Human Centered Computing Systems 

for Mental Health Contexts

We are conducting research at the intersection of mental health treatment and computer science. Our project, Prolonged Exposure Collective Sensing System (PECSS) addresses some of the pressing clinical challenges inherent in PTSD therapy; it leverages ubiquitous computing, human computer interaction and machine learning. Our goal is to improve clinical delivery and patient practice during PTSD therapy.

PI: R.I. Arriaga, Co-PIs: A. M. Sherrill (Emory),  T. Ploetz (GT) & E. Hoque, U of Rochester; SP: Peter Presti (GT)

Representative Publications:

Using Sensor-Captured Patient-Generated Data to Support Clinical Decision-making in PTSD TherapyHI Evans, M Ryu, et al (CSCW1), 1-28 [4]

Perspectives on Integrating Trusted Other Feedback in Therapy for Veterans with PTSD HI Evans, et al CHI 2022 [3]

Veteran Critical Theory as a Lens to Understand Veterans' Needs and Support on Social Media J Zhou, et al, CHI 2022 [2]

Understanding the Care Ecologies of Veterans with PTSD HI Evans, et al CHI 2020 [1]

PECSS YouTube Channel

We are conducting research on the future of mental health work. This is at the intersection of clinician training and computer science. Our project, "Understanding the Ethics, Development, Design, and Integration of Interactive Artificial Intelligence Teammates in Future Mental Health Work"  addresses some of the pressing challenges inherent in training clinicians to conduct evidence based therapy. Our lab's goal is to use human centered computing techniques to design a computational system, called the Trustworthy, Explainable, and Adaptive Monitoring Machine for AI Teams (TEAMMAIT) that users perceive to be an objective, nonjudgmental, and confidential colleague who can provide individualized feedback over a period of time.

PI: A. M. Scherrill (Emory University), Co-PIs R. I. Arriaga (HCI Lead, GT), C. Wiese (Organizational Psych GT) and S. Abdullah (ML Lead, Penn State)


PhD STUDENTS

Hayley Evans, PhD 2022

User-Centered Interfaces to Support Clinical  Decision-Making and Patient Engagement [1, 3-4] see video

Scott Appling, HCC PhD

Topic: Understanding PTSD self-disclosure on Social Media

Myeonghan, CS PhD

Topic: Novel Interfaces for  PTSD Therapy

MS STUDENT PROJECTS

MS-HCI 2022-23

Abhinav Thukral, 

"Facilitating the Use of Smartphone Photography to Aid Psychotherapy"

see video 

MS-HCI 2021-22

Catherine Deeter, CPT US Army

"The Social Sensing System: Proposing a Supportive Input to the Prolonged Exposure Collective Sensing System" [1]

See Video

MS-HCI 2020

Elaine Schertz, Hue Watson, Ashok Krishna

Bridging the Gap: Creating a Clinician-Facing Dashboard for PTSD 


NOTABLE UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS

Chuyi "Rachel" Chen, 

"Image Usage in Prolonged Exposure Collective Sensing System App"

08/2023, see video

Chunhao Zhou, 12/2022, see video

"Usability study of ImageScape Integration into PECSS"

President Undergraduate Research Award (PURA)

Feilian "Wade" Huang

"Investigating if the PECSS mobile application is usable to proxy users"

12/2022, see video

Kenneth Akers, 

"Incorporating wearable activity tracking into Prolonged Exposure Treatment for PTSD"

04/2022, see video

Fall 2023

Helen Fellows 2022-24

Elizabeth Salisbury

Muni Bundi

PECSS Research Alum

Varnit Jain MS-HCI (2020-21)

 GVU Distinguished 

Masters Student Award 


Marshall D. Williamson Fellowship Graduate Student Award



Undergraduates

John Kerrison, Sp 23

Elizabeth Salisbury Sp 23-Fall 23

Muni Bundi Sp 23-Fall 23

Zhaodong Kang, Sp 23

Yan Zhou Huang Sp 23-Fall 23

Tony Tu, Fall 23

Eduardo Fajardo, Sp 22

Pranathi Reddy, Fa21-Sp22

Chiche Tsai, Fa 21-Sp 22 

Ken Akers, Sp21-Fa21

David Mayernich, Fa 21

Yingkang Lou, Fa 21

Barton Harris, Summer 21

Jack Fratto, Fa 20

Shreya Varshini Fa 20

Cole Anderson Fa 20

Ha Dang Fa 20

Heather Whittaker Fa 20

Marcus Wilder fa20-Sp22

Adam Hayward fa20-Sp22

Aravind Vengarai, Sp. 2020

Theresa Hsieh fa19-Sp 22


  


MS Students

Jerry Chen, Sp 23

Jialuo Yang, Sp 23

Hao Yuan Sp&Smr 23

Catherine Deeter, 2021

Theresa Hsieh , 2019-21

Deven Bansod, fa 2019

Post-Bacc

Kaely Hall fa19/sp20