This is the laboratory for Adaptation to Disability, Chronic Illness, & Addiction through Psychosocial and Positive Psychological Approaches to Treatment & Recovery. Welcome to our webpage! Our lab mission is using positive psychology to improve understanding, prevention strategies, and treatment options for a wide variety of factors related to overall well-being. Some specific interests include psychosocial interventions to increase adaptation to disabilities, recovery from addiction, and identity transitions for veterans and athletes. We are comprised of doctoral students in the combined counseling and school psychology PhD program from the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences at Florida State University as well as volunteer master’s and non-student members. Through our research, we hope to improve health, functioning, and overall quality of life.
Deborah J. Ebener, Ph.D. is a Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems. She is also the Executive Director of the Adult Learning Evaluation Center (ALEC) in the College of Education. She earned her Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Psychology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and an M.S. degree in Rehabilitation Administration from DePaul University in Chicago. She is a licensed psychologist and member of the American Psychological Association and the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association. Dr. Ebener’s research focuses on psychological and social factors that influence an individual’s coping and adaptation to disability and chronic illness, as well as recovery from substance use disorders. Her current research examines positive psychology constructs of humor, spirituality, and optimism as coping mechanisms in recovery and adaptation. Her research is published in various peer-reviewed journals, including Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin; Disability and Rehabilitation: An International, Multidisciplinary Journal; and Aging and Mental Health. In her position as the Director of Clinical Training, Dr. Ebener coordinates the APA-accredited combined doctoral program in Counseling Psychology and School Psychology. She supervises doctoral practicum and internships and teaches courses in Adult Development and Psychopathology, Addictions and Substance Abuse Counseling, Medical Aspects of Disability, Doctoral Field Practicum, and History and Systems of Psychology. Dr. Ebener also has extensive clinical experience in providing psychotherapy and assessment services in medical, clinical, and private practice settings. Dr. Ebener is also Executive Director of ALEC, which provides assessment and counseling services to college students and community members with ADHD, learning disabilities, and mental health issues. She oversees the overall operations of the Center, including the clinical training and research components. Research Areas
- Coping with disabilities (e.g., ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, mental health disorders, physical disabilities)
- Recovery from substance use disorders and adaptation to co-existing disabilities and mental health disorders
- Influence of humor and spirituality on attitudes toward disabilities
- Use of positive psychology constructs (e.g., humor, spirituality, optimism) in coping with disability and chronic illness and recovery from substance use disorders
Clinton Green, M.A. is a fifth-year Doctoral Candidate on internship at the APA-accredited Orlando Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He is originally from Kentucky, where he earned his B.A. in Psychology from Transylvania University. He then earned his M.A. in Mental Health Counseling from Florida Gulf Coast University. His research interests include risk-taking behaviors, dispositional optimism, as well as the search for and presence of meaning of life. His clinical interests include treating those with PTSD, BPD, and other chronic mental health illnesses. In particular, he is strongly drawn to and has experience in CBT, DBT, existential psychotherapy, and IPT. In his free time, Clinton enjoys playing basketball, hiking, playing guitar, and watching sports.
Dowon Choi, M.A. is a fourth-year Doctoral Candidate. She earned her B.A in Psychology at Chung-Ang University in Soul, South Korea then earned her M.A. in Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent Development at the University of Connecticut. She is a fellow and has co-authored several journal articles, book chapters, and a conference paper in the field of creativity, gifted education, and school psychology. Her research interests focus on mindfulness-based interventions and CBT-based coaching for college students with ADHD. Her clinical interests include mindfulness-based interventions with ADHD, depression/anxiety, ASD, high-achieving populations, and bi-cultural populations. In her free time, Dowon engages through various international media for outreach, such as a TEDx talk, a YouTube channel, an APA Division 46 website (the Society for Media Psychology and Technology), and a Korean Ministry of Education website.
Arizona Chin, M.S. is a fourth-year Doctoral Candidate. She is from Melbourne, Australia and moved to the U.S. as a collegiate student-athlete. She earned her B.A. in Psychology and her M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Northeastern State University. Her clinical and research interests revolve around mental ill-health prevention in college students and the use of technology to enhance mental health services. In her free time, Arizona enjoys baking, traveling, playing golf, hiking, and working out.
