Tami Sullivan, PhD

Dr. Sullivan's program of research is centered on individual- and system-level factors that affect the wellbeing of victims of intimate partner violence (IPV), with specific attention to daily processes and micro-longitudinal designs. At the individual level, Dr. Sullivan's work aims to advance understanding of the relationships among IPV and its highly prevalent negative outcomes such as posttraumatic stress, substance use, and sexual risk in an effort to develop preventive interventions that promote safety and resilience. At the systems-level, she conducts IPV research and evaluation within the criminal justice and other service systems. She studies the impact of the system’s response on victims’ wellbeing including the ways in which it promotes or impedes victims’ safety, recovery and resilience. She collaborates with community partners locally and nationally to study the impact of criminal justice system interventions, including being a key investigator on the National Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative, a multi-site evaluation of two interventions to reduce IPV and IPV-related homicide across the United States. She disseminates findings broadly to have the greatest impact including to professionals (e.g., to court-based practitioners through the Center for Court Innovation) and the general public (Cosmopolitan magazine). Dr. Sullivan is a licensed psychologist who has extensive clinical experience with victims and offenders of IPV, providing services in a range of settings from community programs, dual diagnosis programs, inpatient settings, and outpatient clinics to domestic violence shelters, transitional living programs, and community programs.