Umara Hansen (she/her) is a third-year doctoral student in the School Psychology program at UC Berkeley. She graduated with the highest honors, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Ottawa, where she earned a B.Sc. in Psychology and conducted research on the impact of stress on well-being using fMRI measures. Before graduate school, Umara served as Outreach Lead for Anxiety Canada and worked as a research assistant in labs across Canada and the United States, including the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Lab at the University of British Columbia and the Stress and Development Lab at Harvard University. In her graduate studies, Umara has gained a wide range of professional and mentorship experience. She has taught Clinical Psychology at UC Berkeley's Academic Talent Development Program (ATDP) for the past two summers, provided peer support services at UC Berkeley, and worked as a Graduate Tutor.
Umara’s research interests focus on trauma-informed practices within schools. Over the past two years, she has worked with youth from diverse backgrounds in various school and clinical settings. During her practicum experiences in assessment and consultation, she encountered many cases where students presented with co-occurring trauma-related symptoms and ADHD. However, she noticed that Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals and interventions often prioritized addressing ADHD, leaving trauma-related issues less emphasized. Umara is particularly interested in exploring school psychologists' lived experiences with trauma-informed assessment and intervention tools, aiming to distinguish between symptoms of ADHD and trauma, effectively screen for trauma-related concerns, and implement interventions tailored to each student's unique needs.
In her free time, Umara enjoys exploring the California coast through running, surfing, sailing, and hiking.
Specializations and Interests
Trauma-Informed Assessments, Interventions, ADHD, Resilience, Teacher-Student Relationship