Tyler Wood, M.Ed. is fourth-year a Doctoral Candidate. He earned his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Kentucky and his M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Louisville. Tyler’s research interests focus on influences of substance use behaviors in college students. His clinical interests focus on anxiety and stress, depression, interpersonal relationships, adjustment concerns, identity and self-esteem. He has worked with severe mental illnesses, substance use disorders, trauma, and various other presenting problems in private practice, community mental health, and college counseling settings. In his free time, Tyler enjoys spending time with friends and his dog, watching college athletics, woodworking, staying active with outdoor activities, and bringing the outdoors inside with a collection of houseplants.
Alan Crutchfield, M.S. is a fourth-year Doctoral Candidate. He is from Jacksonville, Florida and earned his B.A. in Business Management, B.S. in Psychology, and M.S. in Psychological Science from the University of North Florida. His research interests focus on recovery from addiction, and he has been published in multiple journals. His clinical interests include working with internalizing disorders, trauma, couples, and addiction. In his free time, Alan enjoys hiking and going on cruises with his wife, playing guitar, watching football, and playing with his dog, Murray.
Shelbi Fisher, M.S. is a third-year Doctoral Student. Her research interests include coping with sport anxiety and injury in student athlete populations. She presented a poster at APA in 2020 on positive psychology constructs in Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous literature. Her clinical interests include working with college students who struggle with depression, anxiety, identity development, and career-related concerns. She has a special interest in improving coping strategies for sport anxiety, injury, and rehabilitation in a college student athlete population. In her free time, Shelbi enjoys watching college football and basketball, and spending time with her husband and dog.
Tyron Slack, M.S.W. is a third-year Doctoral Student. He is from New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned his B.A. in Psychology at Southeastern Louisiana University and his Master of Social Work at Florida State University. His clinical and research interests focus on the impact of racial microaggressions on black and other underrepresented students, their academic success, resilience, and mental health. In his free time, Tyron enjoys traveling, weightlifting, and sampling the cuisine of hole-in-the-wall restaurants.
Nola Freeman, M.S. is a second-year Doctoral Student. She earned her B.F.A degree in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin and her M.S. in Art Therapy from Florida State University. She is credentialed as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Licensed Clinical Supervisor in the state of Florida. She is also a Board-Certified Art Therapist and Credentialed Art Therapy Supervisor. Her research interests include attitudes toward youth with disabilities and the use of positive psychology constructs with this population. Her clinical interests are in therapeutic intervention and assessment with youth and families. In her free time, Nola enjoys cooking, spending time outside, and cuddling with her two cats.
Maegan Harrison Boyd, M.A. is a first-year Doctoral Student. She is from Bainbridge, Georgia and earned both her B.A. in Psychological Science and M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia. Her clinical and research interests focus on diagnosing ADHD and autism and working with trauma in child and adolescent populations. In her free time, Maegan enjoys spending time with her husband and their dogs, reading, painting, and is preparing for the arrival of her baby girl February 2022.
Brooke Patten, B.S. is a first-year Doctoral Student. She is from Tallahassee, Florida and earned her B.S. degree in Psychology from Florida State University. She has worked in an assessment setting with persons experiencing cognitive deficiencies due to a variety of reasons including ADHD, mental illness, traumatic brain injury, stroke, and dementia. Her research interests include ADHD, the impact of biases and diagnostic overshadowing in healthcare, positive psychology constructs, and coping with disability in an adult population. Her clinical interests include using positive psychology constructs to aid persons with long-term disabilities. In her free time, Brooke enjoys watching Netflix, spending time with family, and playing with her dog and rabbit.
Jacob Cryderman, B.S. is a first-year Doctoral Student. He earned his B.S.in Psychology from Florida State University. His research interests focus upon the impact of prejudice and bias on both general relationships/attitudes and therapeutic relationship between counselors and their clients. His clinical interests and experiences include working with adults with severe and persistent mental illness and/or substance abuse disorders. In his free time, Jacob enjoys reading, writing, gaming, weightlifting, and spending time out in the wilderness. More than anything, Jacob loves cooking and eating tons of vegan food. He also makes a mean piña colada.
