Congratulations to Dr. Courtney Humeny!

Courtney Humeny successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis January 13. Courtney’s thesis integrated several conceptual frameworks to investigate survivors of a romantic relationship with a psychopath. Qualitative and quantitative analyses revealed that survivors of psychopaths experienced more physically harmful, versatile, and frequent forms of abuse, and elevated symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Mental health, social support, the time since last contact with the abuser, and the length of the relationship all contributed to survivors’ ability to experience growth and/or resilience despite their negative experiences. The theoretical and practical implications of the results were discussed, focusing especially on domestic abuse prevention and intervention. Congratulations Courtney!