Karen Fraser Wyche is a clinical psychologist and research professor whose work focuses on the development of gender roles, coping and stress responses of minority women, community resilience, and cultural competence in intervention settings. Outside of her clinical work, Wyche has been engaged in efforts to advance opportunities for minority women in academia by addressing barriers to their full participation.[1] Wyche holds the title of Research Professor in the Department of Community of Policy, Populations and Systems at the George Washington University School of Nursing.[2]
Karen Wyche | |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s) | Clinical Psychologist, Research Professor |
| Awards |
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| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | BA, Adelphi University;
MSW, University of Maryland; PhD, University of Missouri |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | George Washington University |
Wyche is a Fellow of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (APA, Division 9), the Society of Clinical Psychology (APA, Division12), and the Society for the Psychology of Women (APA, Division 35).[3] The Society for the Psychology of Women gave Wyche the Sue Rosenberg Zalk Award for Distinguished Service in 2009[4] and the Carolyn Wood Sherif Award in 2012 to honor her sustained and substantial contributions to the field of the psychology of women and gender.[5] She was named an Honorary Member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing in 2017.[6]
Wyche co-edited the volume Women's Ethnicities: Journeys Through Psychology[7] and was an associate editor of the APA Handbook of the Psychology of Women.[8]
Biography
editWyche was raised in Harlem, New York City. Growing up, she was surrounded by many powerful women who inspired her to become involved in feminism.[9]
She completed a bachelor's degree in political science at Adelphi University. After received her degree, Wyche went on to work at a YMCA after-school program for girls. Her experience at the YMCA and other activities inspired her to apply to graduate school. She received her Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Maryland and subsequently held a number of positions while raising a family.[9] Wyche decided to return to school and completed a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Missouri.
Wyche was an Assistant Professor of Education and Afro-American Studies at Brown University[7] and, subsequently, a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center,[10] prior to joining the faculty of George Washington University.
Research
editWyche's research program explores the lives of African-American women, their place in society, and their mental health.[11] She often focuses on women who have undergone hardships, their coping strategies, and resilience. Wyche has contributed to research on feminist therapy, which aims to empower women through recognition of social-cultural forces that impact women's lives. In one of her papers, the authors collected the reflections of women attending group psychotherapy sessions to gain insights into their perspectives as women.[12] Wyche collaborated with Heather Bullock and Wendy R. Williams on study involving content analysis of media images of welfare recipients in the context of U.S. welfare reform.[13] Their research suggested a failure of the media to adequately contextualize poverty or illuminate its causes.
Wyche has used narrative methods and interviews to record the life experiences of women living with HIV[14] and Hurricane Katrina survivors. In her paper "Exploring Community Resilience in Workforce Communities of First Responders Serving Katrina Survivors", Wyche and colleagues interviewed 90 first responders who offered their services after the disaster.[15] The authors documented resilience strategies that included shared organizational identity, mutual support, shared leadership, flexible roles, active problem solving, and self‐reflection.
References
edit- ^ Wyche, Karen Fraser; Graves, Sherryl Browne (1992). "MINORITY WOMEN IN ACADEMIA Access and Barriers to Professional Participation". Psychology of Women Quarterly. 16 (4): 429–437. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1992.tb00266.x. ISSN 1471-6402. S2CID 145177147.
- ^ "School of Nursing | The George Washington University". nursing.gwu.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
- ^ "Karen Fraser Wyche, MSW, PhD LIWP Executive Committee". www.apa.org. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
- ^ "Sue Rosenberg Zalk Award for Distinguished Service to the Society for the Psychology of Women". www.apadivisions.org. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
- ^ "Carolyn Wood Sherif Award". www.apadivisions.org. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
- ^ "Honorary Members". www.sigmanursing.org. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
- ^ a b Wyche, Karen Fraser; Crosby, Faye J. (2019). Women's Ethnicities : Journeys through psychology. ROUTLEDGE. ISBN 978-0-429-26781-9. OCLC 1110448791.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Travis, Cheryl Brown, White, Jacquelyn W. (2018). APA handbook of the psychology of women. Associate Editors: Alexandra Rutherford, Wendi S. Williams, Sarah L. Cook, and Karen F. Wyche (First ed.). Washington, DC. ISBN 978-1-4338-2792-1. OCLC 987156978.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "Karen Wyche – Psychology's Feminist Voices". www.feministvoices.com. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
- ^ "Himmelfarb Headlines -Faculty Profile – Interview with Karen Fraser Wyche, PhD, MS, School of Nursing – February / March 2020". himmelfarb.gwu.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
- ^ Wyche, Karen Fraser (1993-06-01). "Psychology and African-American women: Findings from applied research". Applied and Preventive Psychology. 2 (3): 115–121. doi:10.1016/S0962-1849(05)80117-9. ISSN 0962-1849.
- ^ Wyche, K. F., & Rice, J. K. (1997). Feminist therapy: From dialogue to tenets. In J. Worell & N. G. Johnson (Eds.), Psychology of women book series. Shaping the future of feminist psychology: Education, research, and practice (p. 57–71). American Psychological Association.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Bullock, Heather E.; Wyche, Karen Fraser; Williams, Wendy R. (2001). "Media Images of the Poor". Journal of Social Issues. 57 (2): 229–246. doi:10.1111/0022-4537.00210. ISSN 1540-4560.
- ^ Wyche, Karen Fraser (1998). "Let me suffer so my kids won't: African American mothers living with HIV/AIDS." In Mothering against the odds : diverse voices of contemporary mothers (pp. 173–189). García Coll, Cynthia T., Surrey, Janet L., Weingarten, Kathy (Eds.). New York: Guilford Press. ISBN 1-57230-330-1. OCLC 38096903.
- ^ Wyche, Karen Fraser; Pfefferbaum, Rose L.; Pfefferbaum, Betty; Norris, Fran H.; Wisnieski, Deborah; Younger, Hayden (2011). "Exploring Community Resilience in Workforce Communities of First Responders Serving Katrina Survivors". American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 81 (1): 18–30. doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01068.x. ISSN 1939-0025. PMID 21219272.