Nancy L. Foster, PhD

Nancy L. Foster, PhD
Psychology Department
Munroe-Meyer Institute
985450 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-5450

Phone: (308) 865-2141
E-mail: nlfoster@unmc.edu

Professional Summary:

Dr. Nancy Foster received her baccalaureate, masters, and doctorate degrees in Psychology from Mississippi State University. Her Ph.D. in School Psychology was awarded in 2005. She interned at Father Flanagan’s Boys Town before completing a rural post-doctoral fellowship with MMI. Dr Foster is currently an outreach psychologist for the Kearney Pediatrics Clinic in Kearney, Nebraska. In collaboration with physicians and nurses from the Clinic, Dr. Foster provides outpatient behavioral health services within this primary care office for children and adolescents with presenting problems including disruptive behavior disorders; sleep, feeding, and toileting problems; habits and tics; and school problems. Dr. Foster also engages in research as Co-director of a multidisciplinary obesity program for children ages 6-11 and their families. She is an active clinician and provides education and supervisory experiences for interns from the Nebraska Internship Consortium in Professional Psychology and post-doctoral fellows from the MMI training program. Dr. Foster also teaches graduate coursework for the University of Nebraska-Kearney and supervises practica for UN-K students from Counseling and School Psychology programs. She has research interests in integrated behavioral health care provision, childhood obesity, mental health services stigma, ADHD, and academic disorders.

Education:

PhD, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, 2005
MS, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, 1999
BA, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, 1996

Courses Taught:

  • Child and Adolescent Behavioral Characteristics
  • Statistics
  • Abnormal Psychology
  • General Psychology
  • Psychology of Learning, Psychology of Interpersonal Relationships
  • Appraisals of Individuals and Systems
  • Applied Psychology

Research Interests and Projects:

  • Childhood Obesity
  • Stigma and Behavioral Health Services in Rural Areas

Selected Publications:

  • Foster, N., Gathje, R.A., Valleley, R. J., & Evans, J.H. (submitted). Providing behavioral health services in primary care practices.
  • Valleley, R.J, Clarke, B., Lieske, J., Gortmaker, V., Foster, N., & Evans, J.H. (2008). Improving adherence to children's mental health services: Integrating behavioral health specialists into rural primary care settings. Journal of Rural Mental Health, 32, 18-34.
  • Valleley, R.J., Kosse, S., Schemm, A., Foster, N., Evans, J., & Polaha, J. (2007). Integrated care for children in rural communities: An examination of patient attendance to behavioral
    health services. Families, Systems, & Health, 25, 323-332.
  • Evans, J. H., Polaha, J., Valleley, R. J., Jones-Hazledine, C., & Foster, N. L. (2006). Behavioral health in rural pediatric primary care. Journal of Rural Mental Health, 31, 28- 35.
  • Butler, T.B., Friman, P.C., & Foster, N. (2005). Adherence in children and adolescents. In W. O’Donohue & E. Levensky (Eds.), Promoting treatment adherence: A practical handbook for health care providers.

Professional Affiliations:

  • American Psychological Association
  • Heartland Association for Applied Behavioral Analysis
  • Nebraska Psychological Association