
Heather Carmichael Olson, PhD
Personal Statement
I am a psychologist who carries out research, provides community education to a broad range of audiences, trains postgraduate students, works on public policy– and has served as a clinician with children and families for many years. My main interests are fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), early childhood mental health, and interventions for children born prenatally exposed to alcohol and other drugs and their families. My research is currently based at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, but I also works in collaboration with UW researchers. A main research focus has been the Families Moving Forward (FMF) Program, a family-focused FASD intervention, now being disseminated in the USA and Canada. The FMF Program is also now being translated into a mobile health application for even broader use. Through Seattle Children’s, I direct a new pilot service focused on assessment and short-term consultation for children with prenatal alcohol exposure. I also offers mental health services to a broad range of young children and develops research focused on early childhood mental health.
Education
Behavioral Teratology , University of Washington , 1989-1991
Psychology Internship Training , University of Washington, Center on Human Development and Disability , 1986-1987
Ph.D. , Developmental and Child-Clinical Psychology , University of Washington , 1978-1986
M.A. , Speech-Language Pathology , University of Iowa , 1974-1976
B.S. , Biological Sciences , University of Redlands , 1970-1974
Department Affiliations
Centers/Programs
Other Affiliations
Early Childhood Clinic – Seattle Children’s Hospital
Autism Center – Seattle Children’s Hospital
Training Clinic
Recent Publications
(2023 Mar)
Alcohol Clin Exp Res 47(3): 577-588
Kautz-Turnbull C, Rockhold M, Handley ED, Olson HC, Petrenko C
(2021 Dec 2)
JMIR Form Res 5(12): e29687
Petrenko CLM, Kautz-Turnbull CC, Roth AR, Parr JE, Tapparello C, Demir U, Olson HC
(2021 Oct)
Alcohol Clin Exp Res 45(10): 2040-2058
Jacobson JL, Akkaya-Hocagil T, Ryan LM, Dodge NC, Richardson GA, Olson HC, Coles CD, Day NL, Cook RJ, Jacobson SW
(2021 May)
Alcohol Clin Exp Res 45(5): 916-921
Olson HC, Sparrow J
(2020)
PLoS One 15(6): e0234895
Wagner B, Latimer J, Adams E, Carmichael Olson H, Symons M, Mazzucchelli TG, Jirikowic T, Watkins R, Cross D, Carapetis J, Boulton J, Wright E, McRae T, Carter M, Fitzpatrick JP
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