Dissertations
Clinton Green, M.A. – “The Relationship between Risk-Taking Behaviors and Meaning in Life”
Dowon Choi, M.A. – “CBT vs. Mindfulness-added CBT for College Students with ADHD via Telepsychology”
Arizona Chin, M.S. – “An Empirical Examination of the Influence of Gender, Age, Training, and Openness on Attitudes Toward and Willingness to Use Telepsychology Among Graduate Students”
Tyler Wood, M.Ed. – “The Relationship Between Social Norms, Social Media, and College Alcohol Outcomes”
Alan Crutchfield, M.S. – “Career Concepts in Recovery from Addiction”
Other Studies in Progress
Nola Freeman, M.S. (Principal Investigator; PI) – “Attitudes and their Relationship to Disability and Transition Services"
Deborah Ebener, Ph.D. (PI) – “Religious/Spiritual Coping and Adaptation to Acquired Physical Disability”
Shelbi Fisher, M.S. (PI) – “Sensation-Seeking, Substance Use, and Academic Achievement in College Students with ADHD”
Deborah Ebener, Ph.D. (PI) – “Stress, Strengths, and Self-Evaluation in Adaptation to Acquired Physical Disability and Life Satisfaction”
Deborah Ebener, Ph.D. (PI) – “Telehealth vs. Face-to-Face ADHD Coaching for College Students”
Tyron Slack, M.S.W. (PI) – “Understanding the impact of racial microaggressions on Black students attending Predominantly White Institutions”
Shelbi Fisher, M.S. (PI) – “Understanding Coping Styles and Strategies for Sport-Related Anxiety”
Ebener, D., Crutchfield, D.A., Fisher, S., & Slack, T. (submitted). Virtues and character strengths in 12-step recovery literature. Journal of Positive Psychology.
Choi, D., & Avitia, M. (in press). James C. Kaufman 101: Two paths to creativity. In J. Ogunleye (Ed.), Celebrating giants and trailblazers: A-Z of who's who in creativity research and related fields. 2021 KIE Conference Publications.
Choi, D., & Kaufman, J. C. (in press). Respecting the invisible: Transactional and transformational approaches to giftedness, In R. J. Sternberg, D. Ambrose, & S. Karami (Eds.), Transformational giftedness: Identifying and developing gifted children who will make the world a better place. Palgrave-Macmillan.
Choi, D., Lynch, S. F., & Kaufman, J. C. (in press). Wisdom, creativity, and intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg & J. Glück (Eds.), Wisdom application. Cambridge University Press.
Kaufman, A. S., Choi, D., Kapoor, H., & Kaufman, J. C. (in press). A brief history of IQ testing: Fixed vs. malleable intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg, & D. Preiss (Eds.), Intelligence in context: The cultural and historical foundations of human intelligence. Palgrave-Macmillan.
Choi, D., & Kaufman, J. C. (2021). Where does creativity come from? What is creativity? Where is creativity going in giftedness? In R. J. Sternberg & D. Ambrose (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness and talents (pp. 65-81). Palgrave-Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56869-6_5
Pössel, P., Wood, T., & Roane, S. J. (2021). Are negative views of the self, world, and future mediators of the relationship between subjective social status and depressive symptoms? Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapy. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465821000394
Choi, D., Glăveanu, V. P., & Kaufman, J. C. (2020). Creativity models in contemporary psychology. In M. A. Runco & S. R. Pritzker (Eds.), Encyclopedia of creativity (3rd ed., pp. 268-274). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809324-5.23846-7
Gregerson, M., & Choi, D. (2019, June). An open letter to Henry Golding: “Everybody wants to be Us” and “I want a divorce”. The Amplifier Magazine. https://div46amplifier.com/2019/06/12/an-open-letter-to-henry-golding-everybody-wants-to-be-us-and-i-want-a-divorce/
Ebener, D., & Thorne, K. L. (2020). Psychosocial predictors of rural psychological help-seeking. Journal of Rural Health, 44(4), 232-242. https://doi.org/10.1037/rmh0000159
Romano, K., & Ebener, D. (2019). Disparities in psychological well-being based on women's subjective and objective eating disorder recovery statuses. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, 27(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2018.1477674
Fioramonti, D., Ebener, D., & Arrastia, M. (2019). Religious/spiritual involvement and beliefs, frequency of contact, and gender as predictors of attitudes toward persons with disabilities. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 62, 11. https://doi.org/10.1177/0034355217751625
Crutchfield, D. A., Jr., & Güss, C. D. (2018). Achievement linked to recovery from addiction: Discussing education, vocation, and non-addict identity. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 37(3), 359-376. https://doi.org/10.1080/07347324.2018.1544058
Thorne, K., & Ebener, D. (2018). The role of locus of control in the relation between post-traumatic stress and risk of suicide: Rural and urban implications. Rural Society, 25. https://doi.org/10.1080/10371656.2018.1504759
Dong, S., Fioramonti, D., Campbell, A., & Ebener, D. (2018). Validation of Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale in a college student sample. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2017.1360169
Ebener, D., Fioramonti, D., & Smedema, S. M. (2016). Career development in men with disabilities: A psychosocial perspective. Career Planning and Adult Development, 32(1), 120-129.
