 | Psychology Department Professor
Fields: Clinical psychology; eating disorders; substance use disorders; emotional dysregulation |
鈥 CV (PDF) 禄 | Email: jhayaki@holycross.edu
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Courses
This course provides an overview of the design and conduct of psychological research. We will examine the ethical, design, measurement, and dissemination issues that researchers face in their studies of human and animal behavior and thought. You will also have hands-on opportunities to apply and practice your research skills by designing and carrying out your own psychological research study, which you will then write up in APA style and present orally at the Annual Psychology Research Colloquium at the end of the semester. Prerequisite:Statistics (Psyc 200).
In this course, we will explore the broad range of psychological distress in the human experience. We will examine the theories and empirical research regarding the causes, nature, and treatment of psychological disorders. You will quickly discover that the field of psychopathology is filled with many unanswered questions and a great diversity of opinion. Throughout the course, we will devote considerable attention to these questions and controversies, as well as to their societal and political landscape. Prerequisite: Introductory Psychology (Psyc 100).
- Seminar: Eating and Its Disorders (Psyc 334)
- Seminar: Substance Use, Misuse, and Abuse (Psyc 337)
This course explores the impact of culture on the prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health and illness. Here, 鈥渃ulture鈥 is broadly defined and includes (but is not limited to) gender, ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation. Topics include mental illnesses that disproportionately affect members of one or more gender, ethnic group, or social class; ethnic and other cultural differences in mental health help-seeking behavior; non-Western indigenous ways of healing; psychotherapy research with underserved populations; and multicultural competence in psychosocial service delivery. The class is primarily discussion-based, and students conduct oral poster presentations of their final projects. Prerequisite: Abnormal Psychology (Psyc 229).
Research
Welcome to the Hayaki Emotion Dysregulation Lab!
Brief Overview
My research program examines the role of dysfunctional emotional processes in adult psychopathology. Specifically, I am interested in the role of emotional dysregulation in two phenomenologically related areas of clinical distress: eating disorders and substance use disorders. Previous research has shown that individuals who experience symptoms of eating disorders and substance abuse鈥攅ven at subclinical levels鈥攅xhibit a number of deficits in emotional regulation, including a greater tendency to experience certain negative emotions (e.g., shame), poor coping responses to unpleasant emotional states, and a general lack of experiential emotional awareness.
An underlying theme of my research is the notion that eating disorders and substance abuse may share core emotional deficits. For instance, the inability to tolerate negative affect, particularly anxiety, is known to be one proximal cause of binge eating. Evidence also suggests that this same emotional state can trigger episodes of heavy drinking or illicit drug use. Eating disorders and substance abuse may thus involve common emotional precursors. If certain maladaptive emotional states represent core vulnerabilities across psychological disorders, then these areas of overlap may also respond to similar treatment strategies. The goal of my work is therefore to identify the emotional mechanisms associated with these two areas of psychopathology. This research carries many clinical implications, such as (a) early detection of those individuals most at emotional risk of developing an eating or substance use disorder and (b) identification and definition of emotional targets for clinical intervention.
Graduate Study in Psychology
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