Wendy D'Andrea, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
My research focuses on the differences between acute trauma, such as an auto accident or single-incident assault, and chronic trauma, such as sustained physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. My lab investigates how information processes, especially attention and cognition, are impacted by prolonged trauma exposure and re-shaped through therapeutic interventions. I am also particularly interested in the physiological signature of chronic trauma, and the ways in which it differs from the signature of acute trauma. We use measures of autonomic reactivity such as heart rate, skin conductance, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), to investigate these differences. My other interests are in diagnostic nosology and phenomenology and psychotherapy process. When I’m not working, I love to dance and cook (sometimes at the same time).