Faculty Profile: Prof. Kim Dienes

Hi!  My name is Kim Dienes and I’m a Clinical Psychology professor here at RU.  I study stress sensitivity and depression.  In my lab, we explore the vulnerabilities and processes that determine why some people are sensitive to stress, while others remain unshaken.  Why might one individual have a stronger reaction to a stressful event than another?  We look at biological and psychological responses to stress and how they are involved in risk for depression.  We also investigate possible diatheses, or factors that might make someone sensitive to stress, such as early adversity and personality variables.  If you are interested in participating in research, please take a look at our current projects and read more about me and the lab members at my faculty website: http://sites.roosevelt.edu/kdienes/.  Also, feel free to contact me with any questions or if you are interested in joining our lab.

I teach Basic Clinical Skills to the Master’s students in the fall, Childhood and Adolescence (a service learning course) to undergraduates in the spring, and two year long courses, Psychodynamic Theory I and II and Doctoral Practicum Seminar, to the doctoral students.  I believe that the best way to learn is by doing, and I teach using a great deal of active participation.  Basic Clinical Skills involves a lab component where you are recorded as you practice clinical skills with a partner, Childhood and Adolescence involves community service with children to see child development in action, and my two doctoral classes include case examples, presentations, and formulations to not only learn material, but apply it.

I am also a licensed clinical psychologist and a partner in Metropolitan Change Alliance, a group practice located at Dearborn and Congress.  I work with adults from a dynamic perspective, focusing on relational patterns, but I also use CBT skills and techniques for anxiety reduction.  I believe that if you are going to teach clinical skills, you should also do what you teach.  If you have any questions about clinical psychology as a graduate degree or a profession, please feel free to come talk to me.

Spring 2012 Advising

It is advising time for Spring semester! Please review this advising information from Jennifer Hinton (jhinton@roosevelt.edu; 847-619-4229) before scheduling an appointment.

If you have completed 60 semester hours and your file has been transferred to the psychology department, we would meet for an advising appointment. To arrange an advising appointment with me, I will need to know your campus, preferred meeting times, and phone number. I'm on the Chicago campus on Mondays and Tuesdays, with appointment times from 10:30 a.m. to - 5:15 p.m.; Schaumburg campus on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, with appointment times from 10:30 a.m. - 5:15 p.m. Normally I’m not available between 12:30-2 p.m. It would be best to provide a range of times/days that you are able to meet because the appointment times that tend to fill quickest are times directly after classes end (such as 11:00, 12:15, 2:00, 4:30).

FYI: due to the high volume of contacts and appointments, it will take me approximately a full business day to return your call or email. Thanks for your patience with this.

Before meeting for advising, you are urged to resolve any registration holds you might have. To find out if you have any holds, go into your RU Access, select Registration & Other Student Services, then Student Records. If you have a hold, you would contact the office that placed the hold to have it lifted so you can register.

The Spring ’12 and Summer ’12 schedules are now viewable. You can review the schedules by going to the main website at www.roosevelt.edu, selecting "Current Students" in the upper-left corner, then "Class Schedule" from the links in the left column. Do not look up courses through your RU Access.

Finally, make sure to check academic calendars for spring and summer at the link to the Registrar’s Office below. By clicking on “Important Dates” and selecting the term, you can review course start dates, breaks, drop dates, tuition refund schedule, final exam dates, etc. (If the schedule is not posted for spring or summer, continue to check the website during fall term.)
http://www.roosevelt.edu/Registrar.aspx

INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS GRADUATING IN SPRING 2012: When you apply for graduation, a graduation hold is placed by Graduation Services that prevents initial registration and changes to your registration. Therefore, you should not apply for graduation until you've advised and registered for spring '12 courses. If you apply for graduation now, we would need to contact Graduation Services when you are ready to register for classes and each time you change your spring '12 schedule. Therefore, apply for spring '12 graduation after you are registered for spring '12 courses and are fairly certain you're not making any more changes to your spring '12 schedule. You have until January 13, 2012 to apply for spring '12 graduation.

Prof. Melissa Sisco, a clinical/forensic psychologist, joins the Department of Psychology

I am a University of Arizona alumni and border city conscious clinician.  I came to Chicago to complete a clinical internship at the University of Illinois Medical Center and subsequently stayed to become a part of the social justice focus here at Roosevelt University.  I have a joint doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology and Psychology, Policy, and the Law.  I am currently exploring alternative avenues of enhancing resilience after interpersonal trauma including community mobilization, ego strengthening, and cultural promotion.  I focus my clinical efforts and research on understanding the cycle of systematic and interpersonal trauma that ensues from differential power dynamics including gender, ethnicity, and social class through mentoring, program development/evaluation, therapeutic services, and grant writing.  I am particularly interested in the interplay between intimate victimization and perpetration.

I have taken part in a variety of agencies that address the trauma response including: the County Prosecutor’s Office, RESTORE Restorative Justice Agency, the Arizona Department of Corrections, the Southern Arizona Veteran’s Health Services, the Board of Homicide Survivors, and the Urban Youth Trauma center.

I thoroughly enjoy working with students to help them develop and create a path to the academic or professional venue that will bring the most happiness for each student and the greatest social change to the community.  I tend to have long-lasting, supportive relationships with my proteges and tend to work best with students who are self-driven.  I have several projects available for both undergraduates and graduates to get involved in; they are listed on my website http://sites.roosevelt.edu/msisco01.  Feel free to contact me if you would like to explore these avenues further or just chat about making a plan towards a forensic or clinical career.