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Dr. Susan Regas
Biography

Susan Regas, PhD is a Distinguished Professor & Chair of the Family/child and Couple Clinical Psychology Emphasis Area (FACE). FACE recently won the Couple and Family Diversity Program Award (2016) from American Psychological Association. Dr. Regas was awarded APA's James W. Maddock Award for Excellence in Teaching (2012). Courses that she teaches range from Family Psychology, to Treatment of Sex, Intimacy and Relationship Problems, to Person-of - the Therapist Training.

Dr. Regas is President-Elect of APA Division 43: Society of Couple and Family Psychology. She is also a fellow of Division 43. She is a member of the editorial board of Couple and Family Psychology: Research & Practice, PsycCRITIQUES and American Journal of Family Therapy.

Dr. Regas is also Co-founder and Director of Training of the Couple and Family Clinical Psychology Training Program at Pasadena, Los Angeles, Inland Empire and Stanford Ronald McDonald House (RMH). Trainees support families with children with life threatening illnesses. These families come from all over the world to get treatment at local hospitals. The Family Support Services program received the Hearts and Hands Awards: Expand Reach (2015) from the Global Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Professional Interests
  • Developing an integrated differentiation, attachment and nueroscience approach to  couple therapy
  • Supporting families with a child who has a serious illness or has died
  •  Therapist own experience of grief, loss and trauma and the impact it has in the way we help others who endured tragedy. 
  • The role of therapists’ emotional maturity and personal development plays in therapy effectiveness
  •  Psychologists own sexual, intimacy and relationship issues
  • The role relationship satisfaction plays in an individual physical health   
  •  Importance of feedback informed treatment 
  •  The role differentiation (solid self in connection, anxiety regulation, being non-reactive, tolerating pain for growth) plays in various cultures.
  •  Creating social justice training materials
  • The role infertility plays in relationships
  •  Research the best way to train clinicians.
Education and Certifications
  • PhD, Purdue University
Scholarship and Contributions to the Field
  • Regas, S. (2013). "Integrating therapeutic models and person of the therapist." The Family Psychologist, 29(2).
  • Regas, S., Doonan, R., Caffaro, J., & Bakaly, J. (2012). "Family systems practice in residential healthcare: A case for using a sibling-informed group intervention." GROUP: The Journal of the Eastern Group Psychotherapy, 35(4), 305-318.
  • Regas, S. (2011). "Are family psychologists prepared to deal with sexual issues?" The Family Psychologist, 27(2), 27-30.
  • Regas, S. J., Kostick, K. M., Bakaly, J. W., & Doonan, R. L. (2017). "Including the self-of-the-therapist in clinical training." Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 6(1), 18-31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cfp0000073
  • Regas, S. & Doonan, R. (2017). "Bowen Family Systems with couples." In J. L. Lebow, A. L. Chambers & D. C. Breunlin (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy.: doi:10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_360-1
  • Regas, S. & Doonan, R. (2017). David Schnarch. In J. L. Lebow, A. L. Chambers & D. C. Breunlin (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_839-1
  • Regas, S. (2016). "Truth in advertising: We must describe our couple and family psychology education and training accurately." The Family Psychologist, 32(1).
  • Regas, S. (2016). "The risks and rewards of being a couple and family psychologist." The Family Psychologist, 32(2).
  • Regas, S. (2016). "Put Your Mask on First." The Family Psychologist, 32(3).
  • Schnarch, D., & Regas, S. (2012). "Crucible Differentiation Scale (CDS): Assessing differentiation in human relationships." Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 38(4), 639- 652.