wooo freak frennnnzzz!!!
we are back today with episode 9 of freak flag & getting to chat w Dr. Christine Conelea (aka Tik Doc Christine)!! I AM PSYCHED AF to bring this one to you today because we are talking SCIENCE, specifically psychology. (Also, Dr. C is my best friend from forever, so, warning: we do have some bestie vibes!)
About Dr. Conelea: Christine Conelea, PhD is the co-director of the CAN Lab. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of Minnesota and a licensed clinical psychologist. Dr. Conelea received her BA from the University of Nevada, Reno and doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She completed a predoctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship in child mental health at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Her training has been supported by T32, F32, and K23 awards from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Prior to coming to Minnesota, Dr. Conelea was an Assistant Professor (Research) at Brown University Medical School. Dr. Conelea's research interests are in Tourette Syndrome/tic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and anxiety disorders. She is particularly interested in understanding how the brain, environment, and psychosocial factors interact to impact symptoms and treatment outcome. Dr. Conelea's research integrates behavioral and neuroscience methods, including neuromodulation and brain imaging. She is also interested in dissemination of efficacious cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT) and in studying ways to improve CBT outcomes.
I will warn you now: WE GET SUPER NERDY! IT WAS/IS SUPER FUN BECAUSE GEEKING OUT IS THE BEST & SCIENCE IS AMAZING.
Among the various topics we cover are things like the below, in no particular order:
- how Dr. C got into psychology
- the process of grant-writing to fund research
- a leadership change at the National Institute of Mental Health that forced Christine to pivot in her career and research direction
-the political abuse of power dictating the types of things that can and can’t be researched and studied
-DR. C’s study of repetitive disorders such as Tourette’s syndrome, the controversy surrounding the display of these behaviors among teenagers and young people on TikTok, and the media’s response to it
-Dr. C leading the response to a prominent article written with misunderstandings surrounding the TikTok controversy and Tourette’s syndrome
-Dr. C breaking the scientific mold by including patients and affected persons as equal partners in the research and representation of their respective behaviors and/or disorders
-being willing to admit your prior understanding of a subject or topic may need to evolve with the onset of new information and/or experiences
-the relevance and significance of the placebo effect and cognitive biases
Get in Tic Doc Christine's world below:
- CAN LAB : the lab Dr. C & her partner Dr. Jacob lead at the University of Minnesota
- her TikTok & Twitter
- a blog explaining further the TikTok “hullabaloo” (as I call it)
you can be brave with dr. christine conelea | freak flag episode 9