Skip to Main Content

Laura Yoviene Sykes, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
DownloadHi-Res Photo

Additional Titles

Director, STEP Learning Collaborative

About

Titles

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Director, STEP Learning Collaborative

Biography

Laura Yoviene Sykes, a licensed clinical psychologist, earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, under the mentorship of Dr. Jean Rhodes. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame, where she received the John F. Santos award for distinctive achievement in psychology. At Notre Dame she worked as a research assistant under Dr. Mark Cummings at the Family Studies Lab and under Dr. Lee Anna Clark at the Center for Advanced Measurement of Personality and Psychopathology; these experiences have guided her developmental approach to serious psychopathology.

Dr. Yoviene Sykes specializes in the treatment and assessment of young people who are experiencing clinical high-risk for psychosis or a first psychotic episode. She has had the privilege of training at the CEDAR Clinic, part of Massachusetts Mental Health Center, in which she was trained in evidence-based techniques for conducting comprehensive individual and family focused treatment, consultation, and cognitive testing. Consistent with her research on risk and resilience, these experiences have informed her understanding of factors contributing to psychosis risk, as well as the effectiveness and mechanisms through which various interventions shorten the duration of untreated psychosis and promote recovery.

Prior to joining the faculty at Yale, Dr. Yoviene Sykes completed her pre- and post-doctoral fellowships in the Yale Department of Psychiatry, specializing in the treatment of schizophrenia spectrum disorders, including specialized training in treating first episode psychosis at the STEP program.

Currently, Dr. Yoviene Sykes is the Director of the STEP Learning Collaborative, Connecticut’s statewide learning healthcare system (LHS) for individuals ages 16-35 experiencing recent-onset schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The purpose of STEP’s Learning Collaborative is for all persons with schizophrenia to live fulfilling lives. The STEP LC aims to do this by partnering with agencies across Connecticut to deliver a system of care that provides rapid access to high quality treatment. Activities of this collaborative include workforce development, stakeholder outreach, informatics, care model refinement, and building sustainable care models. Dr. Yoviene Sykes also serves as a staff psychologist and oversees the provision of family services for the Specialized Treatment Early in Psychosis (STEP) clinic at the Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC).

Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

Postdoctoral Fellowship
Yale School of Medicine
PhD
University of Massachusetts - Boston, Clinical Psychology
Psychology Predoctoral Fellowship
Yale School of Medicine
MA
University of Massachusetts - Boston, Clinical Psychology
BA
University of Notre Dame, Psychology

Research

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Laura Yoviene Sykes's published research.

Publications

Featured Publications

2021

2019

  • The effects of youth mentoring programs: A meta-analysis of outcome studies
    Raposa, E.B., Rhodes, J., Stams, G.J., Card, N., Burton, S., Schwartz, S., Yoviene Sykes, L. A., Kanchewa, S. S., Kuperschmidt, J. & Hussain, S. (2019). The effects of youth mentoring programs: A meta-analysis of outcome studies. Journal of Youth and Adolescence (48) 423-443.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research

2016

  • Corrective experiences in school-based mentoring: The mediating role of rejection sensitivity.
    Kanchewa, S. S., Yoviene, L. A., Schwartz, S. E. O., Herrera, C., & Rhodes, J. E. (2016). Corrective experiences in school-based mentoring: The mediating role of rejection sensitivity. Youth & Society, 1-22.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • activity

    American Psychological Association - Division 18: Psychologists in Public Service

  • activity

    American Psychological Association - Task Force on Serious Mental Illness/Serious Emotional Disturbance (TF-SMI/SED)

  • activity

    Connecticut Psychological Association Educational Foundation Board

  • activity

    Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) Network

  • activity

    Connecticut Psychological Association

Get In Touch

Contacts

Academic Office Number