Sara Elkins, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology,
College of Human Sciences and Humanities
Contact number: 281-283-3315
Email: elkins@uhcl.edu
Office: Bayou 2529.06
Biography
Sara Elkins, Ph.D., is director of the Clinical Psychology Master’s Program and an
associate professor within the Health Service Psychology PsyD Program. She earned
her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Tennessee and completed
a pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine,
Texas Children's Hospital.
Dr. Elkins directs the Parenting and Youth Behavior Research (PYBR) Lab. Her program
of research focuses on parenting behavior and parent-child interactions in relation
to externalizing problems such as aggression, oppositionality and ADHD. The lab conducts
idiographic outcome studies of parent management training (PMT), emphasizing 1) understanding
sequences of change in PMT and 2) creating adaptations to increase parent acceptability
(e.g., value-based parent management training, technology-enhancements to increase
access to care).
Clinically, Dr. Elkins has experience conducting cognitive and behavioral interventions
with adults, teens and children. Her clinical specialty areas include PMT interventions
for child disruptive behaviors, CBT treatment of child and adolescent anxiety and
mood disorders, and behavioral treatments for adjustment, adherence, and coping with
pediatric health conditions.
Dr. Elkins is committed to mentoring graduate student researchers in the master's
Clinical Psychology and doctoral Health Service Psychology programs, supporting their
development as independent scholars and practitioners. She runs an active research
lab, routinely publishing and presenting with students. Dr. Elkins has supervised
students at the master’s, doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral level. She approaches
mentoring needs from a developmental model that provides scaffolded training appropriate
to individual needs, and that appreciates a range of values, experiences, and cultural
differences.
See her curriculum vitae for more information and a link to the lab website. She will
be accepting doctoral students for the 2022-2023 academic year (application year 2021).
Curriculum Vitae