Richard “Dick” Abidin Early Career Award Winner: Amanda Sanchez, PhD

Richard “Dick” Abidin Early Career Award Winner: Amanda Sanchez, PhD

SCCAP is very pleased to present this year’s Richard “Dick” Abidin Early Career Award and Grant to Amanda Sanchez. The award honors Richard “Dick” Abidin, a longtime SCCAP member and treasurer, and recognizes an early career psychologist whose line of research has significantly contributed to our understanding of child and adolescent mental health. This award was developed to support recipients in extending their current program of research.

Dr. Sanchez is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at George Mason University, where her research focuses on improving access to, engagement in, and quality of mental health care for underserved youth and families, particularly youth of color and those from low-income backgrounds. A major focus of Dr. Sanchez’s recent work has been the development of the RESPECT Toolkit, a clinician resource designed to improve the cultural responsiveness of treatment for youth with anxiety and OCD. Her work has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and the International OCD Foundation.

As the Abidin Early Career Award winner, Dr. Sanchez will receive $20,000 from SCCAP to support her research. She plans to use the funds for a pilot hybrid implementation–effectiveness study to evaluate whether integrating structured cultural assessment into community mental health improves youth engagement and outcomes. The study will also generate implementation strategies to sustain the use of cultural assessment on a broader scale. This work builds on Dr. Sanchez’s NIMH-funded R36 dissertation project and will be conducted in collaboration with community mental health partners. Findings from this research will increase our understanding for how cultural assessment can influence case conceptualization and treatment planning and whether there are subsequent benefits to therapeutic alliance, treatment engagement, and youth outcomes.

Dr. Sanchez has authored or co-authored over 40 articles and book chapters. Her work has been honored with multiple awards, and she was selected for participation in the SCCAP Leadership Education to Advance Diversity (LEAD) Institute as a graduate student. She earned her Ph.D. from Florida International University and completed her clinical internship at University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center.