Matt Southward, Ph.D.
Matt is an assistant professor in the clinical area of Ohio State’s department of psychology and director of mattlab. Having grown up in Ohio, he’s mostly stayed in and around the midwest, with stops at the University of Chicago (AB’11), Ohio State (MA’14, PhD’19), Duke University Medical Center for clinical internship (2018-19), and the University of Kentucky for both a postdoc (2019-21) and research assistant professor position (2022-24).
Fundamentally, Matt is most interested in why and how people change. What’s going on in or between therapy sessions that helps us move from thoughts and behaviors that keep us stuck to living a more fulfilled and open life? Can we identify when and for whom these processes are most impactful? Given how often they show up in therapy, one particular area of interest is the role of emotion regulation skills – how they’re taught, when they’re used, how they’re used, and what people take away from their use. The overarching goals of mattlab are to characterize the active mechanisms of change in evidence-based treatments to make those treatments more streamlined and personalized for people with mood, anxiety, and personality disorders.
Matt has contributed over 60 research articles, book chapters, and (soon!) edited an Oxford Handbook on borderline personality disorder. For this work, he has received several early career awards, including from the Association for Psychological Science and the North American Society for the Study of Personality Disorders. Matt’s research has received over $5.5 million in funding from the National Institute of Mental Health.
Curriculum Vitae (November 2025)
Email: southward.6@osu.edu
Matt is planning to take 1-2 new graduate students this application cycle (2025-26)! All applicants will be given equal consideration, so potential applicants – definitely do not feel the need to email unless you have a particular question about our work, the lab, or the program that isn’t answered elsewhere.
Links: Faculty Page | Google Scholar | Twitter | Bluesky | ResearchGate | OSF