At PsyTechLab, we believe research should do more than stay on the page of an obscure journal, it should make a difference in the real world. Our work lives beyond the lab. It shows up at national conferences, in classrooms, during training and clinical supervision, in published books, and open-source public blogs. This page highlights the many ways our students, faculty, and collaborators are making an impact and sharing their work with the world.
Our Current Projects
The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Creating Victim Statements for Sentencing Hearings (Open)
Project/Research Lead: Scarlett Bird-Guerra
Humor as a Moderator of Well-Being within the Transgender and Gender Diverse Community (Closed, Manuscript in Progress)
Research Lead: Katie Palmer; Project Lead: Scarlett Bird-Guerra
Standards of Use for Artificial Intelligence in the Training of Psychologists (Closed, Manuscript in Progress)
Research Lead: Ruby Patterson
Our Doctoral Dissertations
Kaur, J. (2024). From east to west: Exploring the mental health of Punjabi immigrants residing in British Columbia. PsyD Dissertation, Antioch University Seattle. https://aura.antioch.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2076&context=etds
Aiguier, C. (2023). Relationships among trait mindfulness, self-compassion, and compassion fatigue in mental health professionals working with clients with terminal illness. PsyD Dissertation, Antioch University Seattle. https://aura.antioch.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1943&context=etds
Struthers, G. L. (2022). The lived experiences of sports retirement among elite, action sports athletes. PsyD Doctoral Dissertation, Antioch University Seattle. https://aura.antioch.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1926&context=etds
Zinn, B. (2022). The flourishing trainee: Operationalizing self-care education in clinical psychology training. Antioch University Seattle, Doctoral Dissertation. https://aura.antioch.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1877&context=etds
Taylor, M. (2021). Flourishing with chronic pain. Antioch University Seattle, PsyD Dissertation. https://aura.antioch.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1676&context=etds
Gross, J. (2020). Examining optimism and caregiver strain in parents with youth and young adults diagnosed with anxiety and unipolar mood disorders. Antioch University Seattle, Doctoral Dissertation. https://aura.antioch.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1622&context=etds
Woehler, L. (2020). Internet addiction and the relationship to self and interpersonal functioning within the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD): Implications for psychosocial development. Antioch University Seattle, Doctoral Dissertation. https://aura.antioch.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1631&context=etds
Felstad, V. (2019). Cultural differences, social support, and therapy outcomes: A comparative study between individualist and collectivist cultures. Antioch University Seattle, Doctoral Dissertation. https://aura.antioch.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1564&context=etds
Our Publications / Books
Our Presentations and Trainings
Heffner, C. L. (2025). Engaging Media with Purpose: From Black and White Consumption to Full-Color Interaction. American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Denver, CO.
Heffner, C. L., Cerezo, A., Michel., D., Onakomaiya, M., & Stamatis, C. (2025). Innovations in Digital Mental Health: The Intersection of Media, Technology, and Psychological Care. American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Denver, CO.
Palmer, K. A., Patterson, R., Merman, P., Taylor, C., Turner, B. S., Chacon, E. Bird-Guerra, S., West, I., & Heffner, C. L. (2025). Laughing Across the Divide: The Use of Humor Among Transgender and Gender-Diverse (TGD) Folks in Politically Red, Blue, & Purple States [Poster Presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Denver, CO.
Patterson, R., Heffner, C. L., & McIntyre, K. (2025). Future Psychologists & AI: Navigating Ethics in Education & Practice [Poster Presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Denver, CO.
Patterson, R., McIntyre, K. & Heffner, C. L. (2025). Mapping Values: Normativity in Clinical Psychology Doctoral Programs [Poster Presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Denver, CO.
Palmer, K. A., Heffner, C. L., West, I., Merman, P., Turber, T., & Lee, Y. (2024). Humor as a moderator between gender-related stress and well-being in the transgender and gender-diverse community: Preliminary findings [Poster Presentation]. Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA.
