The Alliance & Suicide Prevention lab is headed by Dr. Marc Karver. Our lab’s primary research interest is the evaluation and improvement of the quality of mental health services, mainly in suicide prevention. Our research aims to better understand barriers to help seeking/adequate mental health service provision, what increases suicide/self-harm risk, how one can intervene to reduce suicide risk, how to increase the coping and supportive abilities of at-risk individuals and their family members, and how to transform the larger services system so that it is more capable of identifying, assessing, and managing suicide risk and making sure that at risk individuals are linked to (via care coordination) and maintained in evidence based treatment (e.g. CBT, DBT). Another facet of our research focuses on understanding the relationships formed between a clinician/therapist and their client throughout the intervention process and the role these relationships serve in the success of interventions. As little literature has been published regarding alliance building behaviors specifically with youth and how these behaviors differ based on age, our lab seeks to fill this gap by investigating how therapists/clinicians can form therapeutic alliance with youth and how these behaviors may vary based on a child’s developmental stage. In our research, we have examined the potential effectiveness of approaches to suicide, service mechanisms, and relationships formed between a clinician and their client throughout the intervention process as well as the role these relationships serve in the success of interventions. Collaboration is an integral part of our research: we are currently working on multiple cross-site federal grants with partners Dr. Kimberly Gryglewicz (UCF), Dr. Sonyia Richardson (UNC Charlotte), and Dr. Nate von der Embse (USF). The goal of the work done in our lab is ultimately to evaluate mental health prevention and intervention services to at risk populations and improve the quality of mental health services. We are also involved in a variety of mental health-related campus events as well as student organizations such as A Life worth Living (ALL).  

Dr. Marc Karver is currently recruiting a graduate student for the Fall 2024 cycle.