ABOUT US

MISSION

We will always work to optimize care for all infants and their families in NICU settings through direct family involvement, staff support, research, and education.

VISION

We strive to be the leading voice and resource for mental health services in NICU settings.

VALUES + CORE BELIEFS

Psychologists have unique training and skills to optimize medical, socioemotional, and neurodevelopmental outcomes for NICU infants and families. Psychology services should be integrated into every NICU in the United States.

Implementation of evidence-based, targeted interventions to improve parental, familial and infant mental health is critical to the long-term health and well-being of each child and family.

National collaboration among NICU psychologists is essential to state-of-the art education, clinical research, and advocacy for policy development and change.

GOALS + OBJECTIVES

As a group we will provide mentorship to those entering our profession and advocate for the role of psychologists and other mental health providers in the NICU setting. We shall facilitate collaboration between members of our organization and other medical and mental health advocacy organizations in the field of postpartum and perinatal mental health.

NPA is the home for innovative programs and practitioners. What began as an idea at a NICU psychologists' retreat has become a professional organization. The National Network of NICU Psychologists (NNNP) is a critical next step to improving perinatal care as it coordinates, connects, and educates psychologists around the country who work in the NICU setting.

Co-chairs Drs. Allison Dempsey and Sage Saxton have led the development of advocacy, research, and professional training committees that will transform and elevate the role of mental health care providers in the support of fragile NICU families.

Allison Dempsey, PhD

Executive Council Co-Chair 

Allison G Dempsey, PhD. Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine. I have the privilege of serving as the Co-Chair of the National Network of NICU Psychologists, along with Dr. Saxton. I have worked in the NICU, neonatal follow-up, and fetal care settings since 2010 in Texas and Colorado. My clinical focus is on providing services to medically complex infants and their families from pregnancy through early childhood and am thrilled to be involved in training the next generation of NICU psychologists at various levels of development (externship to post-doc). My research focuses on individual, family, and systems level factors that affect an infant’s neurodevelopment, health, and family wellness. I am particularly interested in intervention approaches that can be implemented in the perinatal and neonatal periods.

Sage N. Saxton, PsyD

Executive Council Co-Chair

Sage Nottage Saxton PsyD., PMH-C. Associate Professor, Pediatrics at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). I am honored to serve on the National Perinatal Association’s (NPA) Board and am Co-Chair with Dr. Dempsey of the National Network of NICU Psychologists (NNNP). I have been involved in NICU work for the last 13 years and direct the NICU Follow Up Program. I am passionate about training and have practicum students, pre doctoral interns, and post-doctoral fellows rotate within my NICU Follow Up program and serve as our LEND Training Director. My research interests include improving the patient and family experience within the NICU, executive functioning and early intervention in preschool populations, and assessment and treatment of postpartum mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs).

Tiffany Willis, PsyD

Executive Council Secretary and Co-Chair of the Advocacy Committee

Tiffany Willis, PsyD., Licensed Clinical Psychologist at Children’s Mercy Hospital and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at University of Missouri at Kansas City. I am on the Executive Council of NPA’s National Network of NICU Psychologists (NNNP) and the co-chair for the Advocacy committee. I also serve as the chair of NPA’s Perinatal Mental Health Workgroup. I received my training in Infant Mental Health and have been working in the NICU for 4 years and with infants and families in other settings for 7 years. Currently, I serve as the Neonatal Psychologist working in the Fetal Health Center, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and the Neonatal follow up clinic. My research interests include the impact of psychosocial support for parents on the well-being of their baby and the power of attachment on the developing brain.

Pamela A. Geller, PhD

Executive Council / Chair of Research Committee 

Pamela A. Geller, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training/Clinical Psychology PhD program at Drexel University, and Research Associate Professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology at Drexel's College of Medicine. I am honored to serve on the Executive Council of the National Network of NICU Psychologists (NNNP) and to chair the NNNP Research committee. For over 25 years, my research has focused on psychological aspects of adverse events surrounding pregnancy and childbirth, such as infertility, pregnancy loss, and NICU hospitalization. At Drexel, I am co-founder and co-director of Mother Baby Connections, an interdisciplinary, intensive outpatient mental health program for pregnant and postpartum women experiencing anxiety and depression and their infants. With a Visiting Professorship in Neonatology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, I collaborate with colleagues on addressing the experiences of NICU parents with projects relevant to parental distress and adjustment, and nurse education. I also am proud to serve as the founding faculty supervisor for the newly formed National Perinatal Association Student Society (NPASS) at Drexel.

Amy Baughcum, PhD

Executive Council / APA Liaison Society of Pediatric Psychology (Division 54)

Amy Baughcum, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Clinical Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Nationwide Children’s Hospital. I am honored to serve on the National Perinatal Association’s (NPA) Board and as chair of the American Psychological Association’s Special Interest Group (SIG) of Division 54 (Society of Pediatric Psychology). I have been involved in NICU work for over 10 years, providing intervention services to families and serving as the clinical lead of neonatal psychosocial services. I supervise pre- doctoral psychology interns and post-doctoral fellows within the NICU. My research interests include family risk and resiliency in the NICU, psychosocial screening, and improving neonatal end of life/bereavement care.

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