Couple and Family Therapy

Dr. Joyce Baptist’s research focuses on building resilience in vulnerable populations and marginalized groups. She studies the efficacy of using trauma therapies to treat major depression and suicidal ideation. Her current clinical research focuses on treatment-resistant depression. This lab is open to advanced graduate students.

Dr. Baptist further examines relationship processes that help mitigate the negative effects of trauma from discrimination on relationship satisfaction and that help build resilience in minority couples. She welcomes students who are interested in studying marginalized populations including refugees, military families, and racial and religious minority groups.

Research Faculty: Dr. Joyce Baptist

For More Information: Please contact Dr. Baptist at jbaptist@k-state.edu

How can we improve the effectiveness of couple/relationship therapy? That is the central question driving our research. Currently, we are focused on understanding the factors that predict change during the early stages of couples/relationship therapy and what is happening in the therapy room that contributes to positive client change. We also are developing measures specifically for the clinical setting to measure client self-determined motivations for being in therapy, interpersonal behavior, attributions, sexual desire, and sexual quality.

Research Faculty: Dr. Jared Anderson

For More Information: Please contact Dr. Anderson at jra@k-state.edu or call 785-532-4198.

Dr. Spencer's research interests include intimate partner violence (IPV), intimate partner homicide (IPH), and sexual violence. Dr. Spencer has recently collected data on a variety of factors related to these topics. Projects include examining factors associated with IPV, IPH, and/or sexual violence perpetration and victimization. Dr. Spencer also specializes in conducting a meta-analyses, and works on a variety of meta-analyses related to physical IPV, emotional IPV, IPH, and sexual violence. Dr. Spencer enjoys mentoring students throughout the research process and often works with students on presentations and publications.

Research Faculty: Dr. Chelsea Spencer

For More Information: Please contact Dr. Spencer at cspencer@k-state.edu

Dr. Glade Topham's research focuses on the influence of the parent-child relationship on child socioemotional and physical health (i.e., establishment of healthy weight balance) outcomes. He studies the efficacy of interventions targeting the parent-child relationship, particularly with vulnerable populations. Some current projects include:

• Relation between parenting style and parent response to child emotion and child healthy weight balance.
• The influence of parenting practices on youth independent eating behaviors.
• The efficacy of early intervention targeting the parent-child relationship in promoting child emotional and behavioral regulation and long-term healthy weight balance.

Research Faculty: Dr. Glade Topham

For More Information: Please contact Dr. Topham at gtopham@k-state.edu.

Relevate is a university-community transdisciplinary team passionate about reducing disparities in health and well-being across the lifespan through increasing public access to relationship science and creating a culture that values and invests in strong interpersonal connection.

Our goal is to provide customized and accessible research-based information about diverse relationships that enables people to gain knowledge, skills, and access to additional resources they can use to reach their relationship goals and improve their overall well-being. Relevate does this through adaptive and experiential approaches to intervention through in-person events and MyRelevate.com, a mobile platform for diverse relationship scholars and practitioners to share their expertise directly with the public.

Research Faculty: Dr. Amber Vennum and Dr. Elaine Johannes

For More Information: Please contact Dr. Vennum at avennum@k-state.edu.

Dr. Jared Durtschi studies couple and family relationships. His primary interests are in studying clinically modifiable factors that contribute to long-term satisfying couple relationships, preventing relationship dissolution, and underlying processes and contexts linked with better relationships. He primarily uses advanced quantitative methods with nationally representative and longitudinal dyadic data in his research. Dr. Durtschi enjoys mentoring students in research, and does the majority of his research with students at K-State.

Research Faculty: Dr. Jared Durtschi

For More Information: Please contact Dr. Durtschi at jadmft@k-state.edu.

What keeps us from being more authentic, open, and curious in our intimate relationships? Why do we "hide" from partners, not revealing what we really think or feel? Why do we avoid and withdraw from our partners or constantly need and seek their validation to feel okay about ourselves? Why do we give up our ideas and fold so easily? Why do we get so defensive and hold tight to our ideas, becoming impervious to influence? Why do we keep having the same fights over and over again and seem to never make progress on these issues or come to a resolution? Why do we stop talking about things that matter? Why do we settle for boring sex? Why do we have sex (consensually) when we're not in the mood?

These, and many other questions, are an additional focus of our work. We conduct basic research (cross-sectional and longitudinal) to enhance our understanding of relationship processes with the goal of strengthening relationship education and clinical intervention programs and approaches. We're also interested in developing and testing self-development based approaches to relationship education and clinical intervention—believing that relationship change begins with individual development.

We believe that your "self" profoundly shapes your relationships. How you see yourself, how you think your partner and others see you, and the degree to which your view of your "self" is contingent on how you think others view you has a tremendous impact on your behavior and your personal and relational well-being. Our lab leans on Self-Determination (Ryan & Deci, 2017) and Differentiation (Kerr & Bowen, 1988; Schnarch, 1999; 2009) theory to understand "self" in relationship.

Research Faculty: Dr. Jared Anderson

For More Information: Please contact Dr. Anderson at jra@k-state.edu or call 785-532-4198.