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School of Human
Environmental Sciences
102 Erikson Hall,
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY
40506-0050
tel: (859) 257-3887
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• Master's
◊ Overview
◊ CFT Emphasis
◊ Curriculum
◊ Theses
• Doctoral
◊ Overview
◊ Curriculum
◊ Dissertations
◊ Flow Chart
◊ Portfolio
| Alumni | ||
2012 | ||
Master's | ||
| Melissa Dalton M.S., 2012 Current Location: Owasso, Oklahoma I work in a school setting with underserved individuals and families in need of mental health care and pharmacological management. | |
| Benita Peoples M.S., 2012 Current Location: Cynthiana, Kentucky As the FCS agent for Harrison County Extension, I serve as the liaison between the University of Kentucky and the county providing educational programming to individuals and families. Programs are focused on making healthy lifestyle choices, nurturing families, embracing life through the aging process, financial security, promoting healthy homes and communities, accessing nutritious foods and empowering community leaders. | |
| Katie Washington (Terrana) M.S., 2012 Current Location: Lexington, Kentucky I am currently working as a therapist at a mental and behavioral health agency in Lexington, KY. I provide services to children and their families that have been identified by social services as needing intensive interventions. | |
Doctoral | ||
| Claire Kimberly M.S., 2000; Ph.D., 2012 Current Location: Hattiesburg, Mississippi Teaching is the primary focus of my faculty position at the University of Southern Mississippi, but I also have continued my research on family and marital communication. | |
| Varu Kankipati Ph.D., 2012 Current Location: Hyderabad, India In June 2012, I moved back to India to co-found a counseling organization, Life Compass. One of our missions is to spread awareness about the philosophy and science of counseling psychology and its effectiveness in making us better equipped to face the challenges of life. Our goal is to remove the social stigma attached to counseling in India. Life Compass provides individual and group counseling Life Compass and in addition we provide workshops on life skills for children, adolescents, and adults. | |
2011 | ||
Master's | ||
| Fatimah Shalash M.S., 2011 Current Location: Lexington, Kentucky & Nablus, Palestine I'm an English as Second Language (ESL) volunteer in Palestine, where I teach English to all ages and teach a pyschodrama class to university students. Once my volunteer program is complete, I plan to return to the Kentucky and work toward earning a full license in marriage and family therapy. | |
| Lauren Smith Current Location: Lexington, Kentucky I coordinate high-adventure camps for military families in Kentucky. We travel all throughout Kentucky and occasionally the surrounding states to engage service member parents and their teenage children in high-adventure activities, like whitewater canoeing and zip-lining, while helping the families connect and bond after experiencing deployment. I am also involved in the Association for Experiential Education (AEE) and specifically in the Therapeutic Adventure Professional Group. | |
Doctoral | ||
| Linda Bradley Current Location: Chatsworth (LA County), California Since completing my doctoral degree in May, 2011 my career path has centered on transitioning into a tenure-track position at California State University, Northridge which services a diverse population of approximately 35,000 students. My focus is providing family financial education at both the undergraduate and graduate level, collaborating on the implementation of a service learning program for CSUN students and a community-wide Consumer Resource Center, and developing a research program centered on financial socialization and behaviors of disadvantaged populations. | |
| Ahlishia Shipley Ph.D., 2011 Current Location: Washington, District of Columbia My work falls within the scope of two main functions of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which are national program leadership and funding administration. Within DFCS, I provide program leadership and support for several programs including Military Family and Veterans Programs, Regional Rural Development, Sustainable Farm Enterprises, and Public Policy. I also handle communications in DFCS. | |
2010 | ||
Master's | ||
| Sally Dougherty Current Location: Eugene, Oregon | |
| Brooke Strickler Current Location: Des Moines, Iowa | |
Doctoral | ||
| Stephanie Blevins Current Location: Danville, Kentucky Since graduating, I have continued my employment as a 4-H Youth Development Specialist. | |
| Martie Gillen Current Location: Gainesville, Florida I began my current position in June of 2011 with a 70% teaching and 30% extension appointment. I teach undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of personal and family finance and research methods. | |
