Lab Alumni

Shantel Horne graduated with her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from UCCS in 2026. She joined Dr. Mahoney’s Mixed Methods Promoting Wellness and Recovery Lab (MPWR) in Fall 2021 as an undergraduate research assistant and matriculated to the M.A. in clinical psychology program in 2023. Under the direction of Dr. Mahoney, she completed her undergraduate honors thesis on associations between trauma-related shame, PTSD, and health risk behaviors among women interpersonal trauma survivors. Her populations of interest include women and LGBTQ+ individuals who have experienced interpersonal trauma. Through research and clinical practice, she hopes to improve evidence-based practice and interventions for these populations while exploring emerging approaches such as dance and movement therapy. She is also interested in coping mechanisms, co-occurring PTSD and substance use, the impact trauma-related psychopathology may have on interpersonal relationships, trauma-related shame, and dismantling intersectional barriers to service-seeking among trauma-exposed populations. Shantel is currently a therapist at Walls Counseling in Colorado Springs, CO.

Christina graduated with her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from UCCS in 2025. Christina is interested in investigating the effectiveness of current PTSD treatments, specifically on victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) and military sexual trauma (MST). Additionally, she would like to explore internal and external barriers that victims of IPV and MST encounter when seeking help and how these affect victims’ help-seeking behaviors. She is now a Ph.D. student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Central Florida under the mentorship of Dr. Amie Newins.

Ellie graduated with her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from UCCS in 2026. As an undergraduate she worked with Dr. Diana Selmeczy to conduct her honor’s thesis on the role of active help-seeking in supporting memory and Dr. Kristen Rudd to complete an independent project on how intergenerational trauma impacts children’s executive functioning development. As a master’s student, she has pursued several independent projects under Dr. Mahoney, including her thesis which investigates the role of emotional invalidation in predicting emotion dysregulation and psychosocial functioning in adults exposed to intimate partner violence during childhood. Broadly, she aims to support women and children survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and/or childhood maltreatment through mixed method and community-engaged approaches to inform prevention, intervention, and policy efforts. Additionally, she hopes to emphasize marginalized perspectives in her work to increase access to care and treatment efficacy within diverse populations. Ellie is now a Ph.D. student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Denver under the mentorship of Dr. Anne DePrince.

Riley completed her BA in Psychology at Colorado College. She joined Dr. Mahoney’s Mixed Methods Promoting Wellness and Recovery lab in May of 2024. Riley’s undergraduate thesis explored the effects of shared laughter on romantic couples’ use of constructive relationship maintenance strategies during conflict resolution. She is broadly interested in family systems, interpersonal/relational work, emotion regulation/communication, and both women and LGBTQ+ specific issues. Riley has previous experience as an undergraduate clinical intern at a DV/IPV non-profit and currently works as a Case Manager at a community-based mental health organization in Denver. Riley hopes to use her clinical and research experiences to find ways to make mental health care more diverse, inclusive, and accessible for underserved and vulnerable communities. Riley is a Ph.D. student in the Counseling Psychology program at Marquette University.