Research Experience

Principle Investigator for dissertation research

• “Distress and Humor Coping in African American and Caucasian Breast Cancer Survivors and Age and Ethnicity-Matched Peers”
• Department of Psychology
• University of Houston
• Mentor , Mary J. Naus, Ph.D.
• March 2006 to present
• Examining the use of humor as a coping strategy for breast cancer survivors, and how it might be used differently in a cancer free peer group. Examining predictors of humor use, as well as possible consequences for those women who use humor to cope.

Graduate Level Member and Researcher

• Health Psychology Research Group
• Department of Psychology
• University of Houston
• Mentor , Mary J. Naus, Ph.D.
• June 2004 to present
• Examining the psychosocial variables of breast cancer survivorship, including quality of life, depression, anxiety, physical limitations, coping, health locus of control, and cognitive abilities.

Principle Investigator for thesis research

• “The Relationship between Psychosocial Distress, Fatigue, and Intimate Relationships in Cancer Patients”
• Department of Psychology
• Northern Arizona University
• Mentor , Kristin Kilbourn, Ph.D.
• August 2002 to May 2004
• Examining various psychosocial aspects of cancer treatment, specifically the effect of marital/intimate partner quality on anxiety, depression, and fatigue before beginning radiation therapy.

Co-investigator for graduate independent research

• “The Quality, Quantity, and Recentness of Psychology Majors' Course Work in Relation to Standardized Testing”
• Department of Psychology
• Northern Arizona University
• Mentor , Robert Till, Ph.D.
• August 2003 to May 2004
• Examining the relationship between senior Psychology majors' grades in psychology classes, the number of courses they have taken in different areas of psychology, how early in their psychology careers they took the classes, and their scores on the different sections of the ETS Major Field Test in Psychology.

Principle Investigator for undergraduate independent research

• “The Relation of Categorization and Verb Knowledge in 18 month-old Human Infants”
• Department of Psychology
• Grinnell College
• Mentor , Ann Ellis, Ph.D.
• August 2001 to May of 2002
• Examine possible relation between verbal and categorizational abilities in human infants by comparing the number of verbs known and infants' categorization of toys based on function versus form.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

• Department of Psychology
• Grinnell College
• Mentor, Ann Ellis, Ph.D.
• January 2001 to May 2002
• Examine how categorical groupings of animate and inanimate objects are formed in human infants, and the process by which these groupings change over the course of infancy.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

• Department of Psychology
• Grinnell College
• Mentor, David Lopatto, Ph.D.
• May 2001 to August 2001
• Examine the task analysis, mentor relationship, and benefits of doing undergraduate research in science.

Clinical Experience

Clinic Assistant

• Psychology Research and Services Center
• University of Houston
• Supervisor, Robin Weill, Ph.D.
• August 2006 to present
• Serve as one of the assistant directors of a psychology clinic on a large, metropolitan university campus. Duties include conducting intake interviews for potential clients, mentoring young therapists, and organizing training enhancement activities for graduate students in clinical psychology.

External Practicum Student

• Michael E. DeBake Veterans Administration
• Departments of Anesthesiology & Spinal Cord Injury Care Line
• Supervisors, Gabriel Tan, Ph.D., and Barry Scholes, Psy.D.
• August 2006 to April 2007
• Provide psychological services to Veterans in both the outpatient Pain Clinic (located within Anesthesiology) and in the inpatient Spinal Cord Injury Care Line. Services include providing cognitive-behavioral therapy, relaxation training, supportive therapy, group therapy, and other modalities as indicated.

External Practicum Student

• M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
• Department of Neuro-Oncology
• Supervisors, Anne Kayl, Ph.D., Christina Meyers, Ph.D., & Jeff Wefel, Ph.D.
• May 2006 to August 2006
• Conducting neuropsychological assessments for cancer patients with brain tumors. Including both the conducting of the assessments both before their treatments (radiation, chemotherapy, surgery) and at follow-ups, but also writing integrative reports regarding neurocognitive functioning of the patients.  

Therapist

• Psychology Research and Services Center
• University of Houston
• Supervisors, Jeremy W. Pettit, Ph.D., & John P. Vincent, Ph.D.
• August 2005 to present
• Provide weekly therapy sessions to underserved client in the Houston metropolitan area. Services are provided at a reduced rate to students, and on a sliding scale to clients economically disadvantaged.

