The Student View

Introducing Student Representative Lauren Milgram & a Focus on Student Mentorship

The Student View

Introducing Student Representative Lauren Milgram & a Focus on Student Mentorship

By Lauren Milgram, MS
SCCAP Student Representative

Members of the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (SCCAP) share the common goal of improving youth mental health through cutting-edge research, direct clinical care, dissemination of evidence-based practices, and training for future generations of child clinical psychologists. I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve as SCCAP Student Representative for the 2026-2028 term and support this important mission.

Across nearly ten years of psychology research, I have focused on evidence-based treatments for youth internalizing disorders, with the goal of improving treatment access, quality, and outcomes. My passion for evidence-based psychotherapy emerged during my undergraduate studies at the University of Miami, where I coordinated an NIMH-funded study comparing the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to treatment as usual in community mental health centers across Miami-Dade County. While community mental health centers may be more accessible to youth and families than specialty clinics, I observed that many youth still experience difficulty with accessing timely care. After this, I completed my post-baccalaureate research training at Brown University Medical School, examining the effectiveness of an alternative home-based therapy model to reduce treatment barriers. While at Brown University, I gained foundational clinical experience delivering CBT in-home to youth with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive related disorders. Addressing treatment access barriers is an important first step toward improving mental health equity, yet even with improved access, I witnessed first-hand that not all youth benefit from a standard course of psychotherapy.

I have since returned to the University of Miami to pursue my PhD in Clinical Psychology under the mentorship of Dr. Jill Ehrenreich-May and Dr. Kiara Timpano. My graduate research focuses on identifying patient, clinician, and socio-contextual factors that predict CBT treatment response. I am particularly interested in understanding factors that determine clinicians’ use of and patients’ response to exposure therapy, which is a highly effective but underutilized component of CBT for anxiety-related disorders. My dissertation will explore quantitative approaches to measuring how youth with anxiety disorders update their beliefs about safety and danger during exposure therapy, which has direct implications for improving both training and treatment delivery.

Alongside my clinical research, I have engaged in clinical practice in various community settings, including local community centers, pediatric primary care, and partial hospitalization programs. Observing variability in organizational support for evidence-based practice across these settings strengthened my interest in developing clinical trainings that facilitate the dissemination and sustainment of empirically supported interventions in routine care settings. With support from my research and clinical mentors, I have developed and led CBT trainings for clinicians across diverse practice environments that serve a wide range of patient populations. These experiences have offered rich insights into provider perspectives and the importance of equitable access to training and mentorship to support the mental health workforce. 

As SCCAP Student Representative, I aim to draw on these experiences to advocate for student needs, expand opportunities for student mentorship, and support students’ professional development across training stages and career paths within clinical child and adolescent psychology. I am excited to work towards these goals in collaboration with fellow Student Representative, Jiyoung Sarah Kim, and members of the Student Development Committee, without whom this work would not be possible. We are excited to connect with student members at the APA Convention in August and throughout the year at SCCAP programming events. As always, we encourage students to reach out to student representatives (students@sccap53.org) with any ideas for programming and student initiatives. We look forward to a great year of connection, collaboration, and growth within our SCCAP student community.