Biography
Dr. Satveer Kler (any pronouns/name) is a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Palo Alto University in the Clinical Psychology PhD program. Dr. Kler received their PhD in Counseling Psychology from Southern Illinois University in 2024 and was a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)-funded research fellow through the Enhancing Diversity in Alcohol Research (EDAR) Fellowship through the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Kler has trained at multiple institutions in both California and Illinois. Dr. Kler teaches the Cross-Cultural Issues in Psychology course at PAU alongside an elective in Qualitative Research Methodologies in Psychology. They direct the Substance Use and Intergenerational Trauma Social Processes (SITS) Lab at Palo Alto University.
Dr. Kler’s line of research focuses on the interpersonal, sociocultural, and institutional social processes underlying intergenerational trauma and substance use among marginalized groups (i.e., BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and LGBTQ+ BIPOC individuals). They have co-authored an empirical constructivist grounded theory model of intergenerational trauma for LGBTQ+ BIPOC individuals and are currently working on a counter-memory project on how descendants of colonialism, enslavement, and genocide understand their identities. Other ongoing projects have ranged a consensual qualitative research-modified study of how licensed mental health providers define, conceptualize, and treat intergenerational trauma; an interpretative phenomenology study of how non-Abrahamic religious groups understand and negotiate their LGBTQ+ identities; and a critical discourse analysis study of how California Domestic Violence Shelters construct their substance use policies concerning their shelter residents.
Upcoming projects include the construction of a scale measuring Intergenerational Trauma and Intergenerational Resilience specifically among BIPOC communities as existing measures of these constructs contain questionable psychometric properties; cross-disciplinary research combining intergenerational trauma scholarship with family studies scholarship; culturally-specific harm reduction research for substance use; and community-based participatory research with local agencies serving marginalized communities.
Central to Dr. Kler and the SITS’ Team’s work are the principles of liberation psychology of de-ideologizing research from the shackles of coloniality, cultural epistemicide, whiteness, and post-positivism while centering embodied, ancestral wisdom via critical qualitative research methods that co-construct knowledge with marginalized communities.
Education
- PhD in Counseling Psychology - Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2024)
- MA in Psychology - Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2021)
- BA in Psychology and B.A. in Literature - University of California, Santa Cruz (2018)
Areas of Expertise
Teaching Interest Areas: cross cultural psychology; clinical interviewing; supervision theories; qualitative research methodologies
Research Interest Areas: social processes related to trauma, substance use, and intergenerational trauma among BIPOC and LGBTQ+ BIPOC individuals; culturally-affirming care; critical qualitative research methodologies
Publications
- Sahu, A., Kler, S., & Siglar, F. (In press). “All interactions are inherently cultured": Evaluating multicultural case conceptualization skills in clinical supervision. The Counseling Psychologist.
- Kler, S., Sahu, A., Chwalisz, K., & Arora, S. (2025). The Intergenerational Trauma Experiences and Healing (ITEH) Model for LGBTQ+ BIPOC Individuals. Journal of Counseling Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000809
- Shefcik, G., Tsai, P.T. & Kler, S. (2025). Reliability and Severity Levels of the Voice-Related
Experiences of Nonbinary Individuals (VENI). Journal of Voice. Advance Online Publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2025.03.009 - Le, T.P. & Kler, S. (2024). Queer Asian American Men’s Racialized Dating Preferences: The Role of Internalized Racism and Resistance and Empowerment Against Racism. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. 11(2), 225-236. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000602
- Goldbach, C., Knutson, K., Kler, S., Klooster, D., LeForce, S. E., & Milton, C. (2023). “I owe no
one any gender performance”: Transgender and nonbinary individuals’ experiences of gender dysphoria in bodily, social, and systemic contexts. Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies, 2(1-2), 27-46. https://doi.org10.57814/cchg-zz61 - Kler, S., Shepherd, B.F., & Renteria, R. (2023). Community Connectedness as a Moderator of the Association between Intersectional Microaggressions and Alcohol Use Disorder among Sexual and Gender Minoritized People of Color. Substance Use and Misuse. 58(1), 129-138. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2022.2149246
- Kler, S., Arora, S., & Le, T.P. (2023). Validation of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) among LGBTQ+ People of Color. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. 56(4), 283-296. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481756.2022.2109174
- Knutson, D., Peter-Hagene, L., & Kler, S. (2022). Liberal Political Orientation Strengthens the
Positive Relationship between Religiosity and Support of Restrictive Bathroom Legislation. Sexuality Research and Social Policy. 19(1), 119-132. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13178-020-00529-8