Jerusha Detweiler-Bedell

Professor of Psychology

Biology-Psychology 235, MSC: 16

My program of research brings together investigations of human decision-making, health psychology, and clinical psychology. In particular, I am interested in promoting physical and mental health behaviors using message framing. Although the average person has many opportunities to adopt behaviors that increase physical health and mental well-being, it can be challenging to carry out these behaviors regularly. My research objective is to tackle the problem of failing to do “what’s best” for one’s physical and mental health.

Academic Credentials

Yale University (PhD 2001; M.Phil. 1998; M.S. 1997)

Stanford University (MA 1995; BA 1995)

Teaching

Psy 100: Introduction to Psychology

Psy 360: Psychology of Gender

Psy 370: Clinical Psychology

Psy 375: Health Psychology

Psy 445: Psychology Internship

Psy 460: Community Psychology

Research

Representative Publications: Dr. Detweiler-Bedell’s research investigates the role of message framing (i.e., taking objectively equivalent information and describing it in subjectively different ways) in promoting beneficial physical and mental health behaviors. She publishes in peer-reviewed journals such as American Psychologist, Clinical Psychology: Science and PracticeHealth PsychologyJournal of Social and Clinical PsychologyPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, and others. Notable publications include Doing Collaborative Research in Psychology: A Team-Based Guide (a book written in collaboration with Brian Detweiler-Bedell); peer-reviewed articles written in collaboration with undergraduates; a co-authored book used in training clinicians in the U.S. and Canada (Treatment Planning in Psychotherapy: Taking the Guesswork Out of Clinical Care); and co-authored papers on her model of organizing undergraduate research (“A classroom of colleagues,” “Establishing the flow of collaborative research,” “Using laddered teams to organize efficient undergraduate research” and “Transforming undergraduates into skilled researchers using laddered teams”).

Research Presentations: Dr. Detweiler-Bedell presents her research each year at professional conferences (including the meetings of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology and the Western Psychological Association) and does so in collaboration with numerous Lewis & Clark College undergraduate students. She regularly works with students to secure grant funding so they too can attend these conferences, and she especially enjoys yearly reunion dinners with former undergraduates (now doctoral students and professors) at these meetings.

Professional Experience

Dr. Detweiler-Bedell joined the Lewis & Clark College faculty in 2001 and holds the rank of Professor of Psychology. She discovered her love of teaching as an undergraduate at Stanford, where she was a teaching fellow in Introduction to Psychology. As a graduate student at Yale, she sought out additional teaching opportunities, including a summer position co-teaching Social Psychology, a guest lectureship in multivariate statistics, and an instructorship in an online alumni course called “The Intelligent Emotions.” She teaches Introduction to Psychology, Health Psychology, Psychology of Gender, Clinical Psychology, Psychology Internship, and Community Psychology and has been selected by Lewis & Clark College students as a Teacher of the Year finalist in 2005, 2006, and 2007. In 2008 she won the Outstanding Baccalaureate Colleges United States Professor of the Year Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. From 2014-2015 Dr. Detweiler-Bedell was the interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and from 2016-2019 she was the founding director of the College’s Teaching Excellence Program (TEP).

She is currently the founding director of the College’s Center for Community and Global Health and an advisor for students minoring in Health Studies.

Location: Biology-Psychology Hall