iART Lab Members at the Veterans Affairs
Jeanmarie Harvey is a second-year Psy.D. student in the WPU Psy.D. program. She is currently an extern at the Veterans Affairs (VA) New Jersey (NJ) Health Care System in Lyons, NJ. She previously worked at the Psychiatric Neurocognition Lab at NYU Langone Health and the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research (NKI), assisting with NIH and foundation-funded OCD and depression neuroimaging studies.
Yael Turk is also a second-year student in the WPU Psy.D. program. She is currently an extern at Envisage Neuropsychology. She previously served as lead clinical research assistant with the Adolescent Mental Health Collaborative at Brown University Health, overseeing two NIH-funded studies investigating how social media use influences adolescent anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Jeanmarie and Yael are both funded to work as research assistants at VA NJ under the direction of Drs. Alejandro Interian, Roseanne Dobkin, and Megan Chesin. We asked them about their experiences. This is what they shared.
Briefly describe the research project you work on at VA NJ.
Both: The research project I work on is a Telehealth Cognitive Behavioral Therapy program for depression in Veterans with Parkinson's Disease. The project aims to improve access to mental health care for Veterans with Parkinson’s Disease, particularly those living in rural areas across the country.
What are your primary responsibilities for this research project?
Jeanmarie: I am both a research assistant and an extern at the VA. My primary RA responsibilities include assisting with outreach to Veterans, reviewing medical records, and screening Veterans for treatment eligibility. As an extern, I also get the opportunity to complete initial consultations with Veterans and then provide CBT for Parkinson’s Disease to Veterans.
Yael: My primary responsibilities include reviewing Veterans’ medical records and conducting phone screenings to assess their eligibility for the study. During these screenings, I evaluate their anxiety and depressive symptoms as well as their level of cognitive impairment. I also conduct initial consultations with Veterans to gather additional information about their physical and psychological symptoms, which helps inform appropriate treatment recommendations.
What is the most interesting or unexpected part of your work with the NJ VA?
Jeanmarie: The most interesting part to me is seeing how beneficial it can be to understand an individual’s medical condition, such as Parkinson’s Disease, and then tailoring a CBT protocol to consider Parkinson’s disease symptoms. Parkinson's disease can cause many challenges that may make it difficult to engage in mental health treatment, and I've enjoyed learning all the different ways a manualized treatment can be individualized.
Yael: The most interesting aspect of my work has been observing the wide range of symptoms experienced by Veterans with Parkinson’s Disease while also recognizing the common underlying experiences of depression and anxiety. This has deepened my understanding of the mind-body connection and how physical health conditions and psychiatric symptoms can interact and influence one another.
How do you anticipate using these experiences in future research or clinical work?
Jeanmarie: I anticipate using this experience in future clinical work by considering how medical conditions may influence an individual’s mental health and adapting interventions to address their specific needs.
Yael: In my future clinical work, I plan on helping clients who experience both physical and psychological conditions better understand how these concerns overlap and influence one another. I also aim to help clients develop coping strategies tailored to their individual symptoms, needs, and experiences. This research experience has reinforced the importance of taking an integrative approach to treatment that considers both physical and mental health.