Robert Cleve

Greetings,

I am an Associate Professor and the Specialization Coordinator for the newly envisioned Creativity, Innovation, and Leadership specialization in the Department of Humanistic Psychology's MA and PhD programs. Formerly known as Creativity Studies, we have held the traditions from the inception of the field of creativity through our pioneers that include (but are not limited to) Dr. Steven Pritzker and Professor Emerita Dr. Ruth Richards. Dr. Terri Goslin-Jones was my most immediate predecessor and highlighted the work from the expressive arts field and engaged in some wonderful curriculum development through her creativity at work focus.

Collectively, and with several students enrolled in the specialization and after traveling to several conferences on creativity, we decided to transition the specialization to include not only Creativity, but also, Innovation, and Leadership. The new courses were developed through a lens of a global approach to creativity models and theories inclusive of a view from being part of a "culture of creatives", innovators in the field, and leaders that support our student success in their research and work trajectories.

I have served as Faculty Senate Co-Chair and have recently also co-chaired the Faculty Rank Committee and was part of the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Council. In working with the leadership team at Saybrook, I have the honor of understanding and encouraging a shared governance model that allows for multiple voices to be heard across various decision-making opportunities. As Co-chair of the Faculty Senate with Dr. Julie Cerrato, we can engage bi-directional communication between the faculty and leadership and work closely with our faculty senators on initiatives that enhance our connections with all faculty members, including adjunct faculty.

I achieved my PhD in International Psychology (IP) through The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and enjoyed taking part in that program as a full-time faculty member immediately after graduation. I served for 9 years as the Research and Methodology lead. I supervised over 20 PhD dissertation research projects that were engaged cross-culturally and required unique methodological approaches, including multiple languages and dual IRB processes. My primary focus was on the cultures of Brazil and Hong Kong. I was a visiting scholar in the summer of 2019 with Istanbul Bilgi University in Turkey and offered academic conference presentations in Rome, Dubai, Moscow, and Istanbul. This was in addition to presentations at our residential conferences for the IP program and national conferences in the U.S.

I have been with TCSPP since September 2007 as an adjunct faculty member in the MACC program. I was hired as a full-time staff member in the APP department in April 2008 and most recently promoted to Assistant Faculty member in the International Psychology PhD department in October of 2013. My career has largely focused on the delivery of clinical services to a variety of underserved populations including children and adolescents, LGBT and HIV/AIDS counseling and disclosure issues, the adult chronically mentally ill, and substance abuse and dependence. I am currently advancing my dissertation research, which was a cross-cultural study exploring disclosure decisions of sexual identity between Brazil and the U.S., and added the cultural cohort of Istanbul, Turkey, in the Summer of 2014. This research has grown in focus to include the concept of Creative Survival and is in consideration for publication across several venues. I am also a member of the Possibility Studies Network, a global entity supporting optimism and all things possible.