Evidence-based Training and Competencies Research Lab

Below are common questions posed to Dr. Callahan and her response. 

If you'd rather cut to the chase and read her curriculum vitae (CV), follow the link.                                                   

1)    What do your students call you?  

If you spell my first and last name backwards it would be: Refinnej Nahallac. Or, if you prefer Pig Latin if would be Enniferjay Allahancay. Although it would be quite hard to pronounce, in binary code my name is: 01001010 01100101 01101110 01101110 01101001 01100110 01100101 01110010 00100000 01000011 01100001 01101100 01101100 01100001 01101000 01100001 01101110. I do not answer to any of those though. There are other names, not to be mentioned, that I also do not respond to (and prefer not to be referred to by). Undergraduates call me Dr. Callahan but I view graduate students as emerging professionals and, thus, depending upon their comfort level some refer to me as Jennifer while others prefer to use Dr. Callahan. According to the US Census Bureau, 0.932% of US residents have the first name 'Jennifer' and 0.0206% have the surname 'Callahan'. Since the US has around 300 million residents, there are somewhere around 576 people that are likely to respond to the stimuli of Jennifer Callahan being called out; so basically you're taking your chances with whatever variant you call me as to whether I, specifically, will respond.  If you are now curious about your own name, click here.  

 

2) Characterize your professional theoretical framework. 

My personal philosophical perspective influences my conceptualizations of clients and is probably most closely aligned with constructivism.  Essentially, I was philosophically a constructivist long before I knew the term and its relation to psychology.  My perspective began to take shape as an undergraduate student when exposed to the writings of Lao Tzu, particularly the emphasis on the present moment.  While in graduate school, I was exposed to Kant and these readings supported my already formed appreciation of the significance of recognizing patterns. 

Although perhaps seeming at odds, these two beliefs routinely weave together in my work with clients.  Thus, while I do not consider myself to be a constructivist in orientation as a psychologist, I do feel it is important to acknowledge my philosophical leanings.  My personal philosophical orientation, and the influence of Kant, is apparent when I am conceptualizing the nature of the presenting concerns because I actively search for patterns across domains (e.g., emotional, behavioral, cognitive) and contexts (e.g., past, present, and future).  But, I focus interventions and direct attention in session to the present, due predominantly to the influence of Lao Tzu, considering both the past and future non-existent.

As a psychologist, I am grounded in a cognitive-behavioral orientation.  I am most strongly influenced by Beck's cognitive therapy and, thus, the cognitive component of my orientation is more pronounced than the behavioral component.  As encouraged by Beck, I consider recognizing the utility of a distorted belief before attempting to restructure it to be of paramount importance.  To that end, I have found Ellis's rational emotive approach to be an especially helpful adjunct to treatment.  I also find that Solution-Focused Therapy is influential. 

With increasing experience and exposure to diverse others, I have become increasingly appreciative of phenomenological perspectives and this too has shaped my CBT orientation.  Whether diversity is obvious (e.g., gender) or not (e.g., spirituality), I strive to remember that every client is an individual within a context.  I try not to presume that I fully understand the nature of the client's experience as I might imagine it from my own culture, values, and set of experiences.  I also try not to presume that an individual client is a prototypical representation of some aggregate data set exploring diversity.  As a result of these considerations, I find approaches from the solution-focused model to be very helpful in identifying behavioral interventions with clients that they are able to commit to implementing.

Given the complex interactions of the aforementioned variables, I do not assume that what I do is working with any particular client.  An advocate for the importance of clinical expertise, I faithfully track progress at each session with my clients, actually examine the data each time, and make adjustments to the course of treatment provision.  I adhere to the typical convention of expecting the amount of change to exceed the reliable change index and cross from a clinical range into a non-clinical range (Jacobson & Truax, 1991).  It is easily done and known to improve outcomes (Lambert, M.J., Harmon, C., & Slade, K., 2005) in aggregate analyses.  Personally, I have found that it works for me and my "success" rate across settings is one that allows me to sleep reasonably well at night.       

 

3)     As faculty you must know everything right?  Say something smart to impress me.

No.  Next?   

 

4)      What are your long-term plans within the field of psychology? OR Do I have to do what you do? 

For the most part, I am doing precisely what I hope to be doing for the next 30 or more years.  I enjoy the combination of teaching, research and practice and have a hard time envisioning professional happiness with any of those elements missing.  I do not have any political ambitions however and consider teaching to be a form of service where I can be far more useful.  Because I enjoy such diverse aspects to my work, I do not expect that my students will follow any one particular career path.  I do expect my students to (1) be grounded in sound science regardless of career path, and (2) pursue personal excellence.