My research broadly aims to better understand the etiology of depression and risk behaviors such as suicide and substance use across development, and translate findings to inform prevention and intervention strategies for youth and families. My work focuses on partnering with communities and primary care clinics to improve access to and use of effective mental health services.
My current projects include studies focused on adapting and evaluating suicide prevention intervention and implementation strategies for use with adolescents and their families in primary care and outpatient medical settings, including developing and adapting brief, just-in-time, and digital interventions to expand access to services.
In addition to research, I am also a clinical psychologist in the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program and the Crisis Care Clinic at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
I am a bilingual, bicultural psychiatrist with interests in cultural psychiatry, psychotherapy, trauma-informed care, and improving quality of care and safety for our patients/families that receive care in a language other than English and other underserved communities.
I joined the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry faculty at the University of Washington in Fall of 2022 after completing my Child and Adolescent Psychiatry training here at the University of Washington at Seattle Children’s Hospital and General Psychiatry SUNY Upstate Medical University, with emphasis in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Trauma Focused- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
I am trained in both adult and child and adolescent psychiatry. I have been part of the University of Washington and the Seattle Children’s Hospital psychiatry and behavioral medicine faculty since August 2022. Prior to moving to Seattle, I had spent much of my training and career in my hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii. In addition to clinical care, I enjoy medical education and teaching. I am currently part of the Behavioral Health Integration Program as a consultant psychiatrist in the Fremont and Shoreline UW Primary Care Clinics and the Partnership Access Line (PAL) service for primary care doctors currently servicing Washington, Alaska and Wyoming. I am certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in both Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
My research focuses on how social influences shape individuals’ health behaviors in both constructive (e.g., physical activity) and risky ways (e.g., alcohol use). I take a translational approach to my research in that I aim to understand how social processes, such as normative influences, relate to behavior so that we can leverage these influences to reduce harm and improve health.
Specific areas of interest include alcohol and other substance use, mental health, and gambling/sports betting. My primary focus is helping young adults during the transition into adulthood.
I have a background in sport psychology, and am passionate about helping athletes navigate the unique stressors involved in high-level sport. In this domain, I serve as a fellow at the U.S. Center for Mental Health and Sport.
I am a pediatric psychologist who specializes in working with patients with cancer, tumors of the central nervous system, hematological disorders, and immunological disorders, including patients undergoing a stem cell transplant. I provide psychosocial care to children, adolescents, and young adults seen in the Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
In addition to clinical care, I engage in program development, quality improvement projects, and research. My research focuses on understanding psychosocial needs and improving psychosocial assessment and interventions for children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer and their families across the treatment trajectory. I have specific interests in survivorship, adolescent and young adults with cancer, and adolescent peer relationships.
Dr. Walukevich-Dienst (hear my name) is a licensed clinical psychologist and an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington.
Her research is focused on identifying psychosocial and contextual factors associated with alcohol and cannabis misuse and co-use among young adults, including social influences (e.g., romantic partners, use partnerships), affect management motives, co-occurring mental health concerns, and high-risk substance use events and contexts.
Dr. Walukevich-Dienst aims to leverage this information to develop and test innovative, technology-informed prevention and intervention efforts to disseminate in real world settings.
She also provides psychotherapy to patients at the University of Washington’s Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic and provides supervision and training to psychology graduate students and psychiatry residents in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Link to Dr. Walukevich-Dienst’s CV.
I am a child and adolescent psychiatrist with interests in medical education, infant and early childhood mental health, and psychotherapy. I direct psychotherapy training for child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) fellows, co-lead the CAP fellows’ didactic curriculum, and coordinate the CAP training experiences of general psychiatry residents.
My clinical work includes treatment in the outpatient setting for young children through adolescents, working closely with their families. I am passionate about psychiatrists supporting families comprehensively. I seek to use not only medications (if appropriate) but also behavioral/psychotherapeutic approaches.
I have done research on expanding behavioral treatments for young children by involving peer supports—caregivers who have previously participated in the programs for their own children—as members of the care team.
Dr. Blayney’s research aims to understand the risks for and consequences of sexual victimization. More specifically, this work centers around how social contexts influence sexual victimization risk as well as variation in post-victimization recovery, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, alcohol use, and sexual risk behaviors.
