Reva Dalela is a senior research assistant in the child welfare program area. She graduated from Macalester College with a BA in Psychology and a concentration in community and global health. In addition to her coursework, she worked in various direct service settings providing care to survivors of sexual assault, survivors of state-sanctioned torture, children diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disorders, and more. She finds direct service work deeply enriching, as it allows her to better understand the role of societal, cultural, and contextual factors in effective mental health care. Direct service work has also helped inform her interests in research. At Macalester, she worked with different faculty members on research projects such as ‘Examining the Qualities of Deaf-hearing Friendships,’ ‘Measuring Anxiety Mindsets,’ and the ‘Minnesota Opioid Archive Project.’ For her senior project, she conducted an extensive literature review on culturally sensitive, trauma-informed models of care for survivors of sex trafficking in the US, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Broadly, Reva’s research interests include child trauma, clinical psychology, equitable access to care, community-based research, and participatory action research. She hopes to continue working to better understand and meet the needs of underserved populations.