Morris Tuip, H., Falloria, A., Xu, S., Lo, S., Costa, C., Roberts, J. & Heffner, C. L. (2023). Gratitude, resilience, privilege awareness, and social position: A quantitative study [Poster Presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Washington D.C.
Harrison, H., Newberry, K. E., Barajas, D. D., Cowan, J. A, & Heffner, C. L. (2022). The many hats of supervisors: Comparing time spent in supervisor roles from past to present [Poster Presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Minneapolis, MN.
Heffner, C. L., Cowan, J. A., Harrison, H., Newberry, K. E., & Barajas, D. D. (2022). Utilization of Strength-Based Supervision: Exploring the Perspective of Trainees and Supervisors [Poster Presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Minneapolis, MN.
Heffner, C. L. (2021). Countering Stress and Building Resilience: Self-Care in Graduate School. Presentation for doctoral students at Antioch University.
Heffner, C. L. (2021). Positive Psychology: Research and Practice. Invited two-day (16 hours of seat time) course at Antioch University New England.
Cowan, J. A. & Heffner, C. L. (2021). Clinical supervision and COVID-19: Insights from a national sample of supervisors and trainees [Poster Presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Washington DC.
Heffner, C. L. & Struthers, G. (2021). A strength-based lens on the ethics of self-care in health-service psychology training [Poster Presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Washington DC.
Heffner, C. L., Zinn, B., Struthers, G., Monahan-DeMella, J, & Agassiz, K. (2021). Amplifying well-being through self-care in the age of COVID-19: An online peer mentoring group [Poster Presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Washington DC.
Cowan, J. A., Heffner, C. L., Albert, S., & Dalbey, C. (2021). Coercive and compulsive treatment of eating disorders: Surveying treatment providers’ attitudes and behaviors. Poster Presentation. National Eating Disorders Association Annual Convention.
Heffner, C. L. (2020). The deliberate practice of effective supervision: Developing your professional identity as a strengths-based clinical supervisor. Program developed for and presented to Pre-Doctoral Interns and Post-Doctoral Trainees in Health-Service Psychology through the National Psychology Training Consortium [APA CE approved], Renton, WA.
Heffner, C. L. (2020). Integrating social justice into advanced doctoral coursework in health-service psychology. In Bergkamp (Chair), Amplification of social justice in doctoral curriculum. Antioch University Seattle [WA CE Approved]. Seattle, WA.
Heffner, C. L. (2020). Integrating social justice into clinical supervision training and practice. In Bergkamp, J. (Chair), Amplifying social justice in core PsyD courses: Social justice in the classroom. Presentation given at the 2020 National Council of Schools and Programs in Professional Psychology (NCSPP) Midwinter Conference [APA CE approved]. Carlsbad, CA.
Heffner, C. L. & Cowan, J. (2019). Foundations of effective strength-based clinical supervision: A start to finish approach. Program developed for and presented to supervising psychologists, mental health counselors. and clinical social workers in the Behavioral Health Program at Swedish Medical Center. Seattle, WA.
Nelson, J., Heusler, W., Heffner, C., Brown, M. & Randall, C. (2019). Sexually objectifying microaggressions in film: Using entertainment for clinical purposes. Poster presented at the American Psychological Association Annual Conference in Chicago, IL.
Heffner, C. L. & Cowan, J. (2019). The deliberate practice of effective clinical supervision. Program developed for and presented to supervising psychologists through the National Psychology Training Consortium [APA CE approved], Renton, WA.
West, I., Waters, D., Heffner, C., & Cohen-Filipic, J. (2018). Avoiding unhelpful responses: A proposed theoretical measure of readiness to work with transgender clients. Poster presented at the American Psychological Association Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA.
Heffner, C. L. & Cowan, J. (2018). Competency-based clinical supervision: Developing a competency-based approach to clinical supervision in primary care health-service psychology. Program developed for and presented to supervising psychologists through the National Psychology Training Consortium [APA CE approved], Renton, WA.
