About Me

Sara Tedrick Parikh, PhD

I’m Dr. Parikh, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology & Counseling at Caldwell University. I earned a BA in Psychology with Honors at The University of Akron in Ohio and a PhD in Counseling Psychology at Purdue University in Indiana, with an internship with the Minnesota Department of Corrections’ women’s facility in Shakopee, MN. Learn more about my professional interests on each page below. Outside of work, I enjoy exploring with my husband, bickering with my guinea pigs, playing board/card games with family and friends, learning about art history, knitting boring scarves, and creating amigurumi (crocheted toys).

Research

My professional interest areas include grief and loss, social support, empathy, college student development, and multicultural issues. These interests are reflected in my current project on Nepali international students’ experiences on U.S. campuses during the 2015 Nepal earthquakes. Learn more about current research projects.

My undergraduate thesis focused on people’s attitudes about gains and losses. For example, people will generally work harder to avoid a loss than to achieve a gain; that’s why the salesperson wants you to hold the item and think of it as yours! In grad school, I worked on Dr. Heather Servaty-Seib’s grief and loss research team (https://griefandlossrt.wordpress.com/). I worked with Dr. Servaty-Seib on several projects related to grieving college students. I was particularly interested in the paradox that students want and need support from their peers, but typically report that other students “don’t get it,” ignore their grief, or give hurtful advice instead of listening supportively. College peers either do not understand the need for support or would like to offer support but do not seem to know how. From a developmental perspective, early college students may not have the cognitive and emotional skills they need to imagine what the griever is experiencing and to contain the sadness and anxiety involved in talking about grief. My dissertation focused on learning about what keeps students from listening supportively to grieving peers, in hopes of finding ways to reduce barriers and increase support.

Teaching

I currently teach undergraduate courses related to psychology foundations (General Psychology I and II) and research (Psychological Statistics). In the future, I plan to teach more classes related to research (Experimental Psychology) and some classes related to other interests and experiences, such as Cross-cultural Psychology, Positive Psychology, Forensic Psychology, Psychology of Women, Career Counseling, and Psychology of Adulthood. I am also interested in opportunities to develop undergraduate courses that emphasize listening and helping skills

Outreach

I’ve always had an interest in outreach and prevention. I have presented on coping with loss for Big-Little matches with Big Brothers Big Sisters (and have volunteered as a Big Sister). I’ve also done talks about grieving children and families for parents whose children were attending grief-focused day camps. A colleague and I created handouts to tailor a self-assessment of gains and losses after a significant life event for cancer survivors and their families; people often find it a relief to express the many secondary losses, such as loss of physical abilities or career progress, and are pleasantly surprised to notice gains, such as quality of family relationships or spirituality. I continue to look for ways to educate and empower community members to heal and grow after loss.

Clinical work

I also enjoy clinical work, although I am not currently practicing anywhere. During my internship, I worked one-on-one with several incarcerated women whose mental health concerns focused on issues related to grief and death losses. Most grievers, however, do not need or want individual therapy; grief support groups are often the best treatment option. . In grad school, I worked closely with the By Remembering I Develop and Grow (BRIDGe) grief support program for families. During my internship, I learned that incarcerated grievers frequently have a long history of complex losses, and incarceration itself adds many barriers to grief, such as missing the funeral and being unable to express emotion freely. Even acts of grieving like spending time with family, playing special songs, or creating a scrapbook may be difficult or impossible in prison. Using research reports including interviews with incarcerated grievers, I developed a grief group that addressed many common issues for incarcerated grievers and offered them ways to express grief within their facility. Running groups is my absolute favorite professional activity, and I hope to be able to participate in grief groups again in the future.