Director: John L. Cooley, Ph.D.
Dr. Cooley began working in the mental health field in the summer of 2008 at a short-term residential treatment program for youth with serious emotional and behavioral difficulties. This experience sparked his interest in clinical child psychology, and he returned to work there again the following summer. In 2010, he received his undergraduate degree in Psychology and Global Studies from the College of William & Mary. Next, Dr. Cooley took a position as a research coordinator at Emory University School of Medicine.
He then went on to begin his doctorate at the University of Kansas (KU) in 2012; after participating in the Child Track of the Charleston Consortium Internship Program, Dr. Cooley received his Ph.D. in Clinical Child Psychology with a minor in Quantitative Psychology from KU in 2018. He subsequently completed a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship focused on developmental psychobiology and prevention science at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
In 2020, Dr. Cooley began a position as an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Psychology Program at Texas Tech University. He also obtained a dual appointment as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in 2022, where he currently supervises clinical services in a Trauma Clinic and a Behavior Management Clinic for children and adolescents.
In January 2025, Dr. Cooley will join the faculty at the University of Florida (UF) as an Assistant Professor in the School Psychology Program and as a Faculty Affiliate in the UF Prevention & Intervention Network for Youth, Families, Schools, and Communities. He is honored to be the recipient of the Irving and Rose Fien Endowed Professorship from the College of Education at UF from 2025-2028.
Dr. Cooley is a Licensed Psychologist in the State of Texas and is certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Selected Child and Teen Triple P—Positive Parenting Program, and Safe Alternatives for Teens & Youths—Acute (SAFETY-A). Dr. Cooley has worked in a range of clinical settings, including university and hospital outpatient clinics, a community mental health center, a school-based clinic, a community outreach program, a primary care clinic, and a Head Start consultation and treatment program. He has significant experience providing and supervising evidence-based mental health services for children and adolescents with presenting problems related to trauma, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation/behavior, attention and behavioral difficulties, and bullying/peer victimization.
At Texas Tech University, Dr. Cooley trained doctoral students (Ph.D) in clinical psychology on how to effectively provide evidence-based mental health services for youth and families; he will now do the same for doctoral students (Ph.D.) and education specialists (Ed.S.) in school psychology at UF.
Dr. Cooley also directs the Prevention & Intervention Lab, which is devoted to learning how we can decrease risk and foster protective factors among children and adolescents in order to promote positive peer relations and healthy patterns of development over time. He has published 46 peer-reviewed journal articles and 2 book chapters to date and has contributed to 89 national and international conference presentations. He currently serves as a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Youth and Adolescence and as an active ad hoc reviewer for 18 other peer-reviewed journals.