Monthly Archives: August 2016

The PTG lab is excited to welcome Matt this upcoming Fall 2016 semester. Matt is a first year MS student with a double major in Psychology and International Relations from the University of Missouri – Columbia as well as a Multicultural Certificate earned via studying abroad at Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan.

Having worked as a primary school teacher in Japan post-graduation, Matt is interested in investigating the variations of Post-Traumatic Growth in Japanese and American populations, with an emphasis on their correlation with an individual’s propensity towards elements of mindfulness and acceptance.

His professional goal is to establish a lab which evaluates the role socio-cultural variations of PTG play in relation to effective trauma-informed care. Matt can be reached at mrmoonier@oakland.edu.

Leah McDiarmid has graduated from the PTG lab and is moving on to her next step in her academic career.

Leah joined the lab Fall of 2013 and has been raising the bar ever since, achieving numerous accomplishments throughout her three years of the lab.

Leah has submitted to 10 conferences, including Meeting of Minds, the Midwestern Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

This past summer Leah had the opportunity to present her research Personally important and family valued posttraumatic growth in adolescents, in Denver Colorado at the Annual American Psychological Association. At the conference Leah received the Raymond Corsini Student Poster Award Honorable Mention for her poster presentation.

Along side Dr. Taku Leah collaborated on a manuscript titled Personally important posttraumatic growth in adolescents: The effect on self-esteem beyond commonly-defined posttraumatic growth.  This manuscript was then published in Fall of 2015, and is currently in the Journal of Adolescence. In addition, she also has manuscripts under review. Leah has achieved many other honors and awards through her time in the PTG lab. This is an individual who has made her mark in the lab, the passion she has for research is remarkable.

This Fall 2016 Leah will be entering graduate school to achieve her Masters in Clinical Behavioral Psychology at Eastern Michigan University.

The PTG lab is eager to see what comes next for Leah, and wish her the best of luck next year!

The first week of August, the PTG Lab ventured to Denver, Colorado to present their research at this years APA convention. Whitney Dominck, Leah McDiarmid, Aundreah Walenski and Shelby Seyburn presented their posters Personally Important and Family-Valued Posttraumatic Growth in Adolescents (Division 1: General Psychology Division), Gender and Age Differences in the Perception of Personal Growth (Division 32: Humanistic Division), and The Influence of Experiencing Multiple Life Stressors Following the 3.11 Earthquake on Posttraumatic Growth (Division 56: Trauma Division).

In addition, lab member Leah McDiarmid and Dr. Taku received honorable mention for the Raymond Corsini Student Poster Award. Their presentation was in Division 1 for General Psychology.

Among attending the annual APA convention the lab members were able to visit and speak with other PTG researchers, network with other professionals,and further their knowledge of Psychology. The conference was a great start to prepare the PTG lab for the upcoming semester of research.

Click the link below to view our posters and abstracts.

Personally Important and Family-Valued Posttraumatic Growth in Adolescents 

The Influence of Experiencing Multiple Life Stressors Following the 3.11 Earthquake on Posttraumatic Growth

Gender and Age Differences in the Perception of Personal Growth