Melissa R Schick, PhD

Melissa Schick is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Study of Trauma, Addiction, and Recovery (STAR) Lab within the Division of Prevention and Community Research (DPCR) at the Yale School of Medicine. Her research program focuses on the intersection of trauma, addiction, and health equity, with a particular emphasis on how positive emotional and psychological processes shape resilience and recovery.

Dr. Schick’s work examines substance use and related outcomes among individuals disproportionately affected by stress and adversity, including those in recovery from substance use, trauma-exposed individuals, and members of marginalized and minoritized communities. This work treats positive psychological states and skills as measurable mechanisms that can buffer traumatic stress and discrimination, reduce substance use and related consequences, and potentially be leveraged as interventions to promote well-being.

Methodologically, Dr. Schick’s work (a) leverages experience sampling and other intensive longitudinal methodologies to capture within-person fluctuations in positive processes and examine their proximal links to substance use and (b) focuses on psychometrics and measurement supporting valid assessment in diverse samples when testing interventions, including positive psychological interventions. Dr. Schick's work is currently funded through federal (i.e., National Institute on Drug Abuse) and foundation (i.e., Society of Addiction Psychology) grants.