H.O.P.E. Lab Research Affiliates
Dr. Laura Shannonhouse
Principal Investigator, Ph.D., NCC, LPC
Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services
She is a National Certified Counselor (NCC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Trainer (ASIST), and a Suicide to Hope (s2H) Facilitator. Her clinical experiences (e.g. college counseling center, cancer center, crisis center, etc.) have included working with disaster impacted populations both domestically and internationally (e.g. illness-related trauma in South Africa; prolonged grief from daycare center fire in Mexico, post-Katrina charter school teachers; both southeast Asian and post-earthquake Haitian refugees, and urban homeless, etc.). Therefore, her research interests focus on crisis intervention and disaster response; she is curious about how people make sense of suffering through their faith. Specifically, she conducts community-based research in K-16 systems and with the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) to prevent suicide (suicide first aid), and with disaster impacted populations in fostering meaning-making through one’s faith tradition (spiritual first aid).
- Principle Investigator
Dr. Yung-Wei Lin
Ph.D., NCC
Assistant Professor in the Counselor Education program at New Jersey City University.
Dr. Lin is an ASIST master trainer
He has provided more than 21 ASIST trainings. He has co-authored a series of empirical studies on ASIST with Dr. Laura Shannonhouse. Dr. Lin’s research interests include play therapy, quantitative analysis, meta-analysis, and suicide intervention training. He has received external federal funding (i.e. HRSA Research Grants for Behavioral Health Workforce) to support this evidence-based practice as well as others (i.e. Grant #: G02HP30580, $171,677 and MO01HP31318-01, $1,613,131). These two projects involved the integration of ASIST into trainings for selected counselor education students in Jersey City, as well as other integrated health care practices.
- Continued expansion of this evidence-based practice in Jersey City community — particularly, a generalization of the ASIST model to work with young children, as there is limited guidance and research on suicide intervention with this age group
- Continue collaboration with Dr. Shannonhouse in revising the SIRI-2 (Suicide Intervention Response Inventory)
Dr. Nikki Elson
Ph.D., LPC-GA, NCC
Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Counseling at Wake Forest University.
Dr. Elston is an ASIST trainer
She holds a master’s degree in college student development and has worked in higher education for 18 years, counseling and advising college students in numerous settings. She earned her doctorate in Counselor Education and Practice at Georgia State University with a cognate in student health and disability. Her clinical experience includes working in a college counseling center, as well as a community agency that primarily served individual with chronic health issues. Her dissertation examined the use of Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) with counselors-in-training (CIT). Dr. Elston’s research interests include the use of Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) in clinical settings and counselor-in-training skill development.
- Continued exploration of ASIST with CITs (Counselors in Training) during their practicum/internship — evaluating the use of suicide intervention skills with ASIST vs. non-ASIST trained CITs
- Integration of ASIST into advanced skills/crisis curriculum, offering the two-day training to students currently enrolled in counseling master’s degree, and the use SIRI to evaluate pre/post suicide intervention skills
Dr. Amanda Rumsey
Ph.D., NCC, LPC
Assistant Professor at in the Department of Education and Human Development at Clemson University.
Dr. Rumsey is a researcher
She completed her Ph.D. in counselor education and practice at Georgia State University. Dr. Rumsey’s clinical counseling background includes over 20 years of mental health and school counseling with adolescents and their families in a variety of programs, including outdoor residential treatment, wilderness therapy, hospital settings, as well as rural, suburban and urban school settings. She is also a certified school counselor whose research focuses on adolescents, trauma, and school counseling, with emphasis on training needs and skill acquisition in the areas of suicide intervention, trauma, and multiculturalism. Her interest in social justice and advocacy have driven her counseling practice and research activities to include topics related to marginalized subgroups such as individuals with disabilities, high school dropouts, LGBTQ individuals, refugees, and older persons.
- Continued research implementing ASIST with CITs during in counselor preparation
- We have brought ASIST training to Clemson University and will complete our first evidence-based training workshop this Spring 2019