Patricia Mejia

Graduate Research Assistant

Clinical Psychology: Physical Health; Pain; Somatic Healing; Integrated Holistic Care; Community Interventions; Liberatory Practices; Scientist-Practitioner-Activism

Patricia Mejia is a doctoral student in the Psychological Fitness Lab. Prior to attending GMU, she was a Monarch 𓃬 (ODU) and a Ragin' Cajun ⚜️ (ULL).

Her current research focuses on the intersection between psychological (i.e., anxiety, depression, PTSD) and physical health (e.g., pain, inflammation), and the underlying mechanisms (e.g., emotion regulation, experiential avoidance) that may play a role in the relation. Particularly, she is interested in utilizing multi-method approaches including physiological tools (e.g., cortisol, HRV) and behavioral interventions (acceptance-based, exercise) to study the factors relevant in the development, maintenance, and treatment of psychological disorders.

If you are a student that is interested in learning more about what it is like to navigate college or graduate school while being from an underrepresented community (e.g., first-gen, immigrant, LGBTQIA+, disabled, military, multi-racial, ethnic), feel free to reach out!☻

In her free time, Patricia enjoys the outdoors, eating doughnuts, and thrifting.

Pronouns: She/Her/Ella

Languages: English (Fluent), Spanish (Advanced), French (Basic)

Current Research

Patricia is actively involved in the Mason: Health Starts Here transdisciplinary student cohort study to understand and improve the health and well-being of university students.

Courses Taught

Cross-Cultural Psychology

Intro to Psychology

Social Psychology

Clinical & Counseling Psychology

Psychological Testing & Assessment

Psychological Testing & Measurement

Education

M.A. in Psychology, George Mason University

M.S. in Psychology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

B.S. in Psychology, Old Dominion University

In the Media

Patricia will be co-leading an AFFIRM Youth Group and AFFIRM Adult Group!

Patricia will be co-leading a MBCT for Chronic Pain Group!