Travis J Pashak
Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Arts & Behavioral Sciences
Academic and Student Affairs
SVSU Main Campus
Gilbertson Hall-North Wing 227
989-964-2696
tjpashak@svsu.edu
Biography
I grew up not too far from campus, in a rural Michigan town called Kawkawlin. Between 2004 and 2008 I attended the University of Michigan where I earned my B.A. in Psychology, and from there I went to St. Louis, MO for graduate school. In 2011, I completed my M.S. in Clinical Psychology at Saint Louis University, and thereafter began working toward my doctorate. For the 2013-2014 academic year, I was on a pre-doctoral clinical internship at Purdue University's Counseling and Psychological Services Center, and then in summer 2014 I graduated from Saint Louis University with my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.
That same summer of 2014, I was fortunate to be hired on as a faculty member in the Department of Psychology here at SVSU, and I have been working here ever since! I passed the EPPP exam in 2017, and upon completing my post-doctoral supervised clinical hours, I earned Licensed Psychologist status in 2018 and began a small part-time private practice off-campus. In 2019 I was granted tenure and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor, and that is also when I was elected to serve a term as Department Chair which lasted until the spring of 2022. Next, I was promoted to the full rank of Professor in the summer of 2024.
I have had a fascination with psychology about as far back as I can remember, so I feel very privileged to spend my career sharing my interests and passions with students and colleagues. When not doing psych-things, I am spending time with my wife and kids, or enjoying one of my hobbies which include playing drums, exercising, and watching stand-up comedy.
Thank you for checking out my bio! I think SVSU is a wonderful place to study psychology, and I would be happy to help you out in any way I can. If you wish to get to know me a bit more, you can follow my Twitter account @ProfPash (https://twitter.com/ProfPash) for updates about various projects, my perspectives on some psychology topics, and occasional irrelevant goofy commentary on life. (My thoughts shared there do not reflect SVSU and are my opinions only). Again, thanks for stopping by!
Education
St Louis University
Master of Science
St Louis University
Teaching Interests
As my background and training is in clinical psychology, I am broadly interested in teaching topics about mental health, assessment, prevention, and psychotherapy/counseling. I am especially interested in teaching critical thinking skills, scientific methodology, understanding and appreciation for human diversity, and foundational theories in the area of psychopathology and psychotherapy. Here is a list of some of the courses I have taught here at SVSU:
PSYC-100: General Psychology
PSYC-372: Abnormal Psychology
PSYC-373: Clinical Interviewing
PSYC-373L: Clinical Interviewing Lab
PSYC-375: Psychological Assessment
PSYC-430: Psychoanalytic Theory
PSYC-494: Senior Research in Psychology
PSYC-499: Teaching of Psychology
To get a bit more of a taste of my teaching style and some topics which interest me, you can check out my YouTube channel @ProfPash (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8kzqLPdrta_pZQvKKoawrg/), which features a set of brief instructional videos I use in class, particularly for my online courses. (Any views expressed in the videos are mine alone and not representative of SVSU).
Research
Broadly, my research interests are tied in with my teaching and applied clinical interests. Thus I enjoy investigating topics about mental health, treatments, prevention, and assessment of psychopathology. More specifically, I have developed interests in young adult resilience (e.g., what keeps emerging adults mentally healthy?), the psychometrics of mental health assessment tools (e.g., how do we measure psychopathologies and how are they structured?), and lastly the influence of existential concerns in wellbeing (e.g., how does death anxiety impact other factors of clinical interest?). I really enjoy conducting research projects with students, and I often have a small team running with ongoing investigations. To get a closer look at my research productivity, and see some of the papers I have published with students, please check out my ResearchGate page (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Travis_Pashak).
Affiliations
Association for Psychological Science (https://www.psychologicalscience.org/)
American Psychological Association (APA; https://www.apa.org/)
APA Division 12: Society of Clinical Psychologists (https://www.apa.org/about/division/div12)
International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology (https://www.issep.org/)
Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, & Letters (https://www.alma.edu/michigan-academy/)
Psi Chi: The National Honor Society in Psychology (https://www.psichi.org/)
Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood (https://www.ssea.org/)
Society for the Teaching of Psychology (https://teachpsych.org/)
(Note that society membership changes over time. I may not be currently actively involved with each one of the above groups, but these organizations have shaped my career over the years and are the ones with which I have engaged most. If any sound interesting to you, check them out online! Most of these groups host annual conventions and offer discounted membership/registration fees for students.)