Stephanie B. Kors

Stephanie B. Kors serves as Assistant Professor of Psychology at Loyola University Maryland and lecturer at Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Health Alliance, with research spanning developmental psychopathology, intergenerational trauma transmission, and clinical training pedagogy. Her work critically examines substance use disorders (particularly opioid addiction in pregnancy), psychotherapy outcomes, and systemic barriers to trauma-informed mental healthcare for underserved populations.

Dr. Kors' academic credentials include:

• B.A. in Psychology (cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from University of Georgia
• M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from University of Tennessee, Knoxville
• Pre-doctoral Internship and Post-doctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Health Alliance

Her research program integrates three interconnected domains: (1) Etiology of opioid misuse in pregnancy through childhood trauma and attachment lens; (2) Structural barriers affecting treatment-resistant underserved populations; (3) Curriculum innovation for undergraduate and graduate clinical training. Current NIH-funded projects investigate how early drug use experiences influence addiction trajectories and parent-child relationships.

Analysis of her 11 publications (2017-2021) reveals consistent focus on borderline personality features, intergenerational child maltreatment cycles, and perinatal substance use disorders. Methodologically, she employs longitudinal cohort studies, mediation analyses, and meta-analytic techniques across clinical psychology and public health journals.

Research support includes principal investigator roles for two Harvard Medical School grants on psychotherapy training and external funding from the American Psychological Foundation (APF) and International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) for clinical education initiatives.

Dr. Kors teaches PY 600 (Assessment and Appraisal), PY 601 (Cognitive Assessment), PY 845 (Psychodynamic Psychotherapy), and PY 920 (Individual Therapy Supervision) while maintaining a part-time private practice serving children, adolescents, and adults through individual, family, and couples therapy.

She collaborates extensively with Dr. Judy Macfie's research team at Loyola and Harvard, with co-authored works appearing in Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment and Journal of Affective Disorders, focusing on trauma transmission mechanisms and treatment adaptations.