Uma Chandrika Millner | Lesley University
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Uma Chandrika Millner

Associate Professor of Psychology and Holistic Psychology

photo of faculty member uma millner

Dr. Uma Chandrika Millner (pronouns: she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Applied Therapies at Lesley University. Prior to Lesley, she worked as a Research Scientist at Boston University in their Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation and taught as part-time faculty in the mental health counseling program at Boston College. Her overall professional approach is grounded in social justice and multiculturalism. Dr. Millner is very passionate about teaching and has a strong commitment to diversity in the classroom setting.

Dr. Millner’s research is largely intersectional, bridging areas of vocational psychology, psychiatric rehabilitation, and multiculturalism. Dr. Millner has conducted numerous research projects involving qualitative and quantitative methodologies focused on community integration of adults living with serious mental health conditions and the mental health of multicultural populations. At Lesley, she leads a team of research professionals and assistants as part of the Mental Health Identity and Adaptability (MHIA) Research Lab. As a participatory researcher, Dr. Millner partners with individuals with lived experience to inform and develop her research projects. At present, the MHIA lab is working on a project funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, Rehabilitation, and Research (NIDILRR) which involves the development of the career pathways model and an instrument assessing the career advancement of individuals with psychiatric disabilities.

Dr. Millner is also committed to service in the community and at Lesley. Dr. Millner volunteers for local organizations in the Greater Boston area. In the academic year 2019-2020, Dr. Millner led an initiative called Career Studio in collaboration with her colleagues from the Lesley Center for the Adult Learner. Career Studio provided career-based supports and services to Lesley students living with mental health conditions. Most recently, she co-founded INDEAR, a collective of mental health professionals across the globe. INDEAR provides training and workshops in collaboration with mental health organizations in India.

Selected Publications

Millner, U.C., Satgunam, S.A., Green, J., Woods, T.S., Love, R., Nutton, A., & Ludlow, L. (in press). Career Advancement Inventory: Assessing the attainment of decent work among individuals with psychiatric disabilities. Journal of Applied Measurement.

Millner, U.C., Maru, M., Ismail, A., & Chakrabarti, U. (in press). Decolonizing Mental Health Practice: Centralizing Asian Identities and Narratives in Mental Health through a Social Justice Lens. Asian American Journal of Psychology [Special Issue].

Millner, U.C., Azhar, S., & Jokhakar, V. (in press). Intersectional perspectives on the mental health of South Asians in the United States. In S. Bhandari (Ed.). South Asians in the US: The Model Minority. National Association of Social Work Press.

Bhandari, S. & Millner, U.C. (in press). Prevalence of domestic violence among South Asian women in the United States and mental health symptoms. Journal of International Women's Studies.

Stevenson, B. J., Millner, U.C., Satgunam, S., & Love, R. (2021). Hope, adaptability, and job-search intensity among individuals living with serious mental illness. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, pp. 1-7. DOI: 10.3233/jvr-211147.

Rogers, E.S., Millner, U.C., Ludlow, L., Lord, E. M., & Russinova, Z. (2021). Development of an inventory of community participation for individuals with psychiatric conditions. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 44(1), 51-62.

Millner, U.C., Rogers, E.S., Bloch, P., Costa, W., Pritchett, S., Woods, T., Texiera, C., & Hintz, K. (2020). Unpacking the meaning of work for individuals living with serious mental illness. Journal of Career Development. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845320941256.

Millner, U.C., Rogers, E.S., Brandt, D., Chan, L., Jette, A., Marfeo, E., Pengsheng, N., & Rasch E. (2020). Exploring Counselor-Client Agreement on Clients’ Work Capacity in Established and Consultative Dyads. Journal of Employment Counseling, 57(3), 98-114.

Millner, U.C., Woods, T., Furlong-Norman, K., E. Sally Rogers, Rice, D., & Russinova, Z. (2019). Socially valued roles, self-determination, and community participation among individuals living with serious mental illnesses. American Journal of Community Psychology, 63, 32-45.

Millner, U. C., & Kim, M. (2017). Perspectives on work and work-related challenges among Asian Americans with psychiatric disabilities. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 8(3), 177-189.

Millner, U.C., Rogers, E.S., Bloch, P., Costa, W., Pritchett, S. & Woods, T. (2015). Exploring the Work Lives of Adults with Serious Mental Illness from a Vocational Psychology Perspective. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 62, 642-654.

Millner, U.C. (2015). Revitalizing communication between split identities and psychotic processes in a South-Asian treatment dyad. Women and Therapy, 38, 31-52.

