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Margaret O'Dougherty Wright, Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Training
314 PSYC
513-529-2406
Education
Ph.D. 1981 University of Minnesota
Theoretical Orientation
I embrace a relational/interpersonal/systems framework for conceptualizing clinical problems and developing treatment plans. The interpersonal approach to therapy that I employ has evolved from a synthesis of three theoretical traditions: 1) interpersonal theory; 2) attachment theory; and 3) family systems theory. Traditional diagnostic approaches have often assumed that symptoms reside within the individual. This has translated to an emphasis on the individual in treatment and interventions which have typically addressed intrapsychic phenomena and internal conflicts. Such an approach tends to ignore the relational, social and cultural systems that may contribute to and significantly shape the nature of the problem. Relational therapy is based on the assumption that psychopathology has its roots within relationships and that treatment should consider the relational field. The therapeutic process thus focuses on mutuality in relationships and healing through positive connection with others.
Recently Taught Undergraduate Courses
Childhood Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities
Senior Capstone: From Risk to Resiliency
Recently Taught Graduate Courses
Seminar: When the bough breaks: Determinants of effective and ineffective parenting
Seminar: From risk to resilience: What makes positive life adaptations possible?
Module: Relational diagnosis: An interpersonal approach
Practicum: Interpersonal Process in Psychotherapy
Research Interests
My research interests are primarily in the following areas: 1) processes that mediate the relationship between child maltreatment (emotional, physical and sexual abuse) and subsequent vulnerability or resilience; 2) interpersonal functioning of adult survivors in both couple and parent-child relationships; 3) ways in which childhood abuse or adolescent sexual assault may be linked to further exposure to abuse, with a focus on maladaptive interpersonal schemas, risky behavioral choices, substance use, and sexual assertiveness; and 4) being a wounded healer-- how clinicians' prior personal struggles and traumatic life experiences inform their therapeutic work.
Opportunities for Graduate Students
Current Projects: Mothering as a Survivor. This is an ongoing, project in which we are exploring the long-term effects and meaning of being a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. We are working with a community sample of mothers and utilizing both qualitative and quantitative research approaches.
Interpersonal consequences of abuse project: Our research lab has also been involved in collecting extensive data on various types of childhood abuse (emotional, physical, sexual abuse, as well as neglect), received by various individuals (parents, step-parents, siblings, peers, classmates, romantic partners) and we are exploring the impact of these abusive experiences on later interpersonal functioning, intimacy, and risk for revictimization as well as perpetration of abuse.
A third project focuses on college men and women's experiences of sexual coercion and sexual assault in the context of dating and hooking up. This internet survey assesses specific experiences of coercion and assault in these contexts and explores various factors related to sexual assertiveness, alcohol consumption, risky sexual choices, attitudes and beliefs, personality, and prior sexual history in understanding risk for sexual victimization.
A final project is just beginning and involves interviews with therapists who have histories of trauma and abuse, and focuses on how this prior experience impacts their clinical work. Supervisors of clinical graduate students are also participating and reflecting on how these issues are addressed in supervision.
Recent Publications
Del Castillo, D., & Wright, M. O. (in press). The perils and possibilities in disclosing childhood sexual abuse to a romantic partner, Journal of Childhood Sexual Abuse.
Crawford, E., Wright, M. O., & Birchmeier, Z. (2008). Risk perception and drug facilitated sexual assault. Journal of American College Health.
Wright, M. O. (2007). Childhood emotional abuse: Mediating and moderating processes affecting long-term impact. Haworth Press: Binghamton, NY.
Wright, M. O., Crawford, E., & Sebastian, K. (2007). Positive resolution of childhood sexual abuse experiences: The role of coping, benefit-finding and meaning-making. Journal of Family Violence, 22, 597-608.
Wright, M. O., Fopma-Loy, J., & Fischer, S. (2005). Multidimensional assessment of resilience in mothers who are child sexual abuse survivors. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29. 1173-1193.
Crawford, E., Wright, M. O., & Masten, A. S. (2005). Resilience and spirituality in youth. In P. L. Benson, E. C. Roehlkepartain, P. E. King, & L. Wagener (Eds.), The handbook of spiritual development in children and adolescents. Sage Publications.