Dr. Smith will be accepting a new graduate student for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Education

• National Institute of Mental Health, NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship, Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York

• APA Accredited Clinical Psychology Internship, Southwest Consortium Pre-doctoral Psychology Internship, Albuquerque, New Mexico

• Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas

• M.A. Psychology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas

• M.S. Psychology, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania

• B.A. Psychology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Current Projects

• South Alabama HOPES: Health Oriented Psychology Education for Substance Use Recovery (PI: Kimberly Zlomke, PhD): The HOPES project seeks to strengthen the behavioral health workforce by training culturally competent, trauma-informed psychologists to address systemic inequities and the growing mental health and substance use crisis in underserved communities. (Role: Professional Development, Training, & Supervision Coordinator) 
• The Impact of Romantic Relationship Dynamics on Suicidal Ideation (PI: Heather Love, PhD): The major objective of the current study is to identify relational dynamics that are associated with short-term proximal and long-term risk for suicidal ideation in partnered couples. (Role: Early Career Award Mentor)

• Project GRIP (Gun-Related Injury Prevention): Firearms are used in over half of all suicides and three quarters of all homicides in the US. Yet, prevention strategies that focus on firearms are limited due to a cultural disconnect between prevention specialists and the very communities they wish to serve. This project will collaborate with those who own and use guns and those living in areas with high rates of violence to better understand their perspective, improve public health strategies, and save lives. 

• SOAR (Strengthening Opportunities for Achievement & Resilience):  SOAR is a community-based intervention study that aims to reduce interpersonal violence and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among middle school youth.  The intervention addresses systems-level practices and supports for teachers and law enforcement officers to assist in working with youth exhibiting problematic behaviors.  SOAR is grounded in the socioecological framework and posits that interpersonal violence and suicide share many root causes and that preventing such outcomes is most effectively started "upstream". 

Current Student Projects

Karin Hendricks (Dissertation Project) Suicide risk assessment and management training in mental health graduate programs.

Selected Recent Publications

• Mehari, K.R., Coleman, J.N., *Stevens, L.T., Farrell, A.D., & Smith, P.N. (in press). Social-ecological correlates of involvement in firearm-related violence in a nationally representative survey of adults. American Journal of Public Health.

• Mehari, K.R., Smith, P.N., *Dunn, C., Coleman, J.N., & *Steven, L.T. (in press). Prevalence and patterns of nonfatal firearm-related violence among adolescents in the southeastern US. Psychology of Violence.

• Love, H., Morgan, P., & Smith, P.N. (in press). Participation in a daily diary study about suicide ideation yields no iatrogenic effects: A mixed method analysis. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior.

• Smith, P.N., Cordell, C., *Stevens, L.T., *West, K., *Morgan, S.T., Vallas, J., & Mehari, K.R. (2025). Project GRIP: An illustration of participatory action research with communities of people who own and use firearms. Psychological Reports, 128, 211-239. DOI: 10.1177/00332941241246467