Julia Najm, MA

Psychology
Munroe-Meyer Institute
985450 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-5450

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Professional Summary

Julia Najm, MA, is a predoctoral clinical psychology intern at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Munroe-Meyer Institute (MMI). She is also a member of the Affect, Regulation Coping and Health (ARCH) lab at East Tennessee State University. Her research interests include understanding the impact of intergenerational transmission of trauma on children’s emotional development and determining best practices to increase access to behavioral health services in rural regions. Her clinical interests include utilizing brief solution focused behavioral interventions for children and families in primary care clinics.

Education

• MA, East Tennessee State University – Johnson City, TN, 2020

Teaching

• has taught design and analysis courses for undergraduate psychology students at East Tennessee State University. She also assisted in teaching medical school courses such as Introduction to Psychiatry and Behavioral Health in Pediatrics at Quillen College of Medicine. Lastly, she assisted in medical resident training on behavioral health topics in integrated care settings.

Research Interests and Projects

• A Transdiagnostic Approach to Understanding Intergenerational Transmission of Risk of Internalizing Symptoms (2gen Study) - to determine how multimodal markers of emotion regulation (e.g., heart rate variability, cortisol reactivity, skin conductance, observed emotional reactivity) interact to predict internalizing symptoms in mothers and their children and to test maternal emotion regulation as one mechanism through which maternal symptoms may lead to child symptoms. (PI: Diana Morelen)
• Primary Care Behavioral Health Model (PCBH) Fidelity Research Project – to investigate best practices in integrating behavioral health practices in patient centered medical homes. (PI: Aubrey Dueweke, Ph.D., Robert Tolliver, Ph.D., Jodi Polaha, Ph.D)
• Resident Education and Training Project – to determine educational practices to increase resident understanding and competency regarding integrated behavioral health services in primary care settings. (PI: Aubrey Dueweke, Ph.D., Robert Tolliver, Ph.D., Jodi Polaha, Ph.D)

Selected Publications

• Morelen, D., Najm, J., Wolff, M., Daniel, K. (January, 2021). Taking care of the caregivers: Reflective supervision buffers the impact of COVID-19. Infant Mental Health Journal. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/imhj.21956

Professional Affiliations

• Society for Research in Child Development
• Collaborative Family Healthcare Association

Awards

• Society for Research in Child Development, Horowitz Program Early Career Scholar (2021)