Vicky Phares, Ph.D.

Vicky Phares is Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at the University of South Florida.  She received her doctorate from the University of Vermont in 1990.  Her primary lines of research include: developmental psychopathology in the context of the father-child relationship, and clinical assessment.  Her research group has investigated fathers and developmental psychopathology in a number of different content areas, including adolescents of depressed fathers; anger in mothers, fathers, and adolescents; children's and adolescents' perceptions of their father and mother; therapists inclusion of fathers in therapy, and the emotional availability of fathers and mothers.

Regarding clinical assessment, her work has explored such issues as correspondence of fathers' and mothers' reports of children's emotional/behavioral problems, and the connections between race/ethnicity of assessor and child client.

Overall, Dr. Phares’ work has focused on the psychosocial factors that are related to functioning within families.  This work is informed by cognitive-behavioral and family systems conceptualizations of developmental psychopathology.

Idia Binitie Thurston, M.A.

Idia is a fifth year clinical doctoral candidate.  She graduated from Florida State University in May 2003 with her B.A. in psychology. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from USF in Spring 2006.  She is currently working on her dissertation which is focused on mental health disparities in children and adolescents.  Her research interests include race and gender differences in service utilization, parental involvement in children's mental health, and pediatric psychology.  Her clinical interests are focused on pediatric psychology issues including treatment and improving adherence of HIV/AIDS, diabetic, orthopedic, and developmentally disabled children and adolescents.

Jessica Curley, M.A.

Jessica is a fifth year clinical psychology doctoral student.  She graduated from the University of Virginia in 2001 with a B.A. in Psychology.  She received her Master's degree in Clinical Psychology from USF in 2006.  She is currently working on her dissertation in which she is examining parental perceptions of children's need for treatment.  Her research and clinical interests include parental ratings of children's behavior, parent-child relationships, and pediatric psychology.

Sherecce Fields, M.A.

Sherecce is a seventh year clinical student.  She graduated from the Duke University in 1998 with a B.S. in Psychology and B.A. in Chemistry.  Her dissertation is examining therapist attitudes and beliefs about involving parents in treatment with their children.  Her research interests include therapy process issues as they relate to children in treatment, parental involvement in treatment and the extension of therapy process research into the medical field.

Ariz Rojas, M.A.

Ariz is a third year clinical student who received her B.A. and M.A. from the University of South Florida.  She was recently awarded a Ford Foundation Diversity Predoctoral Fellowship by the National Academies of Science.   Her research interests include parent-child interactions with an emphasis on the father-child relationship, cultural differences in parenting, and acculturation and mental health.  Clinically, Ariz works with children and families with a variety of internalizing and externalizing disorders in community and pediatric settings.