Erika Carr, PhD has returned to Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC) to serve as Director of the Inpatient Psychology Service. In her role, she will further develop the psychological services provided on the 4th floor inpatient unit, oversee psychology training, and partner with staff to incorporate recovery-oriented care. She has also been appointed as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine. CMHC is a collaborative endeavor of the Connecticut Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services (DMHAS) and the Yale Department of Psychiatry; many department faculty members serve as practitioners and administrators at CMHC.
Dr. Carr earned her doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology in 2011 at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. She completed her internship at Emory University School of Medicine/Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia where she gained experience with inpatient psychiatric treatment, serious mental illness, and forensics. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in 2012 at Yale/CMHC, where she engaged in clinical work with individuals who are homeless, experience serious mental illness, and are dually diagnosed. During her fellowship, she also focused on public sector mental health administration. Following her time at Yale, she worked as a psychologist at the Memphis VA Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee, where she provided primary care mental health integration in a specialty clinic that serves individuals who experience serious mental illness. She was a strong advocate across the VA mental health system for the veracity of recovery-oriented care.
Dr. Carr is excited to return to CMHC to work with a team of people devoted to partnering with clients in their journey of recovery. "I am passionate about recovery-oriented care," she says. "I believe that all individuals have strengths within that can be used for self-empowerment, and they have the ability to work towards living a life of personal meaning. Always maintain hope; our clients can and do recover."
Dr. Carr's research interests include serious mental illness, recovery-oriented care, sexual objectification of women, substance use, training, and trauma. She is on the Executive Committee of Division 35 (Psychology of Women) in the American Psychological Association and is leading a task force to advocate for the unique needs of women who experience serious mental illness. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, hiking, kayaking, and other outdoor activities. She is also an avid traveler and aspires to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro on her next trip.