PENN STATE HBG
MIDDLETOWN, PA 17057
Biography
Dr. Maria A. Turkson is a member of the Graduate Faculty and has a wealth of experience teaching across a variety of levels from introductory to advanced levels for undergraduates as well as graduate students. Dr. Turkson teaches many courses in online and hybrid formats, and developed the college's first psychology course in these formats for PSYCH 100: Introduction to Psychology.
Dr. Turkson is a licensed psychologist and Board Certified by the National Register of Health Care Providers for Psychologists. She has won numerous awards for service (the Penn State Harrisburg Kathryn Towns Award for women's issues), professional practice (the Early Career Credentialing Award from the National Register of Psychologists), and research (the National Career Development Award for Outstanding Research).
Dr. Turkson is also the co-advisor to the International Honor Society in Psychology, Psi Chi (Chapter 800) at Penn State Harrisburg and has worked with Psi Chi on organizing various events on campus, such as her regular Domestic Violence Awareness Month talks and Applying to Graduate School in Psychology talks. In addition, she is responsible for producing the Dr. Phil Zimbardo talk on campus in 2019.
Research Interests
- Therapist self-care
- The therapy relationship between client and therapist (in particular the working alliance)
- Career development using personality variables as predictors
- Gender and Race
- Cancer Prevention
Publications
Seitz, C. A., Poyrazli, S., Harrisson, M.A., Flickinger, T, Turkson, M. A. (2014). Virtual reality exposure therapy for military veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review. The New School Psychology Bulletin, 11(1), 14-29.
Schneck, M. M., Bowers, T. G., & Turkson, M. A. (2012). Sex-role orientation and attachment styles of sex offenders. Psychological Reports, 110(2), 624-638.
Turkson, M. A., Norcross, J. C., & Guy, J. D. (2007). Restructuring cognitions. In J. C. Norcross & J. D. Guy (Eds.), Leaving it at the office: A guide to psychotherapist self-care. New York: Guilford.
Hill, C. E., Kelly, F. A., Davis, T. L., Crook, R. E., Maldonado, L. E., Turkson, M.A., Wonnell,T. L., Suthakaran, V., Zack, J. S., Rochlen, A. B., Kolchakian, M. R., Codrington, J. N. (2001). Predictors of outcome of dream interpretation sessions: Volunteer client characteristics, dream characteristics, and type of interpretation. Dreaming: Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams, 11(2), 53-72.
Norcross, J. C., Sayette, M. A., Mayne, T. J., Karg, R. S., & Turkson, M. A. (1998). Selecting a doctoral program in professional psychology: Some comparisons among Ph.D. counseling, Ph.D. clinical, and PsyD clinical psychology programs. Professional Psychology Research and Practice, 29(6), 609-614.
Education
B.S.; M.A.; Ph.D. (Maryland)