Constance Mesiarik, Ph.D., J.D.
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Curriculum Vitae


Education

Law-Psychology Program (August 1999 – September 2008)
    Drexel University*: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
        Degree: Clinical Psychology Ph.D., September 2008
    Villanova University School of Law: Villanova, Pennsylvania
        Degree: J.D., May 2006

MCP Hahnemann University: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
        Degree: Master of Arts in Psychology, August 2002

University of Florida: Gainesville, Florida
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Psychology, May 1998

* MCP Hahnemann University became Drexel University after an institutional merger on July 1, 2002.


Clinical Experience

Forensic Evaluator and Therapist (July 2009 – Present) 
Perform court-ordered and private assessments and psychological testing with children, adolescents, and adults. Conduct therapy, both independently sought and court-ordered. 

Forensic Interviewer (September 2009 – October 2010) 
Mission Kids Child Advocacy Center of Montgomery County, 
Pennsylvania. Conducted forensic interviews of children and adolescents alleged to be victims of abuse using research based interview protocols and techniques.

Pre-doctoral intern (August 2006 – July 2007)
Terry Children’s Psychiatric Center: New Castle, Delaware. Conducted individual, family, and group therapy in residential, crisis, and outpatient settings for children between the ages of 4 and 17. Collaborated with schools and team members to provide comprehensive treatment. Led parenting classes and completed testing batteries. Supervisor: Diane Amery, Psy.D.

Therapist (July 2005 – October 2005)
Devereux Foundation, Brandywine Eagleview Program: Glenmoore, Pennsylvania. Conducted individual and family therapy and participated in treatment planning for boys between the ages of 7 and 13. Supervisor: Deborah Kuhlman, L.S.W. 

Forensic Evaluator (June 2004 – August 2005)
Forensic Evaluation Clinic: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Conducted forensic evaluations in a variety of attorney requests, including capital sentencing proceedings, federal sentencing proceedings, competence to stand trial proceedings, decertification proceedings, asylum proceedings, civil liability proceedings, and disability proceedings. Supervisor: Kirk Heilbrun, Ph.D.

Therapist (September 2003 – June 2004)
Drexel University Student Counseling Center: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Conducted assessments and individual therapy with university undergraduate and graduate students. Supervisor: Amy Henning, M.Ed.
  
Therapist (August 2001 – June 2002)
Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Inc., Girls’ Treatment Center: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Conducted assessments, therapy, and program evaluation research in a court-mandated day-evening treatment program for delinquent, truant, and behaviorally troubled adolescent females. Supervisor: Naomi E. Sevin Goldstein, Ph.D.

Legal and Ethical Policy Director (August 2001 – June 2002)
Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Inc., Girls’ Treatment Center: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Participated in development and implementation of mental health treatment and suicide prevention policies for a court-mandated day-evening treatment program for delinquent, truant, and behaviorally troubled adolescent females. Supervisor: Naomi E. Sevin Goldstein, Ph.D.

In-House Trainer (July 1998 – May 1999)
Alachua County Crisis Center: Gainesville, Florida. Assisted with training of new telephone counselors, served as chairperson for annual retreats. Supervisor: Marshall Knudson, Ph.D.

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Telephone Counselor (August 1996 – May 1999)
Alachua County Crisis Center: Gainesville, Florida. Certified in crisis intervention and suicide prevention by the American Association of Suicidology. Counseled a wide range of callers and assisted with Rumor Control calls during local emergencies. Supervisor: Marshall Knudson, Ph.D.


Non-Clinical Experience

Defender Association of Philadelphia, Capital Habeas Corpus Unit:
    Legal Intern: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (January 2005 – May 2005). Worked on 
capital cases conducting legal research, drafting claims, conducting fact-based investigations, and visiting and interacting with clients. Supervisors: Robert Dunham, J.D. and Stuart Lev, J.D.

American Psychological Association, Practice Directorate, Legal and Regulatory Affairs:
Legal Intern: Washington D.C. (May 2001 – August 2001). Developed database, conducted legal research, and reviewed scope of State Psychology Practice Acts. Supervisor: Billie Hinnefeld, J.D., Ph.D.

University of Florida Institutional Review Board:
Administrative Assistant/Editor: Gainesville, Florida (August 1998 – May 1999). Reviewed all incoming research to verify that proposed research was in accordance with Federal and Institutional Review Board regulations. Supervisor: Michael Levy, Ph.D.


Teaching Experience

Villanova University
Adjunct Professor: Villanova, PA (Spring 2012 – Present). Taught undergraduate level course, Forensic Psychology.

Bryn Mawr College
Adjunct Professor: Bryn Mawr, PA (Spring 2014 – Spring 2015). Taught undergraduate level course, Forensic Psychology.

Drexel University
Adjunct Professor: Philadelphia, PA (Spring 2010 – Spring 2013). Taught undergraduate level course, Child Psychopathology.


Research Experience

Graduate Research
Dissertation: Drexel University. (Proposal: June 2005; Defense: July 2008). Gender, Suggestibility, and Self-Reported Likelihood of False Confessions. Chair: Naomi E. Sevin Goldstein, Ph.D.

Adolescent Comprehension of Miranda Rights: MCP Hahnemann University/Drexel University (October 2000 – July 2008). Conduct research on revised version of Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments. Supervisor: Naomi E. Sevin Goldstein, Ph.D.

Treating Mental Illness and Preventing Recidivism in Female Juvenile Offenders:
MCP Hahnemann University/Drexel University (August 2000 – July 2008). Conduct research on issues related to treating mental illness, preventing recidivism, and revealing causal relationships between psychopathological symptoms and delinquency in female juvenile offenders. Also participated in development, implementation, and evaluation of a multifaceted program to treat the most frequent and high-risk symptoms in female juvenile offenders. Supervisor: Naomi E. Sevin Goldstein, Ph.D. 

Undergraduate Research
Psychology and Law: University of Florida (May 1998 – May 1999). Conducted literature search on procedural justice. Supervisor: Mark Fondacaro, J.D., Ph.D.

Undergraduate Senior Thesis: University of Florida (December 1997 – July 1998). Proposed and conducted original research project on the persuasion of advertisements, entered data and performed analyses using SPSS, wrote up results, gave oral defense, and submitted for publication. Supervisor: Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D.

Social Psychology: University of Florida (August 1997 – May 1998). Conducted data collection and data entry. Supervisor: Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D.


Publications

Haney-Caron, E., Goldstein, N. E. S., & Mesiarik, C. (under review). Self-Perceived Likelihood of False Confession: A Comparison of Justice-Involved Juveniles and Adults. Law and Human Behavior.

Goldstein, N. E. S., Riggs Romaine, C., Zelle, H., Kalbeitzer, R., Mesiarik, C, & Wolbransky, M. (2011). Psychometric Properties of the Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments-II with a juvenile justice sample. Assessment, 18(4), 428-441.
Goldstein, N. E., Thomson, M., Mesiarik, C., Appleton, C., Weil, J., Osman, D., Strachan, M., Olubadewo, O., Picarello, K., Kalbeitzer, R., Necowitz, B. A., & Lucks, D. (submitted for publication). The Delinquency Intervention and Assessment (DIA) program for girls: An empirically-based, court-mandated treatment for female juvenile offenders. Behavioral Sciences and the Law.
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Goldstein, N. E., Arnold, D. H., Weil, J., Mesiarik, C., Peuschold, D., Grisso, T., & Osman, D. (2003). Comorbid symptom patterns in female juvenile offenders. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 26, 565-582.

Helweg-Larsen, M., & Howell, C. (2000). Effects of erotophobia on the persuasiveness 
of condom advertisements containing strong or weak arguments. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 22(2), 111-117. (Undergraduate Senior Thesis).


Professional Presentations

Blair, G. & Mesiarik, C. (June 2013).  Ethical considerations in child forensic interviews 
and evaluations.  Presented at the conference of The Field Center for Children’s 
Policy, Practice & Research, Philadelphia, PA.

Kalbeitzer, R., Goldstein, N.E., Riggs Romaine, C.L., Mesiarik, C., & Zelle, H. (March 
2008).  Reliability and Validity of the Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments –II .  Part of a symposium: The Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments-II.  To be presented at the annual conference of the American Psychology- Law Society, Jacksonville, Florida.

Goldstein, N. E., Mesiarik, C., Chulvik, S., Zelle, H., & Kayser, K. (March 2005). Why 
juveniles are at risk in the interrogation room. Part of a symposium: Police Interrogations and Confessions. Presented at the annual conference of the American Psychology-Law Society (Division 41 of the American Psychological Association), La Jolla, CA.

Mesiarik, C., Goldstein, N. E., & Dovidio, A. (March 2004). Assessing Miranda rights:
Policy implications and future research. Part of a symposium: The Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments-II: Related Research and Policy Implications. Presented at the annual conference of the American Psychology-Law Society (Division 41 of the American Psychological Association), Scottsdale, AZ.

Kalbeitzer, R., Strachan, M., Goldstein, N. E., Mesiarik, C., & Oberlander, L. (March 
2004). The psychometric properties of the Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments-II. Part of a symposium: The Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments-II: Related Research and Policy Implications. Presented at the annual conference of the American Psychology-Law Society (Division 41 of the American Psychological Association), Scottsdale, AZ.

Mesiarik, C., Goldstein, N. E., & Strachan, M. (August 2002). Depression treatment 
adapted for girls in the juvenile justice system. Part of a symposium: Adapting 
Mental Health Treatments for Female Juvenile Offenders. Presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Strachan, M., Goldstein, N. E., Spielman, D., Osman, D., Appleton, C., Thomson, M., 
Mesiarik, C., Weil, J., Olubadewo, O., & Picarello, K. (August 2002). Developing community-based treatment programs for female juvenile offenders. Paper presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL. 

