In our lab, we examine the social-cognitive basis of psychiatric disorders in youth, with a special focus on personality pathology and disorders of attachment. Our research falls most clearly under the domain of “social systems and processes” in the NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative and focus on constructs such as understanding others, understanding self, and attachment. We work in Houston and in South Africa. Our research also includes a translational focus as we work towards the development of constructs and measures at multiple levels of analyses to facilitate the early identification and treatment of personality pathology and other problems related to attachment disruption. We use a variety of methods in our research, including behavioral experiments, functional neuroimaging and survey methods. Our overall goal is to help strengthen relationships, thereby strengthening communities.

The lab is run by Dr. Carla Sharp. Funding sources have included the NICHD, NIMH, NIAAA, the NIH Centers for AIDS Research, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, NARSAD, the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation, the American Psychoanalytic Association, UH Small Grants Program, UH GEAR program, and the McNair Family Foundation.

Lab News

• • September 2024: Congratulations to Bree Cervantes for receiving the Texas Psychological Association’s Award for the Diversity Student Paper Award! Congrats Bree!
    
  • September 2024: Congratulations to Madeleine Allman for receiving the Texas Psychological Foundation Honoree Award! Congrats Maddie!
    
  • August 2024: Congratulations to our incoming student, Jess LaRocca! We are happy to have you here with us Jess!
    
  • July 2024: Congratulations to Kennedy Balzen who successfully defended her master’s thesis!
    
  • June 2024: Congratulations to Tess Gecha who successfully defended her master’s thesis!
    
  • May 2024: Congratulations to Kiran Boone for receiving the University of Houston Clinical Psychology Program First Year Award!
    
  • May 2024: Congratulations to Madeleine Allman for receiving the University of Houston Clinical Psychology Program Research Excellence Award!
    
  • March 2024: Congratulations to Sophie Kerr who matched for internship!
    
  • December 2023: Congratulations to Bree Cervantes who successfully defended her master’s thesis!
    
  • August 2023: Congratulations to Maddie Allman who was awarded an NIH F31 Fellowship Award to support her dissertation entitled “A Mixed Method Evaluation of the Implementation of a Caregiver Intervention for Mothers Who Have Survived Intimate Partner Violence: The Mediational Intervention for Sensitizing Caregivers.” Congrats Maddie!”
  • August 2023: Congratulations to Kiran Boone for joining our lab in the fall as a first-year graduate student!
  • March 2023: Congratulations to Bree who successfully proposed her master’s thesis!
  • October 2022: The University promotes our newly funded R21 study. Read the article here: https://research.uh.edu/reaching-houston/stories/asking-why-black-youth-die-by-suicide/
  • September 2022: Dr. Sharp is interviewed on the Speaking of Psychology podcast by the American Psychology Association. View it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s-CrPGKSY8
  • September 2022: Dr. Sharp publishes a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMra2120164?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed

Books Co-authored by Dr. Sharp

"A Special Offer from Guilford Press: Save 20% off “Mentalizing in Psychotherapy” with Promotion Code AF2E!"