| Jennifer Hunter Current Location: Lexington, Kentucky I'm employed within the department; see http://fam.uky.edu/hunter | |
2009 | ||
Master's | ||
| Lesley Graham (Martinez) Current Location: Lexington, Kentucky Upon completion of the family sciences master's program, I obtained employment as a Family Resource Center Director for Woodford County Schools. Though I thoroughly enjoyed my involvement with families and students in this role, I have recently accepted the position of Program Specialist with Save the Children. My responsibilities with Save the Children include providing training and support to School Based Programs in impoverished areas of Southeastern Kentucky, specifically Literacy & Physical Activity programs. In an effort to address the growing concerns regarding childhood obesity, I am also working as part of the Save the Children Health Team to strengthen our current nutrition and physical activity efforts, as well as to establish new community programming targeting this issue. | |
| N. John-Evan Waite Current Location: Salt Lake City, Utah I currently work as a therapist at a private clinic near Salt Lake City. I work primarily with couples and parent/child relationships. I am also certified as a mediator and do mediation occasionally at a law firm. | |
Doctoral | ||
| Megan Cox Current Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| Cynthia Reeser Current Location: Columbia, Missouri Since joining the Mizzou faculty in August, 2009, I’ve been active in incorporating educational technology in the classroom, and I have developed an online graduate certificate program due to offer its first course in Fall, 2012. I’m a member of the Campus Writing Board as well as the board of ET@MO, for which I serve as one of eight e-mentors on the Mizzou campus charged with helping those faculty members contemplating greater use of educational technology in their classrooms. | |
| Judy van de Venne Current Location: Lexington, Kentucky Upon graduation I worked as Cooperative Extension Specialist and Lecturer for the Department of Family Sciences and the School of Human Environmental Sciences at UK. I’m currently developing a consultation business, "Family Matters, LLC.," which focuses on marriage preparation, marriage enrichment, family and divorce mediation (from a family strengths perspective), and research/technical writing with local businesses that work on behalf of neighborhoods and families. I have also taught at Asbury University and Eastern Kentucky University on a part-time basis. | |
2008 | ||
Master's | ||
| Jana Collins Current Location: Lexington, Kentucky In 2002, I joined the Bluegrass Care Clinic as a Data Manager and served in three different capacities before accepting my current position as Program Coordinator. I currently provide grant writing, federal reporting, as well as program and financial management for a Ryan White federally funded HIV clinic at the University of Kentucky. Because of my experience in various capacities of this federal grant program I was invited in 2008 by the Health Resource Services Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services to serve as a fiscal and technical assistant consultant. For the past three years I have traveled throughout the country auditing Ryan White programs to ensure legislative and program compliance, and providing program development and improvement strategies. | |
| Amanda Veldorale-Brogan Current Location: Tallahassee, Florida I worked full-time as a family therapist working towards licensure after graduation. Currently I am working part-time as a therapist and attending school full-time at The Florida State University working on my PhD in Family Relations. | |
Doctoral | ||
 | Xin Gao Current Location: Lexington, Kentucky I am conducting evaluation research for an early childhood initiative implemented by the state of Kentucky. | |
2007 | ||
Master's | ||
| Erik Carlton Current Location: Lexington, Kentucky After completing my MS in Family Studies, I went on to complete a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree in Health Services Management, also from the University of Kentucky. During this time, I continued my employment as a project director at the University of Kentucky, first as director for a $250,000 annual contract and then as co-director for a $6 million annual contract with primary responsibilities for data management and research and evaluation. In addition to my work at the university, I own and run a pair of businesses under one corporate umbrella, Erik Carlton Services. These businesses include a small, private marriage and family therapy practice and a management consulting firm working with public sector and non-profit organizations. | |
