Multicultural Therapy Clinic
Staff
Jillian R. Scheer, PhD, is a licensed counseling psychologist, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Rhode Island, and director of the Minority Stress & Trauma (MST) Lab. Dr. Scheer is also a research affiliate at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS at the Yale School of Public Health. Dr. Scheer received a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Boston College, completed a predoctoral clinical internship at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s/West Hospital, and a T32 postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatric epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health.
Dr. Scheer’s research focuses on understanding and addressing mental, behavioral, and physical health inequities facing people with lived experience of sexual and relationship violence and marginalization, including LGBTQ+ people. In clinical practice, Dr. Scheer works with the Center for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy & Mindfulness, drawing on evidence-based, skills-focused approaches grounded in multicultural and affirming frameworks.
Benjamin W. Katz, PhD (he/they) is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology at The University of Rhode Island and the STRESS Lab. Dr. Katz earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and completed a predoctoral clinical internship at VA Central Western Massachusetts Health Care System.
Dr. Katz’s research focuses on understanding and addressing reckless/self-destructive behavior commonly experienced among adult survivors of childhood maltreatment. Dr. Katz is particularly interested in how emotion dysregulation may underlie engagement in reckless/self-destructive behaviors. Dr. Katz’s work aims to inform applied research with underserved populations. Dr. Katz co-instructs Multicultural Psychology with Dr. Weiss and supervises clinical psychology doctoral students within the Multicultural Therapy Clinic. In clinical practice, Dr. Katz draws on trauma-informed and evidence-based principles grounded in dialectical and acceptance-based frameworks..
Diana Ho (she/hers) is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Rhode Island (URI) with a focus in Research Methodology and Multicultural Psychology. She graduated with a B.S. in Psychobiology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2018 and received her M.A. in Psychology from URI in 2024. Her research centers on the etiology, maintenance, and intervention of substance use and related harm, with a special interest in how culturally-relevant factors (e.g., one’s racialized identity, acculturative stress, generational status) impact substance use in marginalized populations.
Diana’s clinical interests are in serving adolescents and emerging adults from underserved and minoritized populations. As a clinical trainee, she hopes to grow in utilizing culturally responsive evidence-based interventions, including cognitive-behavioral, dialectical behavioral, and exposure therapies, to address depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and race-based stress. Diana has received clinical training at the Psychological Consultation Center (PCC) and Butler’s Young Adult Partial and Intensive Outpatient Programs.