- Home
- Academics
- Our Faculty
- Elissa Brown
Professor
Educational Background
Ph.D. 1996, University at Albany, Clinical Psychology
M.A. 1996, University at Albany, Clinical Psychology
B.S. 1990, University of Pennsylvania Psychology, American History
Teaching
Courses Taught at St. John’s University
Evidence Based Intervention
Clinical Psychology Assessment and Intervention Practicum
School Psychology Therapy Practicum
Research
Dr. Brown’s work focuses on developing, evaluating, and disseminating therapies for children who have experienced trauma, particularly interpersonal violence, and bereavement related traumatic circumstances, such as the World Trade Center attack on September 11th, 2001.
I will taking students into my lab next year.
Biography
Dr. Brown is Professor of Psychology and Executive Director of the Child HELP (Heal, Empower, Learn, Prevent) Partnership at St. John’s University. Her primary clinical and research interests include the prevention and treatment of child trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder. She has participated in research on the assessment and treatment of sexual assault, child physical abuse, and bereavement related to traumatic circumstances (such as September 11th, 2001). Dr. Brown has received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, New York State Office of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Department of Justice, and Private Foundations to evaluate treatments for traumatized children and adolescents, many of whom are from culturally diverse and economically disadvantaged populations. She is the Director of a Category III affiliate site of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, housed at Child HELP Partnership. She is co-developer of Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, a treatment for family conflict and physical abuse and a certified trainer of Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, a treatment for traumatized youth and their non-offending caregivers. Dr. Brown is a member of several national and international organizations dedicated to improving mental health services for traumatized children and has served on the Board of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.
Recent Publications
Brown, E. J., Goodman, R. F., Cohen, J. A., Mannarino, A., & Chaplin, W. F. (online 2019). Treatment for child-caregiver dyads who experienced bereavement from terrorism: A comparison of cognitive-behavioral and client-centered therapies. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma.
Walsh, C. K., Babad, S., Brown, E. J., Castillo, B. K., & Nikulina, V. (in press). Why women are not talking about it: Reasons for nondisclosure of sexual victimization and associated symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. Violence against Women.
Happer, K. & Brown, E. J. (summer, 2018). Helping children after traumatic events: The nuts and bolts. Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology Newsletter, 35(1).
Gilhooly, T., Bergman, A., Stieber, J, & Brown, E. J. (2018). Posttraumatic stress disorder, family environment, and substance use disorder: The relationship among emerging adults. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 27(3), 196-209.
Brown, E. J., Goodman, R. F., Falk, S., & Swiecicki, C. C. (2018, online). Psychometric of the PTSD and Depression Screener for Bereaved Youth. Death Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2018.1432719
Happer, K., Brown, E. J., & Sharma-Patel, K. (2017). Children’s resilience and trauma-specific cognitive behavioral therapy: Comparing resilience as an outcome, a trait, and a process. Child Abuse & Neglect, 73, 30–41.
Tebbett, A., Brown, E. J., & Chaplin, W. (2017). Caregiver report of child symptoms predicts attrition in abuse-specific cognitive behavioral therapies. Child Maltreatment, 23(1), 54-62.
Nikulina, V., Bautista, A., & Brown, E. J. (2016). Negative responses to disclosure of sexual victimization and victims’ symptoms of PTSD and depression: The protective role of ethnic identity. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516676475
Sharma-Patel, K., & Brown, E. J. (2016). Emotion regulation and self-blame as mediators and moderators of trauma-specific treatment. Psychology of Violence, 6 (3), 400-409.
Meca, A., Ritchie, R. A., Beyers, W., Schwartz, S. J., Picariello, S., Zamboanga, B. L., Hardy, S. A., Luyckx, K., Kim, S. Y., Whitbourne, S. K., Crocetti, E., & Brown, E. J. (2015). Aspects of identity and psychosocial functioning: A person-centered approach. Self and Identity, 3 (5), 327-339.
Rivera, P. M., Gonales-Backen, M. A., Yedlin, J., Brown, E. J., Schwartz, S. J., Caraway, S. J., & Ham, L. S. (2015). Family violence and sexual risk-taking among Latino emerging adults: Role of posttraumatic stress symptoms and acculturative stress. Journal of Family Violence, 30 (8), 967-976.
Recent Scientific Papers and Presentations
Lee, A. H., Chaplin, W. F., Brown, E. J., & Bernard, K. (2019, March). Examining differences in rates of receptive vocabulary growth between maltreated and demographically comparable non-maltreated youth. Poster session presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD.
Brown, E. J., Rodriguez, V. M., Lee, A. H., Jimenez-Salazar, M., & Sharma-Patel, K. (2018, November). Results from a randomized controlled trial of community-based trauma-specific CBT for Black and Latino families. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Washington, DC.
