Crabtree arrived at St. Jude in 2007 as a clinical psychologist and joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology in 2010 as director of Clinical Services and Training. In her new role as chief of Psychosocial Services, Crabtree oversees numerous departments and clinics that address the psychosocial needs of St. Jude patients and families, including the Psychology Clinic, Child Life Services, the St. Jude School Program, Social Work, Spiritual Care, the Resilience Center, and the Transition Oncology Program. In addition to her clinical and administrative work, Crabtree is a faculty member in the St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and she conducts research on sleep and fatigue in children with cancer. Her work includes a focus on interventions to promote alertness and energy level in children undergoing treatment for cancer and in brain tumor survivors, particularly those who have been treated for craniopharyngioma. In 2015, Crabtree and her co-author, Lisa Meltzer, Ph.D., published 鈥淧ediatric Sleep Problems: A Clinician鈥檚 Guide to Behavioral Interventions.鈥 Crabtree holds an undergraduate degree from Trinity University and earned master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees in counseling psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi. Following graduate school, she completed her internship in clinical child/pediatric psychology and fellowships in pediatric psychology and behavioral sleep medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, after which she became certified in behavioral sleep medicine.
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The COVID-19 pandemic turned our society on its head. One of the changes was a strange new reality where parents became school teachers overnight.
19-Aug-2020 03:25:28 PM EDT
Valerie Crabtree, Ph.D., a St. Jude psychologist and leading expert in research on sleep disruptions in children with cancer, has been promoted to Chief of Psychosocial Services.
21-Aug-2018 03:05:25 PM EDT
Dr. Valerie Crabtree, chief of Psychosocial Services at St. Jude Children鈥檚 Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, writing in the magazine Psychology Today, explains: 鈥淣o one knows the perfect way to parent during a pandemic. No one has studied the question or had experience with this during our lifetime. We have to rely on what we already know about having warm, healthy relationships with our children.鈥
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鈥淎s long as we鈥檙e doing our best and showing our children we love them, and want to keep them safe and healthy, that鈥檚 the best we can do,鈥 Dr. Crabtree said.
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鈥淚 think for a lot of children, a school is a safe place for them. And unfortunately, we have homes that are less physically and psychologically safe for children. When they're not able to go back to school, this has been a really extended period if they are potentially in an unsafe environment, having that continue and not having a teacher or school counselor who is keeping eyes on their kids to recognize signs of abuse or neglect.鈥
鈥淎 lot more pressure on kids to follow all of these rules 鈥 to keep their masks on all day long, to not touch people, to play differently, to behave differently in the classroom. We're expecting a lot, particularly in the younger age groups that may induce some behavior difficulties, just from having expectations that may be really difficult for them to meet needs.鈥