Selected Presentations

Symposia

Satgunam, S. A. & Millner, U.C. (August, 2021). The Career Pathways Framework: A Contextualized Stage Model for the Career Advancement of Individuals Living with Serious Mental Health Conditions. In Pathways to Decent Work and Careers among Individuals Living with Serious Mental Health Conditions. Symposium conducted at the 129th annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

Millner, U.C., Satgunam, S., Woods, T., Nutton, A., Green, J., Becker, B., & Ludlow, L. (August, 2020). Career Advancement Inventory: Psychometric properties of a career development scale for individuals with serious mental health conditions. In Career Development among Individuals Living with Serious Mental Health Conditions. Symposium conducted at the 128th annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

Millner, U.C. & Woods, T., & Hintz, K. (August, 2018). Unpacking the importance of work for adults with serious mental illness. In Perspectives on the Vocational Development of Individuals with Serious Mental Illness. Symposium conducted at the 126th annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

Invited Presentations

Millner, U.C. (July, 2021). Mental health in South Asian youth. Keynote presentation at the first South Asian Youth Mental Health Conference organized by Saheli, Inc (a South Asian community-based organization).

Millner, U.C. (May, 2021). Providing psychological first aid to Indian frontline workers during the Covid 19 pandemic. Individual presentation at 47th National Annual Conference on Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists (NACIACP2021).

Millner, U.C. (March, 2021). Invited speaker for panel presentation titled "Making Mental Health Services More Accessible and Responsive to AAPI Communities" organized by "Let's Talk" webinar series of Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Millner, U.C. (March, 2021). Invited speaker for panel presentation titled "Unpacking Stigma, Breaking Barriers: Mental Health in the South Asian Community" organized by "Let's Talk" webinar series of Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Individual Presentations

Nutton, A. & Millner, U. C. (October, 2020). Perspectives on careers among diverse adults living with psychiatric disabilities. Individual presentation at 20th annual conference of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture.

Millner, U.C., Woods, T., Hintz, K., & DeTore, N. (August, 2017). Unpacking the role of providers in the community inclusion of adults with psychiatric disabilities. Individual presentation at the 125th annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

Millner, U.C., Satgunam, S., Vessel, K., & Green, K. (October, 2016). Opening Doors: Using career guidance strategies to help individuals with psychiatric conditions find meaningful work. Individual presentation at the 15th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis (ISPS) – US chapter.

Millner, U.C., Kaur, P., & Surendranath, P. (August, 2016). A Multi-modal Intervention Model for South Asian American Women Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence. Continuing education workshop conducted at the annual national convention of the Asian American Psychological Association.

Millner, U.C. (August, 2015). Taking steps towards community integration: Developing an understanding of “community” as defined by adults with psychiatric disabilities. Individual presentation at the 123rd annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

Workshops

Millner, U.C., Maru, M., Ismail, A., & Chakrabarti, U. (October, 2020). Decolonizing Asian Mental Health: Expanding Discourse on Stigma, Intersectionality, and Cultural Appropriation. Workshop presented at 20th annual conference of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture.

Alexis, M. & Millner, U. C. (October, 2020). Healing justice: Healing arts & mindfulness for mental health and liberation. Workshop presented at 20th annual conference of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture.

Millner, U.C., Popat-Jain, A., Mehmood, S., Chaturvedi, D., & Murali, P. (November 2019). Mental health workshop: Eradicating stigma of mental health in South Asian communities. Workshop conducted at University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Millner, U.C., Maru, M., & Zhu, X. (October 2019). Brief family counseling for Asians in recovery from serious mental health conditions. Workshop conducted at conducted at the 19th annual conference of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture.

Rice, D., Seibold, M., Millner, U.C., & Woods, T.S. (May, 2016). Recovery through Community Membership. Workshop conducted at the Recovery Workforce Summit: Annual conference of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association.

Millner, U.C., Rapp, J., & Kim, M. (June, 2015). Career Stories: Using narratives to address systemic barriers in the world of work for Individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds. Workshop conducted at the Recovery Workforce Summit: Annual conference of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association.

Millner, U.C. (April, 2015). Employment services and multicultural competencies. Workshop at the annual Massachusetts conference of Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE).

Restrepo-Toro, M., Millner, U.C., & Guenther, M. (October, 2013). Allies in recovery: Learning to engage racially and culturally diverse adults with psychiatric conditions. Workshop conducted at the 12th annual conference of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association.