Core Faculty

James Hannum (Counseling Chair)

My research interests include the ways in which close relationships (marriage, family, and friendships) are helpful or harmful when people cope with significant life stressors. Aspects of close relationships that I have studied include intimacy, attachment, cohesion, and conflict. Some of the stressful conditions investigated have been illnesses such as cancer and eating disorders, and life challenges such as the transition to college and major tests. In addition, I am interested in how relationship variables in helping relationships (e.g., counseling, massage) affect the outcome of treatment. Click here to see my complete, updated research profile.

Helen Neville

Historically, my research interests have focused on three interrelated areas: general and cultural factors influencing stress and coping processes, evaluation of the effectiveness of diversity-related programs, and multicultural education. My research in the first area has centered on examining general and cultural factors influencing rape survivors, post-assault recovery process and African American students' psychosocial and educational adjustment to predominantly white universities. I am particularly interested in understanding common experiences that transcend race, ethnicity, and class background in adjusting to stressful events, as well as teasing out the more culture-specific factors related to this adjustment.

Interfacing with each of my three research areas is a consideration of racial identity, racism, and, more recently, color-blind racial ideology. Over the past 3 years, I have refocused my research to the area color-blind racial attitudes or the denial, distortion, and minimization of the existence of racism. As part of this effort, my research team and I have constructed and validated a scale to assess color-blindness. Findings in this new line of research are providing support for emerging theoretical articulations, such that greater denial of the existence of racism on a structural level have been related to: (a) greater levels of racial and gender intolerance among students and community members and (b) lower levels of self-reported and observed multicultural therapy competencies among counselors. For White college students, adopting a color-blind racial perspective also has been related to greater racial prejudice against Blacks and increased fear and distrust of racial and ethnic minorities. For Blacks, ignoring the influence of racism in the lives of people of color have been related to increased levels of internalized oppression and victim-blaming ideology. Relatedly, I am interested in uncovering critical incidents in the development of racial ideologies of high school and college students. I'm interested in exploring how some students are oblivious to racism and others have developed a critical awareness of racial oppression. Moreover, I want to explore if students' and systems' ideologies influence inter- and intraracial interactions. Click here to see my complete, updated research profile.

James Rounds

Vocational interests and how they change over the life span. Research examines the structure of interests, how that structure develops and changes over the life course, and the reciprocal influences among personality, interests, and abilities with a focus on constructing models. Also, career development in adulthood, assessment of personality traits and work values, and occasionally, a venture into health psychology. Click here to see my complete, updated research profile.

Lisa Spanierman

My primary research area involves the critical study of whiteness (i.e., White racial attitudes, White privilege, and the costs of racism to White individuals). My colleagues and I developed the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale, which measures empathic reactions toward racism, White guilt, and White fear of others. We recently used cluster analysis to provide a more integrative portrayal of costs and are now investigating the association among such costs and the multicultural counseling competencies of White clinicians. Our investigations employ both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Click here to see my complete, updated research profile.

Affiliated Faculty

Students interested in the graduate program in counseling psychology (CP) might choose to do research with affiliated faculty rather than the core counseling psychology faculty.  If a student were to work with one of our affiliated faculty, he/she would likely also be given an academic advisor of one of the core counseling faculty. The following faculty members are potential research advisors for counseling psychology students.  Other faculty within the Educational Psychology department and faculty in other departments (e.g., psychology, family studies, women’s studies) are also occasionally research advisors to CP students.

Dorothy Espelage

The foci of my scholarship at UIUC have included investigations of several health-related behaviors, including bullying and youth aggression, disordered eating in adolescents and young adults, and psychosocial adjustment of families of children managing chronic illness. The majority of my energy is spent on my first two programs bullying during early adolescence and eating disorders. Within the last few years, both of these programs have evolved into the study of these health behaviors during early adolescence and both have included examination of the influences of the peer group on their maintenance. I also work with graduate students with research interests in childhood sexual abuse and dating violence. Click here to see my complete, updated research profile.

Jennifer Greene

My research interests focus on the intersections of social science and social policy. I work in the domain of educational and social program evaluation, and I seek to advance the theory and practice of alternative forms of evaluation, including qualitative, democratic, and mixed-method evaluation approaches. My current work emphasizes evaluation as a venue for democratizing dialogue about critical social and educational issues, with a focus on conceptualizing evaluation as a "public good." Click here to see my complete, updated research profile.

Allison Ryan

Young adolescents' motivation, engagement, and performance in school are important issues. While all individuals do not experience serious problems in school during early adolescence, many do. Disengagement in school at this age has far-reaching consequences for education and career opportunities. The overall goal of my research is to increase our understanding of achievement beliefs and behaviors during this stage of life. A theme throughout my research on achievement during early adolescence is a focus on the intersection of social and academic concerns of young adolescents at school. In a variety of ways I have explored how interpersonal relationships in the classroom setting are intertwined with, and facilitate or constrain, students' motivation, engagement and achievement. My research falls into three general areas: (1) students' help seeking beliefs and behaviors, (2) the classroom social environment, and (3) peer groups and processes of peer influence in the classroom. Click here to see my complete, updated research profile