Maria Vardanian

(Maria) Michelle Vardanian is a first-generation, Armenian-American doctoral student under the mentorship of Anil Chacko, PhD, in the Counseling Psychology Program in the Department of Applied Psychology at New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. Her research interests are primarily in the area of mental health disparities within non-White, diverse racial/ethnic communities. She is particularly interested in the potential facilitators and barriers of initial and ongoing parent engagement with children’s mental health services and how the stigmatization of mental illness within non-White cultures may play a role in these families. She is also passionate about social justice advocacy and delivering culturally competent services to children and families. In her free time, she is a sensitivity reader for Harper Collins Publishing, and reviews Young Adult manuscripts for accurate portrayals of mental health issues, social justice issues, and diversity issues. 

Prior to NYU, Michelle worked as a research associate for The Center for Implementation-Dissemination of Evidence-Based Practices among States (IDEAS Center) at the NYU Child Study Center under Dr. Kimberly Hoagwood, where she coordinated and managed the evidence-based training known as the Managing and Adapting Practices (MAP) Program in New York State. Michelle graduated summa cum laude and obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from New York University’s College of Arts and Science.

She currently serves as an instructor for NYU Steinhardt’s Masters in Mental Health Counseling courses, conducts research with the FACES lab regarding parent engagement as well as behavior parent trainings, and is a psychology extern working part-time at the New York City Children’s Center, working with diverse children and youth significant mental health treatment needs. She completed her previous externship at the NYU Center for Counseling and Community wellbeing, where she provided services for a wide range of clientele that varied across age, racial/ethnic identity, gender identity, sexual identity, and symptom presentation. In the future, she hopes to continue investigating the mechanisms behind family engagement with children’s mental health services and develop interventions that may improve or enhance engagement for families seeking treatment, especially within diverse racial/ethnic communities.