Our Blogs and Public Discourse
Heffner, C. L. (2025). Think big: Why broad New Year’s resolutions are the key to lasting change. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/think-big-why-broad-new-years-resolutions-are-the-key-to-lasting-change/
Heffner, C. L. (2025). Telehealth is transforming the therapeutic landscape. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/telehealth-is-transforming-the-therapeutic-landscape/
Heffner, C. L. (2024). Modernizing Maslow’s Hierarchy through the Lens of Self-Care. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/modernizing-maslows-hierarchy-through-the-lens-of-self-care/
Heffner, C. L. (2023). We are more lonely than ever. Find out why and how to counter it. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/we-are-more-lonely-than-ever-find-out-why-and-how-to-counter-it/
Heffner, C. L. (2023). The education gender gap: APA task force looks at how to help boys succeed in school. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/the-education-gender-gap-apa-task-force-looks-at-how-to-help-boys-succeed-in-school/
Heffner, C. L. (2023). Media literacy and modern technology. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/media-literacy-and-modern-technology/
Heffner, C. L. (2022). Doomscrolling: The ultimate negative flow state. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/doomscrolling-the-ultimate-negative-flow-state/
Heffner, C. L. (2022). Four resilience skills to counter depression and unhealthy stress. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/four-resilience-skills-to-counter-depression-and-unhealthy-stress/
Heffner, C. L. (2022). Is social media reflecting our pathology or adding to it? AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/is-social-media-reflecting-our-pathology-or-adding-to-it/
Heffner, C. L. (2022). Social media use is related to both ill-being and well-being. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/social-media-use-is-related-to-both-ill-being-and-well-being/
Heffner, C. L. (2022). Posttraumatic growth: An introduction. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/post-traumatic-growth-an-introduction/
Heffner, C. L. (2022). Social media and self-esteem. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/social-media-and-self-esteem/
Heffner, C. L. (2022). Stoicism, virtue, and mental health. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/stoicism-virtue-and-mental-health/
Heffner, C. L. (2022). Being a perfectionist doesn’t have to be a negative. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/being-a-perfectionist-doesnt-have-to-be-a-negative/
Heffner, C. L. (2022). Stoic philosophers: The first cognitive-behavior therapists. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/stoic-philosophy-a-first-century-approach-to-self-help/
Heffner, C. L. (2022). Spotlight on well-being: We’ve come a long way since Freud. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/spotlight-on-well-being-weve-come-a-long-way-since-freud/
Heffner, C. L. (2021). Learning to be optimistic. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/learning-to-be-optimistic/
Heffner, C. L. (2021). Self-efficacy – How we can, not why we can’t. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/how-we-can-not-why-we-cant/
Heffner, C. L. (2021). Character strengths and the virtuous life. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/character-strengths-and-the-virtuous-life/
Heffner, C. L. (2021). Grit: Passion and perseverance. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/grit-passion-and-perseverance/
Heffner, C. L. (2021). Building psychological capital (hope, efficacy, resilience, optimism). AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/building-psychological-capital-hope-efficacy-resilience-optimism/
Heffner, C. L. (2021). The real-world benefits of expressing gratitude. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/the-real-world-benefits-of-expressing-gratitude/
Heffner, C. L. (2021). The Fading Affect Bias in pursuit of the pleasant life. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/the-fading-affect-bias-in-pursuit-of-the-pleasant-life/
Heffner, C. L. (2021). Brief history of Positive Psychology (Part 2). AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/brief-history-of-positive-psychology-part-2/
Heffner, C. L. (2021). Well-being and the five happy lives. AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/well-being-and-the-five-happy-lives/
Heffner, C. L. (2021). Brief history of Positive Psychology (Part 1). AllPsych. Retrieved from https://allpsych.com/brief-history-of-positive-psychology-part-1/