Laurel Hicks, PhD

  • she/her/hers
  • Research Associate

Dr. Hicks is passionate about wellness and ensuring ALL people are provided equal opportunity to thrive in their life. She threads together research, clinical and policy pathways to ensure there is both micro and macro level change. She specifically focuses her research on improving wellness in the perinatal year and especially wants to ensure that clinical interventions are inclusive and relevant to all communities, especially those who are exposed to violence (community, interpersonal, racial) and/or trauma. Dr. Hicks earned a dual-title Ph.D. in Social Work and Infant Mental Health from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, she is a Licensed Clinical Social Workers and completed a postdoctoral fellowship focused on reducing depression in pregnancy and how this may improve lifelong trajectories for their infants. She believes that by intervening in pregnancy, there is the potential to not only affect the pregnant parent, but the fetus as well. In her free time, you may find her hiking in the Rockies, teaching prenatal yoga or mindfulness classes, and cultivating and creating herbal remedies.