Canter, M. F., Faber, A., Butler, K. G., Marques, J., Beekman, L., & Brown, E. J. (2018, November). Findings from a pilot pre- post study of a psychoeducational program with Latino caregivers to prevent abuse and bullying. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Washington, DC.
Huntt, J. S., Lombera, A., Sharma-Patel, K., & Brown, E. J. (2018, November). The moderating role of maltreatment type in the relationship between trauma severity and children’s trauma-specific attributions. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Washington, DC.
Lombera, A., Brown, E. J., & Goodman, R. F. (2018, November). Psychometrics of the PTSD and Depression Screener for Bereaved Youth Caregiver Report. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Washington, DC.
Sharma-Patel, K., Lee, A. H., Lombera, A., & Brown, E. J. (2018, November). Associations among emotion regulation, physiological reactivity, and posttraumatic stress symptoms in children with interpersonal trauma histories: a preliminary investigation. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Washington, DC.
Sharma-Patel, K., Nooner, K., Oathes, D., Brown, L., & Brown, E. J. (2018, November). Integrating physiological tools and technology into CBT prevention and treatment outcome research. Panel presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Washington, DC.
Goodman, R. F., & Brown, E. J. (2018, April). Children don’t grieve alone: Models of intervention for families. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, Pittsburgh, PA.
Butler, K. G., Brown, E. J., Canter, M. F., & Oliviera, L. B. (2018, April). Child abuse preventative programming for marginalized communities. Poster presented at the annual Student Research Day at St. John’s University, Queens, NY.
Huntt, J. S., Brown, E. J., & Sharma-Patel, K. (2017, November). Associations between caregiver and child symptomatology in the aftermath of child sexual abuse: The role of parenting. Poster session presented at the 51st Annual Convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, San Diego, CA.
Lee, A. H., Brown, E. J., Rodriguez, V. C., Jimenez, M. & Sharma-Patel, K. (2017, November). Trauma-Specific CBT among minority youth and caregivers: Demographic predictors of treatment initiation and retention. Poster presented at the annual convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, San Diego, CA.
Costa, M., Stahl, T., Brown, E. J., & Del Vecchio, T. (2017, November). Influence of perpetrator blame attributions on conduct problems in maltreated youth: The role of relationship to the perpetrator. Poster presented at the 51st annual convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, San Diego, CA.
Francis, M. M., Brown, E. J., Costa, M., Lee, J., Lombera, A., & Goodman, R. (2016, October) Parenting practices as a protective factor for the impact of caregiver symptomology on child internalizing. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
Brown, E. J., Schneiderman, M., Smith, K., Konigsberg, M., & Grice, C. (2016, October). Disseminating evidence-based practices in the New York City foster care system: A discussion of successes, barriers, and lessons learned. Panel presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
Brown, E. J. (2016, October). Dissemination of evidence-based practices for children: Real world outcomes in real world settings. Chair of symposium presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
Ross, S., Brown, E. J., & Sharma-Patel, K. (2016, October). Treatment of complex trauma reactions for chronically traumatized youth receiving Trauma-Specific CBT: Preliminary results of an open trial in a community-based clinic. Paper presented as part of symposium titled Dissemination of evidence-based practices for children: Real world outcomes in real world settings presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
Brown, E. J., Rodriguez, V., Jimenez, M. C., & Sharma-Patel, K. (2016, October). Preliminary findings from a community-based randomized trial of Alternatives for Families: A CBT for family violence. Paper presented as part of symposium titled Dissemination of evidence-based practices for children: Real world outcomes in real world settings presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
Sarig, N., Stieber J., Brown E. J., & Bergman A. (2016, October). The relationship between family environment and PTSD, depression, and substance use in emerging adults. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
Canter, M. F., Brown, E. J., & Beekman, L. (2016, October). Findings from an abuse and bullying prevention program for professionals and parents. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
Falk, S., Lee, J., Sharma-Patel, K., Lombera, A., Brown, E. J. (2016, October). Symptomatology of victims of child sexual abuse differentiated by perpetrator type. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY
Happer, K., Canter, M., Sharma-Patel, K., & Brown, E. J. (2016, October). The Moderating Role of Treatment Delay on Resilience and Externalizing Symptoms among Maltreated Youth. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
Happer, K., Costa, M., Grice, C., Sharma-Patel, K., & Brown, E. J. (2016, October). Educating graduate students in assessing and reporting child maltreatment: Results from a single workshop. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York NY.
Costa, M., Stahl, T., Brown, E. J., & Del Vecchio, T. (2016, October). Influence of perpetrator blame attributions on conduct problems in maltreated youth. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
Goodman, R. F., & Brown, E. J. (2016, January). Two programs to promote resilience of bereaved parents. Workshop presented at the 2nd International Conference on Loss, Bereavement & Human Resilience, Eilat, Israel.