  Stress Management Group Co-Therapist

• Health Psychology Center
• Northern Arizona University
• Supervisor, Kristin M. Kilbourn, Ph.D., M.P.H
• January 2004 to April 2004
• Provide weekly sessions on stress management techniques, physiological effects and cognitive appraisal of stress, identifying distorted thoughts, changing distorted thoughts to more rational or balanced ones, coping strategies, taking care of yourself through social support and pleasurable activities, and various relaxation exercises which address the physiological, cognitive, and emotional aspects of stress.

Cancer Fit Relaxation Co-Leader

• DeRosa Physical Therapy
• The Firm Health Club
• February 2004 to April 2004
• Provide weekly relaxation exercise to cancer patients, including deep breathing, guided imagery, progressive muscle relaxation, passive progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, and various other relaxation and general lowered arousal techniques.

Supervised Mental Health Provider

• Health Psychology Center
• Northern Arizona University
• Supervisor, Sumner Sydeman, Ph.D.
• January 2003 to May 2003
• Provide cognitive-behavioral therapy to individuals with health related disorders.

Teaching Experience

Instructor for Child Development

• Department of Psychology
• University of Houston
• Summer Semester 2006 (two sections)

  Instructor for Introduction to Clinical Psychology

• Department of Psychology
• University of Houston
• Spring Semester 2006 (two sections)

  Instructor for Research Methods Laboratory

• Department of Psychology
• University of Houston
• Summer semester 2005 & fall semester 2005

  Instructor for Introduction to Psychology

• Department of Social Sciences
• San Jacinto College
• Fall semester 2004 & spring semester 2005

  Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Psychology

• Department of Psychology
• University of Houston
• Fall semester 2004 & spring semester 2005

Instructor the Psychology Senior Capstone

• Department of Psychology
• Northern Arizona University
• Fall semester 2003 & spring semester 2004

  Teaching Assistant for Undergraduate Introduction to Statistics

• Department of Psychology
• Northern Arizona University
• Fall semester 2002, spring semester 2003, & summer semester 2003

Publications

• Kilbourn, K., & Philipp , L. M. (2004). The challenge of training facilitators in an eclectic group psychotherapeutic model [Review of the book Group psychotherapy for women with breast cancer: A treatment manual ] . PsycCRITIQUES, 49 (Suppl 14).
• Naus, M. J., & Philipp , L. M. (2007). Perceived Changes in memory and attention abilities in early-stage breast cancer survivors and age-matched controls. Manuscript submitted for publication .
• Naus, M. J., Philipp , L. M., & Samsi, M. (2006). From paper to pixels: Opportunities for quality of life research in health psychology and behavioral medicine. Manuscript submitted for publication.
• Philipp , L. M., Washington , C., Raouf, M., & Norton, J. P. (2007). Cross-cultural examination of the tripartite model in adults. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Professional Presentations

• Naus, M. J., Philipp , L. M., Lowrey, S. A., Ishler, M. D., & Parrott, C. E. (2005, March). Breast Cancer Survivors Vs. Well-Women: Comparing Depression, Anxiety, and Health Locus of Control. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Boston , MA .
• Parrot, C. E., Philipp , L. M., Naus, M. J., & Peter, M. (2007, March). Relationships between health locus of control and measures of distress in breast cancer survivors and their peers. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Washington , DC .
• Philipp , L. M., & Ellis, A. (2002, April). The Relation of Categorization and Verbal Knowledge in 18 month-old Human Infants. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Whitewater , WI .
• Philipp , L. M., Durning, P., & Kilbourn, K. M. (2004, March). The Impact of Partner Concerns: Psychological Well-Being among Radiotherapy Patients. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Baltimore , MD.
• Philipp , L. M., & Naus, M. J., (2007). Perceived changes in memory and attention before, during, and after a stressful event. Poster submitted for presentation at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy, Philadelphia , PA.
• Philipp , L. M., Naus, M. J., & Samsi, M. (2006, November). Quality of life research in clinical health psychology and behavioral medicine: Impact of computerized formats. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy, Washington , DC .
• Philipp , L. M., Naus, M. J., Rush-Ballister, P., Samsi, M., & Parrott, C. (2006, March). Does Humor Mediate the Effect of Optimism and Neuroticism on Distress? A Comparison of Breast Cancer Survivors and Controls. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, San Francisco , CA .
• Philipp , L. M., Peter, M., Samsi, M., & Naus, M. J. (2005, November). Comparing Anxiety Levels Between Early Stage Breast Cancer Survivors and Age-Matched Controls. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy, Boston , MA .