Ebener, D., & Smedema, S. M. (2016). Psychoeducational groups for college students with ADHD: A pilot study. VISTAS, Summer, 2-14. https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/vistas/the-effects-of-impairment.pdf?sfvrsn=6
Smedema, S. M., Ebener, D., & Grist, V. (2012). The impact of humorous media on attitudes toward persons with disabilities. Disability and Rehabilitation: An International, Multidisciplinary Journal, 34, 1431-1437. https://doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2011.645109
Ebener, D., & Smedema, S. M. (2011). Physical disability and substance use disorders: A convergence of adaptation and recovery. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 54(3), 131-141. https://doi.org/10.1177/0034355210394873
Choi, D. (2020, September 14-16). Conceptualization of creativity compared to problem-solving, imagination, innovation, giftedness, and expertise. In I. Lubuda (Chair), Genius and giftedness [Symposium]. Marconi Institute for Creativity Conference, Bologna, Italy (Online).
Choi, D. Schoonard, E., & Thompson, T. (2019, August 8-11). Phonological processing and math: Ages across 6-19 [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association (APA) Convention, Chicago, IL. (APA Division 16 School Psychology: Student Poster Award).
Choi, D. (2019, August 8-11). Developmental and multicultural creativity model: The linear and fluid Four C Model [Poster presentation]. APA Convention, Chicago, IL.
Greene, C., & Ebener, D. (2019, August 8-11). The relationship between dispositional optimism and risk propensity among college students. [Poster presentation]. APA Convention, Chicago, IL.
Heo, J., Choi, D., Pfeiffer, S. I., Gorfien, E., & Yarnell, J. (2019, August 8-11). The time when perceived parental support becomes a burden to K-12 students. [Poster presentation]. APA Convention, Chicago, IL.
Thompson, T., & Choi, D. (2019, August 8-11). The mothers and fathers of invention: A meta-analysis of gender differences in creativity [Poster presentation]. APA Convention, Chicago, IL.
Crutchfield, D. A., & Guess, D. G. (2018, August 9-12). Building non-addict identity: Educational/Vocational achievement linked to recovery from addiction [Poster presentation]. APA Convention, San Francisco, CA.
Eastman, P., & Ebener, D. (2017, August 3-6). Humor styles and attitudes toward disabilities. [Poster presentation]. APA Convention, Washington, DC.
Devlin, E., Ebener, D., Smedema, S., & Romano, K. (2016, August 4-7). ADHD and recovery from substance use disorders. [Poster presentation]. APA Convention, Denver, CO.
Fioramonti, D. L., & Ebener, D. (2015, March 11-15). Spirituality Salience as a Predictor of the Valance of Attitudes towards Persons with Disabilities. [Poster presentation]. American Counseling Association (ACA) Convention, Orlando, FL.
Smedema, S. M., Ebener, D. J., & Grist, V. (2010, April 6-10). The impact of humorous media on attitudes toward persons with disabilities. [Paper presentation]. National Council on Rehabilitation Education Convention, Manhattan Beach, CA.
Ebener, D. J., & Smedema, S. M. (2009, February 18-21). Rehabilitation counselor educators' ability to teach skills essential for professional practice. [Paper presentation]. National Council on Rehabilitation Education, San Antonio, TX.
Smedema, S. M., & Ebener, D. J. (2009, February 18-21). Substance abuse as a variable in psychosocial research. [Paper presentation]. National Council on Rehabilitation Education, San Antonio, TX.
Ebener, D. J., Leahy, M., Tarvydas, V., LaForge, J., & McQuade, L. (2001, March 15-20). Unification forum: History and direction of the alliance. [Poster presentation]. ACA Convention, San Antonio, TX.
Ebener, D. J., Falvo, D., Kampfe, C., & Smith, M. (2000, March). ARCA forum on aging and disability. [Conference session], ACA Convention, Washington, D.C.
Deborah J. Ebener, Ph.D.
Professor and Director of Clinical Training
Combined Doctoral Program in Counseling Psychology and School Psychology
Executive Director, Adult Learning Evaluation Center
1114 West Call Street
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306
