Laura is a Professor of Psychological Science at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) in Edinburg, TX. Before joining the faculty at UTRGV she spent 13 years at The University of Toledo, including two in which she served as the DCT for their clinical psychology PhD program. Laura continues her research program investigating the etiology, assessment, and treatment of internalizing disorders in youth that she began at Virginia Tech in Tom’s Ollendick’s lab. She is also interested in factors that influence thedissemination and implementation of evidence-based treatments and examining problems that impact her community in south Texas. Recent examples include projects investigating culturally-tied parenting behavior that may place Hispanic youth at risk for anxiety disorders and Hispanic parents’ perceptions of CBT for child anxiety. In 2017 Laura was awarded a grant from
the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) to prepare for a clinical trial investigating the efficacy of training dental health professionals to deliver a one-session treatment to treat youth with dental phobia, a disorder that is highly prevalent in the Rio Grande Valley. She has been active in assisting NIDCR to set a research agenda in this area https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/news-events/nidcr-seeks-ways-reduce-dental-fear. Laura’s service to ABCT has included serving on the program committee and for six years Laura has been co-chair of the Women’s Issues in Behavior Therapy SIG, where she focused on enacting changes that increase the representation of women in the field – most recently lobbying for childcare at ABCT’s annual conference, a program that began this year. She also serves as a co-chair of ABCT’s task force to Promote Equality, Access, and Inclusion. Laura is married to Dr. Joseph Hovey, also a clinical psychologist (and a honorary Hokie) and has three children, David (age 13), Hannah (10), and Gabriella (10) -- aka her campaign team.