Dr. Christopher Liang

Professor and Chair, Department of Education & Human Services
Phone: 
610-758-3253
Office: 
Room A325

Dr. Christopher T. H. Liang is Chairperson for the Department of Education and Human Services at Lehigh University and a professor of counseling psychology. His areas of scholarship include the effects of racism on the wellbeing of people of color, the role and intersections of masculinity ideologies, and his current and primary foci - the implementation and outcomes associated with building a race-centered trauma-responsive school, as well as the effectiveness of college and career readiness programs for youth with or at risk of an Emotional Behavioral Disorder. He has published articles and book chapters, and has authored/edited two books, including an edited book entitled, The Cost of Racism for People of Color: Contextualizing Experiences of Discrimination. He is the current editor of the American Psychological Association's (Division 45) Book Series, Cultural, Racial, and Ethnic Psychology.

Dr. Liang works with school districts, Universities, Departments of Health and Human Services, as well as not-for-profit community organizations to strengthen their capacity to serve diverse children, youth, and families, particularly in the context of trauma. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Divisions 17, 45, 51), former President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinities, and through his work in the community, recognized as a Citizen Psychologist by the APA.

Recent Publications (*denotes student author)

Beachy, S., & Liang, C. T. H. (in press). Patterns in pro-gun beliefs and weapon carrying behaviors in Rural White adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence.

Freeman, J., Carter, D., Kern, L., Liang, C. T. H. Rosati, S., Sinnott, S., & Mui, V. (in press). Race and Gender Representation in College and Career Readiness Research for Students with Emotional Behavioral Disorders. Career Development and Transition Services for Exceptional Individuals.

Liang, C. T. H. Gutekunst, M. H. C., Liu, L., Rosenberger, T., & Kohler, B. A. (in press). Formative Evaluation of Peace Spaces in a Middle School: Teacher Perceptions and Student Usage. Psychology in the Schoolshttps://doi.org/10.1002/pits.23045

Liang, C. T. H., Gutekunst, M. H. C., Kohler, B.A., Rosenberger, T., Mui, V. W., Williams, K., Safi, J. M. (in press). The Formation and Functions of School-Based Trauma Leadership Teams: A preliminary qualitative study. Psychology in the Schoolshttps://doi.org/10.1002/pits.23024

Liang, C. T. H., Kohler, B. A.,* Williams, K.,* Rosenberger, T.,* Safi, J. M.,* & Gutekunst, M.* (in press). Building race-centered trauma-responsive schools: One path toward justice in education. In S. Hage (Ed.), An Ounce of Prevention. Cambridge University Press.

Liang, C. T. H., Rosati, S. A., Fluharty, M., Gabrilowitz, R., Carter, D., Mui, V., Kern, L., & Freeman, J. (2023). A DisCrit Critique of Supportive Practices for Youth with or at-risk of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Journal of Emotional Behavior Disordershttps://doi.org/10.1177/10634266221141064

Kern, L., Kelly, S., Rosati, S.A., Shera, S., Fluharty, M., Gabrilowitz, R., Carter, D., Liang, C.T.H. & Freeman, J. (2023). Systematic Review of College and Career Readiness Interventions for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Problems. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals.

Gutekunst, M.,* & Liang, C. T. H. (2023). From invisibility to bivisibility: Identity abuse and mental health outcomes among bisexual individuals. Journal of Bisexuality.

Beachy, S.,* Lechuga, J., Dickson-Gomez, J., & Liang, C. T. H. (2022). Validation of the Brief Condom Use Attitudes Scale for Spanish speaking people who-use-drugs in El Salvador. Archives of Sexual Behavior.

Liang, C. T. H., Liu, L.,* Beachy, S.,* & Bhatt, N.* (2022). The influence of childhood trauma and masculine ideology on teacher ratings of student risk behavior. Professional School Counseling.

Liang, C. T. H. (2022). An Intersectional Perspective on Relational-Cultural Theory: A Commentary on Di Bianca and Mahalik (2022). American Psychologist.

Rivera, L. A., Liang, C. T. H., Johnson, N. L., & Chakavorty, S. (2021). Military sexual trauma: Exploring the moderating role of restrictive emotionality among male veterans. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.

