Catherine Panzarella, Ph.D.

 

Email:  cpanzarella@temple.edu
Phone 215-204-7324

Interests: My interest is in behavioral health program development for socio-economically disadvantaged persons that integrate clinical and peer models. To this end, I have been a senior manager in Philadelphia’s Behavioral Health System and have developed and directed child and family advocacy and peer services in four counties for the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania.  I serve on the Philadelphia Compact—convened by the Mayor as a city-wide collaboration between executive, legislative and judicial branches of government to improve behavioral health services for children and adolescents.  I have served on statewide committees to develop performance measures directed at making services providers more accountable for effective interventions.  Temple University’s strong commitment to servicing the public and the Psychological Services Center’s role in bringing high quality clinical services to local communities in need while providing excellence in clinical training for its students were key factors in attracting me to the position of Directing the Psychological Services Center in Temple’s Department of Psychology.

Dr. Panzarella received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Temple University and served as a postdoctoral fellow for a National Institute of Mental Health study on the etiology of depression. She is certified in cognitive therapy and is a founding fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. In the last five years, Dr. Panzarella has worked at the senior management level in public behavioral health services for the City of Philadelphia and the largest Mental Health Association affiliate in the Unites States covering four counties in southeastern Pennsylvania. She has previously taught graduate students at Chestnut Hill College and MCP Hahnemann University (now part of Drexel University). Her previous research is on social support as a protective factor in risk for depression and her clinical interests emphasize empirically informed interventions for high-risk populations and the integration of clinical and peer models.