GRADUATE STUDENTS

Kerri Schafer, Ph.D.

Kerri completed her predoctoral internship at the University of Missouri, Columbia in Columbia, MO.  Kerri’s dissertation project qualitatively explores weight-based microaggresions (i.e., subtle, potentially unintentional bias) experienced by obese women in mental health settings. She previously taught an undergraduate Principles of Psychotherapy course and served as a campus representative to Nevada Psychological Association’s Southern Region. Kerri’s personal interests include downtown Las Vegas, nail polish, flea markets, cats, Scrabble, and black coffee.

Emily White, Ph.D.

Emily has completed her B.A. in Psychology at Washington University in St Louis. She is interested the correlates and predictors of body image and disordered eating behaviors, particularly how ethnicity influences these relationships in college students. She is also interested in the constructs of body checking and body avoidance. In her free time, Emily likes to travel, run, bike, hike and spend time outdoors.

Kim Claudat, Ph.D.

Kim has completed her undergraduate degree at Boston College. Her research interests include self-objectification and women’s body image. In her spare time, Kim enjoys hiking, yoga and pilates. She is a predoctoral intern at Sharp Hospital in San Diego, CA.

Liya Rakhkovskaya, M.A.

Liya completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Statistics at Michigan State University. Liya’s research interests include cultural factors affecting body image and the media. For her master’s thesis, she is explored the effects of ethnic and American identity on body attitudes and endorsement of media ideal in college women. On the weekends, Liya enjoys yoga, making dinner with friends, and reading the National Geographic.

Nina S. Brathwaite, Ph.D.

Nina attended Binghamton University and Majored in Psychology and Spanish for her undergraduate education.  She received her first Master’s degree in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in NYC. Clinically, she is interested in trauma, severe mental illness, and psychopathy. Nina’s research interests are forensic psychology and juvenile delinquency. Nina’s thesis investigated the personality traits in juvenile prostitutes. Her dissertation was related to various genres of music and their relationships to body image, media internalization, and deviant behaviors in juvenile delinquent females. She completed her clinical internship with the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the Federal Correctional Institution/Federal Correctional Center in Tallahassee, FL, examining the influence of music on behavior, body image, personality, and juvenile prostitution.

Rachel Davis, Ph.D.

Rachel Davis earned the Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Sociology, at UNLV where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in December 2004. She went on to earn her Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology at UNLV in 2009 and the Doctor of Philosophy in 2013. Her thesis explored self-reported parenting beliefs, values, and struggles in a sample of African American mothers. For her dissertation, she further investigated the generalizability of one of the themes that arose from her thesis research, the Mothers Shouldn’t Need Help Script (Davis 2009), in a larger sample of African American and European American mothers. Her research interests include investigating multicultural issues inherent in resistance to therapy and designing culturally competent interventions, particularly in relationship to violence prevention and child maltreatment. Other research interests include investigating stereotype formation, ADHD, and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Dr. Davis completed her Predoctoral Internship through the Nevada Psychological Association Training Consortium, at Touro University’s Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities in Las Vegas, NV. Currently, she is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the P.R.A.C.T.I.C.E., a community mental health clinic at UNLV.

Holly LaPota, Ph.D.

Holly attended Emporia State University in Emporia, KS for her undergraduate education. She completed her predoctoral clinical internship at Central Regional Hospital in Butner, NC. Clinically, she is interested in assessment and therapy with serious and persistent mental illness (SPMI). Holly conducts research in two primary areas. First, she is interested in research that contributes to her clinical work, including modifying current therapeutic techniques for use with SPMIs. Further, she is interested in sports research. Holly’s dissertation involved supplement use, body image, eating pathology, and nutrition knowledge within collegiate athletes.

RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

Megan Kolvenbach, B.A.

Megan majored in Psychology and minoring in Marriage and Family Therapy. She is interested in becoming a clinician with a specialization in the diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders. She hopes to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology. Megan served as the President of Psi Chi and the Vice President of SOAP (the Student Organization of Addiction Professionals). She was a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority and worked at the UNLV Department of Mathematical Sciences.

Angela C. Harvel, R.D.N., L.D.

Angela is a registered and licensed clinical dietitian working in behavior health at a psychiatric hospital. Prior to clinical work, she worked in community behavioral health at UNCE (University of Nevada Reno, Cooperative Extension) with adolescent and adult females in correctional and rehabilitation facilities at high-risk for eating pathology. Additionally, she is a Graduate student at UNLV. She hopes to begin pursuit of her PhD in Psychology, as she sees health as a holistic interplay between the biology, physiology, and psychology of the body. Angela is interested in specializing in eating pathology as well co-morbidities of eating pathology and substance use disorders. She is also interested in nutrition and physical activity’s role in the treatment of MDD (Major Depressive Disorder).  Angela’s personal interests include running, yoga, good books, good food, good wardrobe finds, and good ballets.

Terri Draper (Berg)

Terri completed a clinical PsyD program at Pacific University. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis in Minnesota. As an Alaska Native woman (Aleut, Athabascan, Yup’ik Eskimo), she is committed to practicing culturally meaningful services that combine Western psychology with traditional forms of medicine. Her main interest is to provide healing from intergenerational trauma and historical pain within indigenous communities.

Cody Cox

Cody received his bachelors in psychology in May 2010 from UNLV with a 3.71 GPA. After dipping his toes in education (he was working on a masters in ed), he switched to nursing where he is currently pursuing coursework at CSN. He hopes to be a CNA by January 2013. Cody then plans to go on to get his RN, then BSN and MSN. He plans to eventually pursue a masters in psychology. Cody’s interests include reading, psychology, drawing, cooking, and helping others.

Ricardo Rios

Ricardo graduated from UNLV Summa Cum Laude, with a Bachelor Degree in Psychology and and a minor in Sociology. Through his involvement with Dr. Warren’s Body image and Multiculturalism lab, and the Honors College he was second author to a manuscript that was published in the Journal of Men and Masculinity. Currently he is a graduate student in the Marriage and Family Therapy program at UNLV. In the future Ricardo hopes to work with Hispanic families in the Las Vegas area.

Nicole Lipsman, B.A.

Nicole has completed her B.A. with majors in both Psychology and Spanish at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.  Included in her undergraduate curriculum, Nicole participated in the U.S.A.C. program and studied in Alicante, Spain for one school year, where she was in total Spanish immersion with her host family as well as in the University of Alicante.  She is a member of Psi Chi and currently employed at Healthy Minds, a multidisciplinary mental health clinic in Las Vegas, learning the typical duties of both psychiatrists and psychologists. Nicole is preparing for graduate school and is interested in clinical practice, but is still learning which areas most interest her. Nicole is grounded with a close family and has varied interests that include, traveling, interacting with people of other cultures, and outdoor activities.