contact us

Use the form on the right to contact us.

You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right.​

2810 Old Main Hill
Logan UT 84322
US

435-797-8282

The Culture & Mental Health Lab is currently comprised of graduate students in the combined Clinical, Counseling, School Psychology doctoral program at Utah State University and undergraduate students in the Psychology Department. Lab members are engaged in independent research in an interdependent context. Project content is in parenting, cultural values, microaggressions, and evidence-based interventions. Students are expected to be productive as a result of independent motivation and commitment, engaged mentoring, and proactive collaboration and support from a talented peer group as well as from family and loved ones.

About Us

 

The Creators

 

Shari Linares

Shari Linares (she/her/ella) is an Honors alumni at Utah State University and previous PsiChi member with a major in Psychology and minors in Sociology and Mental Health Advocacy and Awareness. She graduated with her Bachelor’s in Spring of 2023. Her research focuses mainly on the experiences people of color face and making space for these conversations, as well as working closely with doctoral students and her mentor Dr. Melanie Domenech-Rodríguez on a variety of projects within this field. She was also a part of Latinos in Action that strives to support and advocate for Latinx students at the college, high school, and middle school level. She hopes to go into clinical psychology in the future and work within the mental health field. She currently has two positions within the university, her research assistant position in the department of Psychology with Dr. Melanie Domenech-Rodríguez, and is a member of the Human Protections Department for the Internal Review Board.

Outside of her academic life, Shari loves to be outdoors whether she be swimming, hiking, skiing, or discovering new places, and she also loves to cook and garden. Spending quality time with family and friends is very important to Shari. 

Shari is a first generation bicultural Latina and was born and raised in Logan Utah, with roots in Ecuador and Guatemala. Shari is very passionate about her work within psychology and is excited for what the future holds on this path. 

dr. Melanie Domenech Rodríguez

Dr. Domenech Rodríguez’s (she/her/ella) work addresses health disparities through scholarship, teaching/training, and mentorship. Her scholarship on cultural adaptations of evidence-based interventions addresses health disparities in access, acceptability, and effectiveness of treatment for ethnic and culturally diverse people. The work on cultural adaptations spans the gamut from specific trials, to advances in theory development, to meta-analytic examination of impacts of cultural adaptations on treatment effectiveness.

She has also improved accessibility to training in evidence-based interventions for providers working with ethnic and culturally diverse clients. Her courses in multiculturalism and diversity prepare psychologists entering the workforce from the undergraduate or graduate level to attend to diversity and equity in their professional pursuits. Her approach to teaching/training systematic and evidence-based.

Dr. Domenech Rodríguez has advanced an agenda to reduce health disparities through leadership. Specifically, she is chair of the Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Participants in Research, is a past president of the National Latinx Psychological Association, and a past president of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology.



 

The Team

Tori Dehlin (she/her) will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology in Spring 2024. Tori is currently serving as the Psi Chi president at Utah State University. She previously graduated Magna Cum Laude with Honors Bachelor of Arts degrees in Spanish and Global Communication as well as a minor in Psychology in Spring 2019.

Tori has presented her research at the Student Research Symposium at Utah State University, the LPCS Student Research Symposium, Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research, and the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Tori studied abroad for an academic year through the Fundación program in La Rioja, Spain in 2016-2017. During this time, she taught English classes to native Spanish speakers and focused on her studies of Spanish culture, literature, and language. Her research interests include developmental psychology, particularly in multicultural contexts. Following her graduation, she plans to pursue a doctorate degree in developmental psychology.

Outside of her academic life, Tori is the mother to a rambunctious toddler, an aspiring Master Chef, and a home renovation and DIY expert.

Amand L. Hardiman

Amand (he/him) is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Utah State University (USU). His research interests explore the social motivations of minoritized communities in diverse contexts (e.g., sport, education, and religious environments). Specifically, he uses a systems and intersectionality lens to investigate how organizations and leaders foster a sense of belonging for groups that vary across race, gender, and social class.

Amand is a Diversity Fellow for the Office of President Cockett and the Office of Graduate Studies. Additionally, he is a founding member of the Graduate Students of Color Association (GSCA) and serving on several diversity committees at both the department and university level. Before pursuing his doctoral studies at USU, Amand obtained his Master of Education in Higher Education Administration and Bachelor of Science in Sport Management at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Alongside his academic endeavors, Amand has experience in coaching basketball at the high school and college level and is currently running his LearnYou Academy, which focuses on skill development, identity development and academic enrichment in youth sport. He is a children’s book author, co-authoring Adam: A story about roots, racism, and friendship and is an aspiring motivational speaker. 


 

Elizabeth Grace wong

Elizabeth Grace Wong (she/her) is a fourth year PhD student in Utah State University & Combined Clinical/Counselling Psychology Program, supervised by Dr. Renee V. Galliher. She is interested in identity development and multicultural psychology, and particularly, how spiritual/religious LGBTQ+ BIPOC individuals experience a positive sense of self in the everyday. She is one of the founding members of the Graduate Students of Colour Association and a Fellow for the Center for Intersectional Gender Studies & Research at USU. Elizabeth pursued her HBSc in Psychology and MA in Women & Gender Studies at the University of Toronto.

She is 1.5 generation Chinese-Canadian, and lived in Vancouver, Hong Kong, Basel, and Toronto, before coming to Logan. Resilience, healing, embodiedness, and love are the very core to what she cares about.

Niyonta Chowdury-Magana

My name is Niyonta Nahia Chowdhury-Magana (she/her; they/them) and I am a queer first-gen Muslim-Panentheist Bangladeshi expat in the US straight outta Dhaka. I am a researcher, community organizer, policy activist, traveler, writer, artist, musician, friend, daughter, love partner, a Psychology doctoral student, and many other things as we all are in our daily lives. I like nature, radical joy, equity, self-care, and animals.  








 

Benjamin juarez

Hi, I am Ben (he/him)! I am proud to be a Muslim first-generation student, born to Guatemalan parents. I was raised in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California.

I am in the Combined Clinical/Counseling PhD specialization at Utah State University. I am part of the Culture & Mental Health Lab group, with Dr. Melanie Domenech Rodríguez as my mentor. I obtained my master’s in clinical psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University in Malibu.

My clinical and research interests are understanding best therapy practices to build wellness in multicultural refugee and immigrant populations. After completing my doctorate, I hope to attend law school and specialize in immigration law. I am passionate about uplifting for refugee and immigrant mental wellness and protecting their civil liberties and human rights.

Outside of my academic work, I am an artist! I love photography, writing screenplays, customizing shoes with paint, and making mixtapes for loved ones! I enjoy long-distance running as it keeps me grounded and connected with the earth. I love animals and hope to have a cow sanctuary in the future.

Lesther papa

Dr. Lesther Papa (he/him) is an assistant professor at San Jose State University in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. He is a Filipnx-American from Hawaii. His research focuses on the experiences of racial and ethnic microaggressions (REMAs) and was inspired by his experiences of moving to the continetal US.  He focuses on studying REMAs in higher education and has developed the BIPOC and Minoritized People's Mental Health Lab (BIPOC MPMH Lab), which now includes research on the use of pronouns and colorism in Filipinx communities. His research is primarily geared toward studying the negative impacts on marginalized people to inform healing interventions, such as Heart2Heart. He believes that understanding is the best way to healing and is proud to be part of this endeavor.

In addition, Dr. Papa also teaches classes for undergraduate and graduate students and supports student and university organizations.