Researcher | Research Overview
Alisa B. Miller, PhD is a clinical community psychologist whose primary expertise is in promoting the mental health and wellbeing of youth from communities that have experienced high levels of trauma and stress, specifically refugee and immigrant youth who have resettled in the US and Canada.
Her research interests include the effects of traumatic events, identity development, and family cohesion/conflict on refugee and immigrant functioning in family and community settings. Dr. Miller is also interested in health health equity among refugee and immigrant groups through the development and dissemination of culturally appropriate evidence based practices as well as the overall health and well-being of all youth in our society.
As the mental health needs of traumatized youth including immigrant, refugee and other ethnocultural minoritized youth in the US become ever more apparent, Dr. Miller develops and implements clinical interventions aimed at facilitating systemic change in order to better address their mental health needs.
Her current initiative is Project EPIC (Enhancing Pediatric Integrated Care). Project EPIC combines the content and clinical expertise of multiple Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) Centers: Boston Children's Hospital Primary Care Center (CHPCC), its satellite community primary care clinic Martha Elliot Health Center, and the Refugee Trauma and Resilience Core of the Trauma and Community Resilience Center (TCRC). Project EPIC enhances current CHPCC and MEHC’s integrative behavioral health services by offering trauma-focused prevention and intervention services through the delivery of the evidence-based model Trauma Systems Therapy (TST) and components of its adaptation for refugees and immigrants (TST-R) to CHPCC and MEHC primary care patients ages 7-21.
Researcher | Research Background
Alisa Miller, PhD, is a psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Boston Children’s and a research associate at the Boston Children’s Hospital Trauma and Community Resilience Center (TCRC). She is also Co-Director or Project EPIC –Enhancing Pediatric Integrated Care at Children's Hospital Primary Care Center and Martha Eliot Health Center. Dr. Miller is an assistant in psychology in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Boston Children’s and an instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical School. Her expertise is in promoting the mental health and well-being of youth from communities that have experienced high levels of trauma, adversity, and stress, specifically refugee and immigrant youth in the U.S. Dr. Miller is interested in increasing health equity for all youth in our society. She strives to be antiracist in all aspects of her personal and professional lives. “I work at the TCRC because I am encouraged and able to be innovative, to value lived expertise and advocate to make services that are meaningful and relevant to youth, families, and providers.