Kristina Phillips
Assistant Professor
Degree: Ph.D., 2005, Bowling Green State University, Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Medicine
My Area of Interest
I would describe my primary research interests as the application of public health and behavioral medicine to the treatment of substance abuse. I believe that it is important to assist clients reduce the unhealthy medical, psychological, and social outcomes of drug use. I strongly identify with a harm or risk reduction approach that focuses on preventing and treating the consequences or effects of addictive behavior, rather than only the drug use itself.
Most recently, my specific research program has focused on disease prevention among injection drug users (IDUs). I am currently the principal investigator of an NIH grant (through NIDA) focused on the development and initial pilot test of a new intervention. The long-term objective of this program of research is to reduce high-risk injection practices among active IDUs that lead to bacterial (e.g., skin abscesses, endocarditis) and viral (e.g., HIV, Hepatitis C) infections by developing and establishing the efficacy of an intervention that combines psychoeducation, skill-building, and motivational interviewing. This work is being conducted in conjunction with researchers at the University of Colorado – Denver Medical School and Brown University. In the first phase of this study, focus group interviews were conducted with 32 IDUs in order to determine key areas of emphasis for an intervention with this population. We then developed a “Skin and Needle Hygiene” intervention for active IDUs, piloted the intervention with 5 new participants in an open trial, and elicited their feedback regarding the intervention. Following refinement of the intervention, we have been conducting a small randomized controlled trial (n=60; 30 per group) in Denver to examine the efficacy of the intervention compared to an assessment-only condition. This project will be wrapping up in the summer 2011. I hope to receive NIH funding in the future to run a larger test of this intervention.
I am also conducting a second study in conjunction with several other faculty members and graduate/undergraduate students at UNC that focuses on physical and psychological complications associated with methamphetamine (meth) use. Specifically, we are examining high-risk drug and sexual practices, psychological problems, discrimination/stigma, and cognitive/neuropsychological deficits (attention, working memory, and executive functioning) among meth users in Greeley. We hope to recruit approximately 100 meth users who are receiving drug treatment services at North Range Behavioral Health (Greeley, CO). The goal of the study is to contribute knowledge about high-risk practices and negative health outcomes among meth users from semi-rural areas.
I also have strong research interests in motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral interventions, and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) for different types of substance users. My research program will continue to focus more broadly on the prevention of drug-related harm and evaluating treatment outcome.
My Teaching Philosophy
My approach to teaching psychology is one that has a foundation in the development of critical thinking skills, application of learned principles to daily life, and active student participation. My understanding of how students learn is based on learning theory, personal experience and observation. It is my belief that students attend to and process information based on their interest in the subject, their prior knowledge and understanding, their values and attitudes, and their motivation. Most importantly, I feel that an instructor’s teaching style can have a tremendous impact in sparking a student’s interest and motivation. I primarily teach courses that have clinical application, such as Abnormal Psychology and Introduction to Counseling Theories. I recently developed a special topics course on the Psychology of Addiction. I frequently utilize case study examples, student projects and non-lecture based experiences to show students how psychological knowledge can be applied to everyday life. I like to integrate alternative media into my courses. For example, I tend to use Powerpoint when lecturing to give students a visual cue and have found that showing videos are an excellent way to demonstrate psychological concepts and frameworks. I also believe that students should explore other sources of information for assignments, such as the internet, journals or experts in the field.
Students interested in gaining research experience in the area of addictions or disease prevention should contact me by email.
Current External Grant Support
Title: Reduction of Medical Complications Associated With Injection Drug Use
1 R21 DA026773-01 (6/15/09 – 5/31/11)
Investigators: Kristina Phillips (PI), Michael Stein (Co-I), and Karen Corsi (Co-I)
R21, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) / NIH
$377,000
My Latest Professional Activity
- Phillips, K.T., & Stein, M.D. (2010). Risk practices associated with bacterial infections among injection drug users in Denver, CO. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 36, 92-97.
- Phillips, K.T., Anderson, B.J., & Stein, M.D. (2008). Predictors of bacterial infections among HCV-negative injection drug users in Rhode Island. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 34, 203-210.
- Rosenberg, H., Baylen, C., Murray, S., Phillips, K.T., Pristas, E., Versland, A, & Tisak, M. (2008). Attributions for abstinence from illicit drugs by university students. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 15, 365-377.
- Phillips, K.T., & Rosenberg, H. (2008). The Development and Evaluation of the Harm Reduction Self-Efficacy Questionnaire. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 22, 36-46.
- Phillips, K.T., Rosenberg, H., & Sanikop, A. (2007). English and American drug clients’ views of the acceptability, advantages and disadvantages of treatment and harm-reduction interventions for substance abuse. Journal of Drug Issues, 37, 377-402.