D.J. J. Garcia, Ph.D.

Professional Background

Dr. Darren (D.J.) Garcia, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Kansas Medical Center and a licensed psychologist in the State of Kansas.

Dr. Garcia earned his Bachelor of Science in psychology, with magna cum laude honors, and his Master of Science in general psychology, with an emphasis in child development, both from Brigham Young University. He then earned his Doctor of Philosophy in clinical psychology, with a minor in statistics, from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He completed his APA accredited predoctoral internship and his postdoctoral fellowship in advanced clinical psychology at the University of Kansas Medical Center prior to joining the faculty in 2022.

He is passionate about training and education. He has taught various undergraduate psychology courses as an adjunct instructor and guest lectured at multiple universities. He currently serves as a lecturer and clinical supervisor of psychotherapy for the clinical psychology internship and psychiatry residency programs. He also serves as the research coordinator for the APA accredited internship program and advises both psychology interns and psychiatry residents in the development of original research, using both qualitative and quantitative methods.

Dr. Garcia’s areas of clinical expertise include individual psychotherapy with adolescents and adults, couple's therapy, personality disorders, mood disorders, and comprehensive psychological evaluation using a multimethod assessment approach. He is an active member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Society for Personality Assessment (SPA). He works primarily from a psychodynamic existential therapeutic framework but is competent in multiple therapeutic modalities. He provides services in both Spanish and English.

• BS, Psychology , Brigham Young University, Provo , UT
• MS, General Psychology , Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
• PhD, Clinical Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
• Internship, APA Accredited Psychology Internship, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
• Post Doctoral Fellowship, Psychopathology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas

• Licensed Psychologist, STATE OF KANSAS BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES REGULATORY BOARD

Research

Overview

Dr. Garcia has presented empirical research nationally and internationally and published peer-reviewed articles on emotional development in children, the role of motivation in psychotherapy, healthy couple romantic relationships, cultural adaptation of mental health interventions, mindfulness in underserved populations, alternative models of personality assessment, and psychotherapy processes and outcomes. His current research focuses primarily on alcohol use disorder, the role of demoralization in severe mental illness, Latino mental health, and the DSM-5 Alternative Model for Personality Disorders.

• Mitchell, E., A, Roberson PNE, Amer, Z, Garcia, D., J, Cordova, J., V, Gordon, K., C. 2022. Couple variables predicting retention in a brief intervention and research.. Family process, 61 (3), 1180-1194
• Lenger, K., A, Mitchell, E, Garcia, D., J, Amer, Z, Shorter, R., L, Gordon, K., C. 2022. Is mindfulness one-size-fits-all?: Consulting community members and stakeholders to adapt mindfulness for communities with low-income and economic marginalization.. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 49, 101664
• Garcia, D., J, Waugh, M., H, Skadberg, R., M, Crittenden, E., B, Finn MTM, Schmidt, M., R, Kurdziel-Adams, G. 2021. Deconstructing criterion a of the alternative model for personality disorders.. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 12 (4), 320-330
• Garcia, Darren., J., Crittenden, E.., Bailey, Skadberg, Rebecca., M. , finn, Michael., T.M., Schmidt, Megan, Kurdziel-Adams, Gretchen, Waugh, Mark., H.. 2021. Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale as Level of Personality Functioning. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 38 (3), 185-193
• Mulay, A., L, Cain, N., M, Waugh, M., H, Hopwood, C., J, Adler, J., M, Garcia, D., J, Kurtz, J., E, Lenger, K., A, Skadberg, R. 2018. Personality Constructs and Paradigms in the Alternative DSM-5 Model of Personality Disorder.. Journal of personality assessment, 100 (6), 593-602
• Garcia, D., J, Skadberg, R., M, Schmidt, M, Bierma, S, Shorter, R., L, Waugh, M., H. 2018. It's not that Difficult: An Interrater Reliability Study of the DSM-5 Section III Alternative Model for Personality Disorders.. Journal of Personality Assessment, 100 (6), 612-620
• Merrill, B., M, Warren, J., S, Garcia, D., J, Hardy, S., A. 2017. Youth motivation as a predictor of treatment outcomes in a community mental health system.. Psychotherapy Research , 27 (2), 215-226
• Garcia, D., J, Janis, R, Flom, R. 2015. Children's recognition of pride.. Journal of experimental child psychology, 137, 85-98
• Flom, R, Janis, R., B, Garcia, D., J, Kirwan, C., B. 2014. The effects of exposure to dynamic expressions of affect on 5-month-olds' memory.. Infant behavior & development, 37 (4), 752-9