Society for Personality Assessment

Chris Hopwood, Ph.D.
President

I am an assistant professor of clinical psychology at Michigan State University. My doctoral training occurred at Texas A&M University, and my clinical internship was at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

My main research interest involves understanding relationships between personality and psychopathology. In particular, I am interested in testing diathetic (which propose that personality ‘causes’ psychopathology) and pathoplastic (which propose that personality is meaningfully independent of psychopathology) models, and the implications of these distinctions for etiology, longitudinal change, interpersonal and affective manifestations of disordered behavior, assessment, and clinical outcomes.

I am also interested in applied clinical assessment. My research focuses primarily on self-report instruments that were explicitly developed to measure clinical and personality constructs: such instruments include the PAI, the IIP, and the NEO-PI-R. I am also interested in the assessment process, and in particular the potential for clinical change through therapeutic assessment. These interests also guide my clinical work.

I spend as much free time as possible with my son Sullivan (pictured) and partner Emily, and watching our basketball team dominate the Big Ten.

Elizabeth Koonce
President-Elect 
I am a second-year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Toledo. I have a BA in Psychology from Texas A&M University and what might be seen as an excessive amount of state pride. I sometimes procrastinate by drawing web-comics and complaining about cold weather.
My clinical and research interests are broadly related to personality assessment, especially the use of performance-based measures (such as the Rorschach and the TAT) and interpersonal measures (like the IIP-C) to promote clinical change.

I am also interested in the intersection of technology and personality assessment training. My Master’s Thesis focuses on improving guidelines for the inquiry phase of the Rorschach Test and creating an online training program designed to increase examiner proficiency.
As the Chair of the Technology Committee of SPAGS, I hope to help make our portion of the website both interactive and informative for our members.

Martin Sellbom, Ph.D.
Past President

I am currently a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Psychology and Kent State University and a part-time Psychology Resident at the Summit Court Psycho-Diagnostic Clinic in Akron, Ohio. I received my doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Kent State University in 2007. Beginning in August 2009, I will be an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Alabama.

My research interests primarily focuses on the intersection between personality and psychopathology, including measurement-related issues and conceptual links between these constructs. My research also broadly concerns further elucidating the construct validity of MMPI-2 and MMPI-2-RF scales.

In terms of clinical practice, I specialize in court-ordered forensic psychological evaluations.

In my extensive amount of free time, I enjoy golf, football, skiing, weight lifting, reading, movies, and most importantly, spending time with my girlfriend Kelly.

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Joyce Williams
Secretary

Dissertation writing consumes my time now as graduation is just a few words ahead.  The journey to this has involved many experiences.  I have been a Licensed Professional Counselor in North Carolina since 1998 and in Virginia since 2001.  I maintain both licenses and look forward to when I can frame my Clinical Psychologist license.  The therapeutic population I have worked with most has been children and adolescents, particularly those who have been abused and in foster care or residential treatment.  My motivation for re-entering graduate school to earn the Ph.D. was assessment and I have made it my focus.  Practica, internship and present work have included assessment with a variety of clients as well as therapy with child, adolescents and adults.  I have also been able to teach at the undergraduate level and been a teaching assistant at the graduate level.  These have been both inside the classroom and in the virtual environment. Since I was in the computer industry prior to returning to graduate school for my MA, the online opportunities are intriguing.

I live on the Eastern coast of North Carolina an area of seashores, farms, tourists and military.  It is a place of opportunities in the areas of academics, research, assessment and clinical work.  It is my hope that after graduation I will be able to pursue research and clinical work with a focus on the usefulness of assessment as a therapeutic intervention.

Danielle Burchett
Representative-at-Large

I am a third-year Clinical Psychology graduate student at Kent State University, where I specialize in Assessment and Quantitative Methods. I am currently a Teaching Fellow, and am in charge of training our first-year students in their Assessment Practicum course. I also work for Coleman Professional Services as a testing intern, and am working on my Master’s Thesis.

My research interests are still forming, but I am most interested in studying inaccurate responding in self-report personality instruments. Improving quantitative methodology in assessment research is also a strong interest that I hope to pursue further.

I hope to one day be a professor, and to eventually conduct forensic assessments.

Although I currently live in Ohio, I look forward to moving home to California to be with my family and boyfriend, Joey. In the meantime, I spend my free time making lattes, learning to play golf, and improving my intramural volleyball skills.

 
Sandra Horn
Representative-at-Large

I am a third year Clinical Psychology graduate student at the University of Toledo and completed my BA at Grand Valley State University. I currently work as an extern at the University of Toledo Counseling Center and also participate in the UT Assessment Lab.

My clinical and research interests are focused on assessment, including personality assessment and Rorschach validation research. I am currently completing an evaluation of a new method of coding Rorschach "perceptual accuracy," following up on similar research conducted last year. I have also completed research on the impact of Rorschach card rotation and card orientation preference on reflection responding.

In my free time I enjoy subjecting others to my cheesy jokes, playing guitar, photography, taking in local art and live music, and Texas Hold’em.

 
Pilar Sumalpong
Representative-at-Large

I am a first-year student at the University of Santa Barbara’s Combined Degree Program in Clinical, Counseling and School Psychology.  I am pursuing my Ph. D. with an emphasis in Clinical Psychology and an interdisciplinary emphasis in Cognitive Neuroscience.  I received my M.A. in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University.  I am employed as an adjunct lecturer at California Lutheran University where I teach courses in substance abuse and treatment.

My research interests are in therapeutic Neuropsychological and Personality assessment.  I have a growing interest in Affective Neuroscience, in which I hope to pursue research in the area of neuroimaging in respect to mood disorders and personality pathology.

In addition, I have a lifelong dedication to working with high-risk and incarcerated adolescents in the Los Angeles area and hope to continue to reside in California where I can serve the community in which my sister, my two brothers and my daughter will grow and flourish.

My leisure activities include camping, creative writing and various art projects.  I also participate in maintaining my family’s organic flower and produce farm in Ventura, CA.