Phillip N. Smith, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Psychology

Dr. Smith is accepting new graduate students for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Education

National Institute of Mental Health, National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellowship, Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York
APA Accredited Clinical Psychology Internship, Southwest Consortium Pre-doctoral Psychology Internship, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
M.A. Psychology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
M.S. Psychology, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania
B.A. Psychology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

SOAR (Strengthening Opportunities for Achievement & Resilience): SOAR is a community-based intervention study that aims to reduce interpersonal violence and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among middle school youth. The intervention addresses systems-level practices and supports for teachers and law enforcement officers to assist in working with youth exhibiting problematic behaviors. SOAR is grounded in the socioecological framework and posits that interpersonal violence and suicide share many root causes and that preventing such outcomes is most effectively started "upstream".

Project GRIP (Gun-Related Injury Prevention): Firearms are used in over half of all suicides and three quarters of all homicides in the US. Yet, prevention strategies that focus on firearms are limited due to a cultural disconnect between prevention specialists and the very communities they wish to serve. This project will collaborate with those who own and use guns and those living in areas with high rates of violence to better understand their perspective, improve public health strategies, and save lives.

Preventing Youth Violence through building Equitable Communities: An Evaluation of a Multisystemic Intervention. National Institutes of Health: National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities. Role: Co-Investigator (PI: Krista Mehari, Ph.D.). Amount: $3,500,000.
Participatory Action Research to Inform a Social-Ecological Model of Gun-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Practices. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Role: Co-Investigator (PI: Krista Mehari, Ph.D.). Amount: $1,868,915.

Fadoir, N., Marie, L., Basu, N., Schuler, K., Granato, S., & Smith, P.N. (in press). Exploring interpersonal theory of suicide typologies in patients with cancer: A latent profile analysis. Death Studies.
Boone, S.D., Schuler, K.R., Basu, N., Smith, P.N. (in press). College extracurricular involvement as a suicide prevention and wellness promotion strategy: Exploring the roles of social support and meaning. Journal of American College Health.
Smith, P.N., Kuhlman, S.T.W., & Wolford-Clevenger, C. (2022). Examining the interpersonal theory of suicide in acutely suicidal psychiatric inpatients. Death Studies, 46, 1785-1791. DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2020.1852337
Basu, N., Schuler, K., Marie, L., Taylor, S., Fadoir, N., & Smith, P.N. (2022). The moderating effect of meanings-made on the association between exposure to potentially traumatic life events and suicidal ideation. Illness, Crisis & Loss, 30, 192-208. DOI: 10.1177/1054137319898333
Kuhlman, S.T.W., Smith, P.N., Marie, L., Fadoir, N., & Hudson, K. (2021). A pilot randomized clinical trial of the Alliance Project Suicide Prevention Training. Archives of Suicide Research, 25, 845-861. DOI: 10.1080/13811118.2020.1767246