Tami Sullivan, PhD
Professor of PsychiatryCards
About
Titles
Professor of Psychiatry
Director, Division of Prevention and Community Research, Psychiatry; Director, NIDA-funded T32 Training Program in Substance Use Prevention Research, Psychiatry; Director, Family Violence Research and Programs, Psychiatry
Biography
Dr. Sullivan's research program focuses on both individual and system-level factors that influence the wellbeing of women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV). Her naturalistic studies dedicate particular attention to daily processes, exploring how experiences and behaviors unfold in natural environments, employing micro-longitudinal designs. Her interventional studies promote relationship health, resilience and recovery from trauma and substance use. Integral to her approach is community-partnered research.
At the individual level, Dr. Sullivan's research advances understanding of factors that foster resilience, such as self-efficacy, empowerment, and hope, as well as factors that heighten the risk for negative outcomes, including posttraumatic stress, substance use, and sexual risk behaviors. At the systems level, she conducts IPV research in substance use, criminal justice, HIV, and other service systems. She studies the impact of the system’s response on women’s emotional and physical wellbeing, including the ways in which it promotes or impedes their safety, recovery and resilience.
Dr. Sullivan’s development of community-based and service-system interventions includes a peer-led support group, a single-session intervention to promote hope, and a stepped-care behavioral health intervention aimed at reducing trauma symptoms to enhance retention in opioid use disorder care. Dr. Sullivan disseminates findings to researchers, practitioners, and the public through various formats, including practitioner briefs, blogs, infographics, webinars, and popular media, to accelerate the translation of research into changes in practice and policy.
She is a licensed psychologist with expertise across a range of treatment settings, from inpatient and outpatient programs for mental health and substance use disorders to community programs for women who experience IPV (e.g., domestic violence service providers) and court-mandated interventions for individuals who use IPV.
Appointments
Psychiatry
ProfessorPrimarySocial and Behavioral Sciences
ProfessorSecondary
Other Departments & Organizations
- All Institutions
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS
- Family Violence Lab
- Psychiatry
- Psychology Section
- Social and Behavioral Sciences
- The Consultation Center
- Yale Global Mental Health Program
- Yale Ventures
Education & Training
- PhD
- Northeastern University (2002)
- MA
- Boston College (1996)
Research
Program of Research
Overview
Medical Research Interests
Public Health Interests
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
News
News
- December 16, 2025Source: Yale News
Improving the Medical and Forensic Care of Sexual Assault Survivors in the Emergency Department
- October 24, 2025Source: Everytown Research
The Intersection of Intimate Partner Violence and Firearm Threats: Explicit and Implicit Threats in the Lives of IPV Victims
- July 14, 2025
Sullivan Co-Lead of Healing Within: Smoking Cessation Intervention for American Indian Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence
- June 27, 2025
Sullivan Lab Welcomes South Dakota Researchers During Visit to Yale
Get In Touch
Contacts
Psychiatry
The Consultation Center, 389 Whitney Avenue
New Haven, CT 06511-
United States