing his undergraduate degree at Brigham Young University, where he majored in psychology and minored in statistics. He is particularly interested in the research surrounding the etiology, implications, measurement, and treatment of BPD (a la DBT), along with other Cluster-B personality disorders. Moreover, he is also interested in psychopathology generally, particularly refining the treatments surrounding these disorders. Contact Dorian at hatch.143@osu.edu.

For publications, please see: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=26thWOIAAAAJ

 

Elana Schettini

Elana joined the MAPS lab in 2021 after completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Miami, FL, and master’s degree at The Ohio State University. Elana’s research focuses on the biological underpinnings of emotion dysregulation in children and adolescents. For her master’s thesis, Elana investigated the interaction between internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children and its association with brain volumes implicated in reward processing. Using neuroimaging techniques, she is interested in investigating neural mechanisms of childhood psychopathology and how such vulnerabilities interact with environmental factors (risk and protective) to predict development and persistence of maladaptive coping behaviors across the lifespan. Ultimately, Elana aims to improve early diagnosis and early intervention efforts for high-risk youth. Contact Elana at schettini.1@buckeyemail.osu.edu.

For publications, please see: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=FS0iVmkAAAAJ

 

Ally Heiland

Ally joined the MAPS lab in 2022 after graduating from the University of Arkansas in 2020 with her bachelors in psychology. Ally worked in foster care administration following graduation while also working on research projects related to personality functioning, emotion, self-control failure, and distress tolerance at the University of Arkansas. Her current research interests generally involve transdiagnostic mechanisms underlying personality pathology and emotion dysregulation, with a specific interest in BPD and optimizing treatment outcomes. Contact Ally at heiland.14@osu.edu.

For publications, please see: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wuRgnTEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Tori Trimm

Tori joined the MAPS lab in 2021. She completed her undergraduate degree at Duke University with a major in Psychology and a minor in Global Health. During undergrad, Tori worked in both clinical and developmental psychology labs, studying emotion regulation, social perception, and borderline personality disorder as well as empathy and prosocial behavior in preschool children. After graduation, she worked with Integrative Mental Health at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center studying and evaluating clinical care at the intersection of spirituality and mental health, particularly those concerning experiences of moral injury. Tori is primarily interested in interpersonal relationships and identity as they relate to borderline personality disorder and incorporating elements of human flourishing (validation, hope, values) into clinical interventions. Contact Tori at trimm.8@osu.edu

 

Whitney Whitted

Whitney joined the MAPS lab in 2020 after working as a lab manager in a multidisciplinary neuroscience lab at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion (FBRI) for two years. At FBRI, she managed research projects involving PTSD, BPD, MDD, and TBI clinical populations. Whitney completed her undergraduate degree at The Ohio State University in 2017 and has maintained an interest in treatment uptake and outcome for adults with mood disorders and emotion regulation difficulties. Whitney’s master’s thesis was on the effect of subtle communication about mental illness in social media on viewers’ beliefs about mental illness trajectories and personal agency in symptom improvement. Contact Whitney at whitted.29@osu.edu. Projects on which Whitney is currently collaborating:

  • Specificity of emotion language over the course of cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy in relation to treatment outcome
  • Education on psychopathology via social media in relation to diagnoses and illness identity

For publications, please see: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=EkIaM3YAAAAJ 

Research Assistants

 

Abby Arntz

Abby joined the MAPS lab in 2022 as an undergraduate research assistant. In May of 2023, she graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.S. in Psychology and B.A. in Spanish. Abby is currently working in the MAPS lab as a research assistant and helping with projects broadly related to acts of kindness and their clinical utility as an intervention for mood and anxiety disorders. Specifically, she is interested in researching how acts of kindness compare to other well-being interventions, and what specific components of acts of kindness make them an effective intervention for depression and anxiety disorders. In the future, she hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and research etiological factors that contribute to risk and resilience in youth and their families.

Volunteers

Keelin Rademacher
Cole Lyons