Sabrina Liu will be graduating with a Ph.D. from the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology. She will be moving next to University of California, Irvine. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Conte Center, she will work on a study that investigates the how exposure to adversity as a fetus and infant later affects children and teens.
GGSE: What are your research interests, and why are they important to you?
Liu: My research focuses on three main areas: 1) understanding how experiences of trauma and adversity impact child wellbeing; 2) promoting evidence-based protective factors, prevention, and intervention to build resilience to trauma; and 3) reducing health disparities faced by racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse populations. As a college undergraduate, I worked with children in various public systems like foster care, juvenile justice, and state mental health programs. I started to see that trauma was widespread among the youth I worked with, yet often these experiences weren’t acknowledged or understood by the systems of care they were in. As I learned more about the lives of the youth I worked with, I was also struck by their incredible resilience. I wanted to understand what makes someone more or less resilient to challenging life experiences.
My dissertation examined patterns of different types of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and family, school, and community-level protective factors and how these patterns related to health in a nationally representative sample of youth. I also looked for similarities and differences in experiences and outcomes across race/ethnicity. More ACEs were associated with worse health outcomes, but a number of protective factors (for example, low parenting stress, strong parent-child relationships, and school engagement) appeared to mitigate this risk. My results also demonstrated that youth of color face greater adversity and worse health outcomes compared to their white counterparts.
In my future work, I would like build on my findings by researching intervention and prevention programs that draw on culturally-specific determinants of resilience to combat the negative health impact conferred on youth of color by experiences of adversity. My additional research projects throughout graduate school have focused on understanding and addressing the impact of adversities such as community violence, racism and discrimination, mass violence, and natural disasters.
GGSE: What's one piece of information you wish every person knew and remembered about your research?
Liu: Childhood trauma is an immensely far-reaching, expensive, harmful public health issue. However, it is also preventable and treatable! We know a lot about resilience-promoting factors and effective therapeutic intervention and prevention programs. With widespread implementation of trauma-informed care and practices, the potential to improve wellbeing and change outcomes for youth exposed to trauma is massive.
GGSE: Tell us about your internship. How was it affected by COVID-19?
Liu: I’m completing my internship at Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), a safety-net healthcare system serving a widely diverse community. Most of my time is spent providing therapy to children and teens at two sites: a pediatric primary care clinic and a local high school. Two of the major benefits I’ve observed to being embedded in a clinic and high school are: 1) the ability to reach more patients because we are meeting in settings that are familiar and routine to them; and 2) the ability to easily communicate and collaborate with other providers (for example, pediatricians, teachers, guidance counselors, social workers) in order to provide more comprehensive care. I am also working with the Children’s Health Initiative at CHA to conduct research on an integrated behavioral health services model for children, with a particular focus on trauma, health disparities, early recognition, and treatment. Some other valuable opportunities I’ve had include conducting psychological evaluations to support asylum cases and training to provide expert witness testimony as a psychologist.
Like everyone else, my internship experience has substantially changed since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. CHA itself has been rapidly innovating and changing its policies and procedures to handle the surge of COVID-19 cases, and the psychiatry department has moved the large majority of its services to telehealth while preparing for a secondary surge in COVID-related mental health needs among our patients. I see all of my patients and also attend seminars and supervision through remote video technology. For the most part, I have been able to maintain the same level of care and services I was providing pre-COVID. This experience has forced me to be creative, and I have enjoyed utilizing video technology to supplement therapy sessions in new ways. For example, I can share my screen with patients to watch a therapeutic YouTube video, do a visual guided mindfulness meditation, or read an e-book together. Some of my patients have been even more engaged in services, because doing therapy remotely has removed barriers to care they previously faced (for example, scheduling and transportation). One of the things I’ve missed since moving to telehealth is the ability to do “on the fly” communication and consultation with colleagues in the workplace; however, I’ve become much more versed in using our electronic medical record system to do that!
GGSE: What do you hope to do after earning your Ph.D.?
Liu: I hope to build a career that allows me to utilize both my clinical and research training to improve wellbeing and health equity for trauma-exposed youth from culturally diverse backgrounds. After graduation, I’ll be starting as a Conte Center postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Irvine. I’ll be working on a large, multidisciplinary study examining how exposure to adversity during fetal life and early infancy impact outcomes during childhood and adolescence.
GGSE: What piece of advice would you pass on to future students in the Gevirtz School?
Liu: Graduate school can be super rewarding, but it is also long and hard! It is so important to initially invest in building strong relationships and quality of life (as much as you can) to help support you through the process. I formed some of my most valued friendships in grad school!
GGSE: Is there anyone in the Gevirtz School you would like to thank?
Liu: I am eternally grateful to my advisor, Maryam Kia-Keating, for believing in me and mentoring me through this journey, both as a graduate student and as a human being. My other committee members, Karen Nylund-Gibson and Miya Barnett, also offered invaluable support— both academically and emotionally. I am forever appreciative of the friendships I’ve made at CCSP and the humor, advice, support, and inspiration they’ve provided. Finally, I am grateful to all the CCSP faculty, students, and mentees I’ve had the opportunity to work with and learn from.
GGSE: What is one of your favorite memories of your graduate school experience?
Liu: Going to Hawaii in April 2019 for a big psychological trauma conference with my advisor, two of my lab mates, and another CCSP faculty member. Highlights from the trip include giving a talk on my research, my lab mate winning first place in the poster competition, going on a beautiful waterfall hike, and “finding” a stunning and secluded beach!
GGSE: In lieu of an in-person ceremony, how will you be celebrating your graduation?
Liu: Both my department and internship are holding virtual graduation ceremonies. Outside of that, I plan to celebrate by spending time with family (I’m finally going to meet my sister’s new baby!) and taking a major break from all work responsibilities.