Position:

Undergraduate Adjunct Faculty

Contact Information:

nwernimont@paloaltou.edu

Faculty Status:

Adjunct Faculty 

Programs:

Bachelors

Education:

PsyD, Clinical Psychology, PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium, Palo Alto University (2013)
MS, Clinical Psychology, PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium, Palo Alto University (2010)
BA, Philosophy, University of California, Santa Cruz (2003) 

Biography:

Dr. Nicole Wernimont is an Adjunct Professor in the Palo Alto University Bachelor of Science in Business Psychology Program. She holds a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the PGSP-Stanford University Psy.D. Consortium.  She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, with an emphasis in Women’s Mental Health and Trauma, and her pre-doctoral internship at the Greater Los Angeles VA Health Care System. Prior to obtaining her doctorate in clinical psychology, Dr. Wernimont completed a B.A. in philosophy at the University of California, Santa Cruz, with an emphasis in existential philosophy.

Dr. Wernimont’s clinical and research expertise are in the areas of posttraumatic stress, including complex PTSD, posttraumatic growth, and women’s mental health. She has made numerous professional and peer-reviewed presentations in these areas. Additionally, her dissertation research combined her interest in psychology and philosophy by developing an existential-cognitive model of posttraumatic growth, which focuses on the roles of perceived agency, freedom, and responsibility in developing posttraumatic meaning.

Dr. Wernimont is currently teaching the History of Psychology course, and looks forward to infusing students’ understanding of contemporary psychology with an historical and multicultural perspective that highlights often marginalized, yet critical, voices in the development of the field. 

Areas of Interest:

Treatment of Traumatic Stress and Cultivation of Posttraumatic Growth; Treatment of Substance Use Disorders; Self-Care and Mindfulness for Clients and Clinicians; Multiculturalism in Counseling and Clinical Psychology; Psychology of Women; LGBTQQIA Mental Health

Talks and Lectures:

Ortigo, K., Ramirez, H., Wernimont, N., & Vella, L. (July, 2014). LGBT health care within VA Medical Centers; moving toward safe spaces for all veterans. Invited Training of the Safe Spaces Campaign: San Francisco VA Medical Center and VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California.

Ortigo, K., Wernimont, N. (June, 2014). LGBT health care within VA Medical Centers; moving toward safe spaces for all veterans. A Training of the Safe Spaces Campaign: San Francisco VA Medical Center and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.

Wernimont, N., Koopman, C. (March, 2011). Psychological benefits of expressive writing; individual and social implications for treating survivors of political violence. Invited talk: University of California Santa Cruz, Department of Psychology Colloquium series, Santa Cruz, California.

Wernimont, N., Dawson, T., Zimbardo, P.G., & Breckenridge, J.B. (August, 2010). The surprising and unexpected relationships between traumatic experience, volunteerism, and heroic action. Poster presented at the American Psychological Association Annual Conference, San Diego, California.

Dawson, T.D., Wernimont, N., Zimbardo P.G., & Breckenridge, J.B. (August, 2010). Implications of the relationship between time perspective and emotional distress. Poster presented at the American Psychological Association Annual Conference, San Diego, California.

Koopman, C., & Wernimont, N. (July, 2010). Psychological benefits of expressive writing about political violence. Paper presented at the Narrative, Trauma, Reconciliation and Healing Roundtable organized by the Caucus of Concerned Scholars (Chair:  Kristen Renwick Monroe), Annual meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology, San Francisco, California.

Wernimont, N., Dawson, T., Breckenridge, J., & Zimbardo, P.G. (April, 2010). Dynamic links between trauma, volunteering and heroism. Poster presented at the Western Psychological Association Conference, Cancun, Mexico.

Dawson, T., Wernimont, N., Breckenridge, J., & Zimbardo, P.G. (April, 2010). The suggested causal relationship between time perspective and emotional distress. Poster presented at the Western Psychological Association Annual Conference, Cancun, Mexico.

Koopman, C., & Wernimont, N. (June, 2008). Traumatic stress in the international  context: Implications for political psychology. Invited paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology, Paris, France.

Koopman, C. & Wernimont, N. (March, 2008). Applying psychology to understanding international studies: Illustrations from psychological perspectives on traumatic stress. Invited paper presented at the Annual meeting of the International Studies Association, San Francisco, California.

Koopman, C., & Wernimont, N. (January, 2008). Ethical and scientific considerations of traumatic stress in the international context. Invited talk presented at Politics, Psychology and Ethics, a Public Forum with Members of the International Society of Political Psychology, University of California, Irvine.

Selected Publications:

Koopman, C., & Wernimont, N. (2012). Ethical and scientific considerations of traumatic stress in the international context. In Monroe, K. (Ed.), Science, Ethics, and Politics. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.

 McDermott, R., & Wernimont, N., & Koopman, C. (2011). Applying psychology to international studies: Challenges and opportunities in examining traumatic stress. International Studies Perspectives, 12, 119-135.