Divine Mercy University and the Institute for the Psychological Sciences celebrated the achievements of the nine doctoral graduates at the 2018 Commencement Exercises. Each of these Psy.D. graduates have been trained to address today’s mental health challenges by utilizing advanced psychotherapy skills, psychological testing, and a focus on specific pathologies and concepts within the field of psychology. Congratulations to the newest Doctors of Psychology! See below for the topics of this year’s doctoral dissertations (listed alphabetically, by graduate’s last name).
Krystyna A. Brandt
Cultivating Resilience: Contributions of Purpose in Life, Metacognition, and Humility-Honesty (*title may change)
Laura Ann Cusumano
The Integration of a Spiritually Informed Component with Radically Open-Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Anorexia Nervosa: The Clinical Value of a Catholic Approach to Humble Self-Surrender (Humility) and Responsible Love (Temperance)
Amanda Marie Faria
Mass School Shootings: Psychosocial Characteristics in the Lives of Perpetrators
Stacie Anne Kula
Introducing Self-Regulation in School Psychology to Facilitate Psychosocial Maturity in Adolescents
Daniel Robert McClure
The Confluence of Attachment, Hope, and Beauty in a Philosophy of Communion
Gerard Thomas McNicholas
Toward a Narrative Approach to Christian Marital Therapy
T. Allen Wood
Selfobject Needs of Patients in Treatment for Substance Use Disorders
Anna Maria Zganiacz
Building empathy in therapists in training through reading literary fiction
Claudia Chamberlain Zohorsky
Psychotherapeutic Cultivation of a Capacity to Love: A Multidisciplinary Approach
To learn more about the Psy.D. program, visit our website or call us today at 703-416-1441.