Low and Middle Income Countries

Devon Sandel-Fernandez is a clinical science PhD candidate at UC Berkeley conducting research on impulsivity and risk behaviors as they unfold across time, including self-harm and suicidal behaviors. She aims to use digital mental health tools to develop and implement interventions which help people avoid engaging in behaviors they later regret. She has conducted numerous studies using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and self-monitoring data from therapy to build person-specific models of symptoms dynamics including self-harm, substance use, and suicide attempts. She has also contributed to the development of digital interventions for aggression and self-harm. Devon received a Graduate Certificate in Applied Data Science from the UC Berkeley School of Information.

 

Devon is currently completing her clinical psychology internship in Seattle at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. She provides care informed by cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and integrates digital tools to gather data, inform individualized treatment and monitor progress. She has worked with adolescents, families, and adults across university clinic, academic medical center, and VA hospital settings.

 

Beyond research and clinical work, Devon is passionate about teaching psychology and methods courses and has won awards for teaching at UC Berkeley, was a Graduate Remote Instruction Innovation Fellow, and received the Extraordinary Teaching in Extraordinary Times Award for course redesign for remote instruction.