Elaine Clark, Ph.D.
Current Position
Professor and Director of Training, School Psychology
Adjunct Associate Professor,
Psychiatry and Psychology
Education
PhD, Educational/School Psychology, Michigan State University
PhD, Clinical Psychology,
Brigham Young University
EdS/MS, School Psychology,
Michigan State University
MS, Educational Psychology
Michigan State University
License
Psychologist, State of Utah
UT-112748250
Grant Actitvity
Biography
Elaine Clark is a Professor and Director of Training of the School Psychology program. Dr. Clark, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA; Division 16) has dedicated her career to the preparation of school psychologists and psychologists to provide services to individuals who have significant educational, social, and psychological challenges as a result of neurodevelopmental disorders and acquired disability, in particular, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Dr. Clark has secured substantial funding from the U.S. Department of Education to prepare both masters and doctoral School Psychology students with expert knowledge and skill in state of the art assessment methods to identify disability and related problems and empirically-based interventions for behavioral and social problems. She is a co-author of a program for children with ASD, Superheroes Social Skills, and provides supervision of students and interns using this and other treatment programs. She also regularly supervises psychology interns and post-doctoral fellows at the University Neuropsychiatric Institute where she has held a position for more than 20 years. Dr. Clark has served as president of the Utah Association of School Psychologists (UASP) and APA’s Division 16 and has been a member of several state and national boards and committees including UASP, the Utah Psychological Association, the Brain Injury Association of Utah (BIAU), the APA Board of Professional Affairs, Society for the Study of School Psychology (SSSP), and the Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs (CDSPP). These and other contributions have been recognized by these and other organizations, including Distinguished Service awards from Division 16 of APA as well as UASP, BIAU, and CDSPP.
Research Interests
Dr. Clark’s primary research interests include sex differences and psychiatric comorbidity of ASD as well as behavioral and social skills interventions with children and adolescents who have ASD and other disabilities including TBI and severe emotional disturbance and behavior disorders. Recent investigations include studies of males and females with ASD who have associated mental health problems. Other ongoing studies include investigations of the Superheroes Social Skills program for increasing social engagement of children with ASD and Rethink Autism’s web-based applied behavior analysis program for teaching parents skills to increase their child’s communication skills and improve behaviors and ASD symptoms.