Mesiarik, C., Goldstein, N. E., & Thomson, M. (March 2002). Validity of the Miranda 
Rights Comprehension Instruments-II scoring criteria and attorneys' perceptions 
of adequate Miranda comprehension. Part of a symposium: The Miranda Rights 
Comprehension Instruments-II and Adolescent Offenders' Miranda Comprehension. Presented at the biennial conference of the American Psychology-Law Society (Division 41 of the American Psychological Association), Austin, TX.

Mesiarik, C., Goldstein, N. E., & Picarello, K. (March 2002). Status of girls in the U.S. 
justice system. Part of a symposium: Developing, Implementing, and Empirically 
Evaluating a Court-Mandated Treatment Program for Female Juvenile Offenders. 
Presented at the biennial conference of the American Psychology-Law Society (Division 41 of the American Psychological Association), Austin, TX.

Mesiarik, C. M., Goldstein, N. E., Weil, J., Strachan, M., Thomson, M., Osman, D., 
Appleton, C., Olubadewo, O., Picarello, K. A., & Spielman, D. (November 2001). Treating depression in adolescent female offenders. Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Philadelphia, PA.

Strachan, M., Goldstein, N.E., Spielman, D., Osman, D., Appleton, C., Thomson, M., 
Mesiarik, C. M., Weil, J., Olubadewo, O., Picarello, K. A. (November 2001). Collaborating with community-based organizations to meet treatment needs of adolescent female offenders. Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Philadelphia, PA.

Thomson, M. R., Goldstein, N. E., Mesiarik, C., Osman, D., Weil, J., Strachan, M., 
Picarello, K. A., Olubadewo, O., Appleton, C., & Spielman, D. (November 2001). Treating self-mutilation in female juvenile offenders. Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Philadelphia, PA.

Goldstein, N. E., Mesiarik, C., & Osman, D. (August 2001). Who cares about girls? 
Developing gender-specific programs for female juvenile offenders. Part of a symposium: Juvenile Forensic Research: False Confessions, Treatment, and Prediction of Recidivism. Presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.

Goldstein, N. E., Olubadewo, O., Osman, D., Thomson, M., Appleton, C., Mesiarik, C., 
Oberlander, L., & Geier, J. (2001). Risk factors for false confessions in adolescent 
offenders. Paper presented at the European Conference of Psychology and Law, Lisbon, Portugal.

Goldstein, N. E., Spielman, D., Osman, D., Olubadewo, O., & Mesiarik, C. (2001). Using 
multifaceted treatment programs to prevent adolescent female recidivism through community collaboration. Paper presented at the founding conference of the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Fondacaro, M. R., Jackson, S. L., & Howell, C. M. (August 1998). Family justice
and  psychosocial functioning among adolescents. Paper presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.


Professional Training

Forensic Interviewing of Children. Presented by The National Children’s Advocacy 
Center (July 2009). Huntsville, AL.

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Treatment for Sexual Abuse and Other 
Childhood Trauma. Presented by Esther Deblinger, Ph.D. (August 2006). Philadelphia, PA.

Combined Parent-Child Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Treatment for Families At-Risk 
for Physical Abuse. Presented by Melissa Runyon, Ph.D. (August 2006). Philadelphia, PA.


Professional Affiliations

Attorney, Licensed in Pennsylvania, 2006 (#203119)
 
Psychologist, Licensed in Pennsylvania, 2012 (#PSO17232) 
 
Psychologist, Licensed in Delaware, 2016 (#B1-0001053) 
 
Montgomery Bar Association
 
American Psychological Association
•Member
•Committee on Legal Issues (2017-2019); Chair (2018)
•Committee on Professional Practice and Standards (2020-2022)
 
Pennsylvania Psychological Association
•Member
•Child & Family Forensics Committee, Chair  
 
American Psychology-Law Society (APA, Division 41)
 
Association of Family and Conciliation Courts


Activities and Achievements

Reviewer, presentation proposals for conferences, American Psychology-Law 
Society (APA, Division 41), 2002, 2011 – 2014)

Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis Lecture Series in Law and Psychology
    Co-coordinator (May 2000 – May 2002)

American Psychology-Law Society
    Chair of the Student Division (August 2001 – August 2002)

Alachua County Crisis Center
    Award of Excellence in Continued Clinical Service (1998)
    Award of Excellence in Phone Counselor Service (1997)
    
Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society  
    
Psi Chi National Honor Society 

Student Honors Organization
    
Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society

University of Florida President’s Honor Roll
    
Florida Undergraduate Scholar


Foreign Language Skills

Fluent in French


References

Available upon request
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