| Trisha Jarnagin Current Location: Lexington, Kentucky Began working at Sunrise Children's Services as a foster care therapist after graduation, after earning my full licensure I began working with the federal government. I currently provide family and marital counseling to combat veterans and their families. | |
| Josh Johnston Current Location: Berea, Kentucky After graduating from UK I worked for Comprehensive Care—a community non-profit agency—for 4 years where I earned my licensure in marriage in family therapy working in various therapeutic settings. I have been working at Berea College since August of 2011 as a therapist working exclusively with students of the College. I have also started my own private practice, Johnston Counseling, PLLC, where I provide therapeutic services specializing in marital and family therapy. | |
| Shonda Faulkner Johnston Current Location: Berea, Kentucky Since graduation I have been a social worker investigating child abuse and neglect. Unfortunately my job does not afford me the opportunity to work toward MFT licensure, although that is still a goal of mine. | |
| Karen Kiteck (Merkel) Current Location: Marion, Indiana Following graduation, I was employed as an in-home family therapist by Highlands Community Services in Bristol, Virginia for 6 months. I am now in a season of caring for my own family fulltime. | |
| Michelle Pinckney Current Location: Louisville, Kentucky After obtaining my second graduate degree from the University of Kentucky in 2007, I began working at the Child & Family Wellness Center, which is affiliated with Bluegrass Regional Mental Health-Mental Retardation Board, Inc. I worked as a Mental Health Specialist with children, adolescents and families. After working there for over 2 1/2 years, and living in Lexington for almost 16 years, I moved to Louisville, Kentucky (my current residence) due to obtaining a position at the University of Louisville Counseling Center in April 2010. My current position is as Counselor Intermediate working with both traditional and non-traditional university students. | |
Doctoral | ||
| Kerri Ashurst Current Location: Lexington, Kentucky Since completion of my Ph.D., I have continued coordinating two different federal grants through Cooperative Extension that I worked with before graduation, including CYFAR (Children, Youth and Families at Risk) and CYFERnet (Children, Youth and Families Education and Research Network). I also have applied for and received several grants that I am now directing, including Operation: Military Kids (4 years), Operation: Military Kids Family Camp Grant (3 years), and Military-Extension Adventure Camp grant (1 year). My primary focus areas are in programming and support for military families throughout the deployment cycle; helping families cope with stress, crisis, and grief; youth leadership skills development; bullying prevention; family communication; and fathering. | |
| Teresa Kern Current Location: Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania | |
2004 | ||
Master's | ||
| Latoya Payne Current Location: Danville, Kentucky Since graduating in 2004, I have worked as a case manager at a non-profit agency, a social service worker for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and I’m currently working in the field of administrative social services. The Office of the Ombudsman serves the citizens of Kentucky by responding to requests for appeals of services and substantiated findings of abuse or neglect. We also, by request, review Cabinet cases for policy violations and provide information to the public regarding the Cabinet. My career path has been focused on the enhancement and protection of children and families. | |
Doctoral | ||
| Margaret Machara Current Location: Nashville, Tennessee My areas of expertise revolve around families, particularly young children, and interpersonal relationships. My specific focuses are on parenting, the education of young children, interpersonal communication and intergenerational relationships. I also emphasize social, emotional, and cognitive development over the lifespan. I teach undergraduate classes in development, parenting, relationships, classroom management and research methods. I am currently working on a USDA funded project on Sustainable Living Practices. | |
| Baomei Zhao Current Location: Akron, Ohio Since graduating from UK in December of 2004, I was Adjunct Professor at UK for a semester then, in fall of 2005, began a tenure-track position at the University of Akron. I earned tenure in May of 2011, and have continued in the same position as an Associate Professor. | |
1998 | ||
Master's | ||
| Jenny Sievers Current Location: Lincoln, Nebraska After graduating from the MFT program in December 1998, I moved back to Lincoln and began practicing as a therapist. I had two agency positions before venturing out on my own in 2008. In my private practice, my focus is on treating trauma disorders, mainly those of developmental and attachment traumas. | |