Cadenas, G. A., Sosa, R.,* & Liang, C. T. H. (2021). Immigrant youth's community participation to promote immigrant rights and resist psychosocial and sociopolitical challenges.

Liang, C. T. H., Liu, L.,* Rocchino, G., H.,* Kohler, B.,* & Rosenberger, T.* (2021). Trauma-informed care training for educators: Some preliminary evidence. Journal of Prevention and Health Promotionhttps://doi.org/10.1177/263207702097203

Liang, C. T. H., Rocchino, G.,* Gutekunst, M.,* & Smithson, A.* (2020). The Associations between Adolescent Masculinity, Academic Self-Efficacy, Image Management, Self-Regulatory Behaviors, and Academic Skepticism. Psychology in the Schools.

Molenaar, C., & Liang, C. T. H. (2020). A brief qualitative exploration of men’s possible masculinities. Psychology of Men and Masculinities.

Liang, C. T. H., Rocchino, G.*, Gutekunst, M.,* Paulvin, C.,* Melo, K.,* & Snowden, T.,* (2019). Perspectives of respect, teacher-student relationships, and school climate among boys of color: A multifocus group study. Psychology of Men of Masculinities.

Song. G.,* & Liang, C. T. H. (2019). Masculine gender role expectations in China: A Consensual Qualitative Research - Modified study. Psychology of Men and Masculinity.

ORCID: 0000-0003-1126-3597

Media Engagement

https://www.self.com/story/marginalized-mental-health-resources

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-culture-of-masculinity-and-its-neg...

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/making-newshour-weekend-tuning-into-bi...

https://www.npr.org/2020/01/23/799004218/going-to-therapy-can-be-hard-es...

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/05/18/716350714/wheres-masculinity-headed-mens-groups-and-therapists-are-talking

https://www.philly.com/health/men-cuddling-group-healing-trauma-mental-health-20190325.html

https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2019/03/18/why-masculinity-is-in-turmoil/

https://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-nws-florida-school-shooting-lehigh-valley-reaction-20180215-story.html

https://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-lehigh-valley-schools-united-way-trauma-20170526-story.html

Gender, Race, Inclusion, and Trauma Lab

Resilient Lehigh Valley

Proud and Honored to be Included in this video with our wonderful partners at United Way (Greater Lehigh Valley) and Bethlehem Area School District.

Mountain Talk: Helping Kids, Caregivers, and Teachers Cope During COVID-19 Changes

This is a recording of an invited Mountain Talk during the initial stages of Pandemic given in June 2020.

Student Well-Being in an Altered Environment due to the Pandemic

This is a recording from an invited panel talk with CBSE Academics and Training in August 2020.  My portion starts at about the 39th minute.

Creating Calm Page

Brooke Kohler and Teresa Rosenberger, both members of our team, and I collaborated with our wonderful partners at Resilient Lehigh Valley on this page to provide support to educators during the initial stages of the Pandemic.

Our MTSS Page

Kelsey Gaier, School Psychology doctoral student, and I developed this page to help schools understand and organize their MTSS in the context of racial trauma and Covid-19. 

Resources for Caregivers and Educators

Teresa Rosenberger and Brooke Kohler, two members of the lab, created this Trello Board as a hub for resources during the initial stages of the Covid-19 shutdown.

Notable Professional Accomplishments and Activities:

  • Endowed Iacocca Chair (current)
  • Department Chairperson (current)
  • Co-author, Handbook of Multicultural Measures
  • Co-editor, The Costs of Racism for People of Color: Contextualizing Experiences of Discrimination.
  • Member, Pennsylvannia Department of Education - Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Task Force
  • Recipient of "Citizen Psychologist" from the American Psychological Association
  • Researcher of the Year (2018), Division 51 (Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity)
  • President of Division 51 (2012 - 2015; Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity)
  • Served on the Editorial Boards of The Counseling Psychologist and the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development
  • Serves on the Editorial Boards of Psychology of Men and Masculinities and the Journal of Prevention and Health Promotion 
  • Fellow of the American Psychological Association:
    • Division 45, Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, & Race
    • Division 17, Society of Counseling Psychology
    • Division 51, Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinties