Education and Experience

Westley A. Youngren (he/him/his) completed his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a minor in Quantitative Psychology at the University of Kansas. After completing his Ph.D., Dr. Youngren worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Veteran’s Affairs Center of Excellence for Suicide Research and at the University of Rochester Psychiatry Department where he examined the relationship between sleep and suicide.

Teaching

Dr. Youngren’s teaching background includes Psychopathology, Sleep & Dreaming, Quantitative Psychology, and Cognitive Neuroscience.

Research

Dr. Youngren’s research focuses on the intersection of sleep and trauma, with a particular emphasis on trauma-related nightmares. His current research concentrates on integrating sleep and dreaming science within trauma informed care, examining the relationship between nightmares and suicide, and utilizing advanced statistical analyses to examine large pre-existing databases. Dr. Youngren’s research commonly employs longitudinal research methods, ecological momentary assessment, polysomnography, and treatment outcome studies.  Dr. Youngren is a member of the Sleep Research Society, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, and the International Association for the Study of Dreams.