Faculty

Research Interests

Developing and maintaining relationship health; Brief couple interventions; Impact of relationships on physical and emotional health; relationship traumas (e.g., infidelity, IPV) and forgiveness.

Research statement

I conduct my research and practice in the area of couple therapy. My interests and work in the area include: 1) identifying the processes through which partners cope with relationship trauma and forgiveness; 2) treating couples dealing with infidelity; 3) improving existing couples treatments; and 4) relationship health in general. I am collaborating with colleagues at Duke University on a federally funded couples-based smoking cessation program for Latinos. Currently, I have a large federally funded project implementing the Marriage Checkup into a low-income population to improve relationship healthy.  My work attempts to systematically integrate a cognitive-behavioral orientation to relationships with a more developmental-affective treatment approach. My methodology utilizes self-report measures, interviews, observational coding, and written personal narratives.

• 2013 - Elected Fellow, APA Division 43 (Society of Family Psychology)
• 2013 - Elected President-Elect, APA Division 43 (Society of Family Psychology)
• 2012 - UT College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Academic Outreach Award
• 2010 - Consulting Editor of the Year Award for Journal of Family Psychology
• 2008 - Selected for APA's Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology
• 2007 - Distinguished Service Award, APA Division 43: Family Psychology
• 2005 - Re-elected to Board of APA Division 43: Family Psychology
• 2005 - Chancellor's Award for External Funding
• 2003 - Elected to Board of APA Division 43: Family Psychology
• 2002 - Departmental Faculty Appreciation Award
• 2001 - Co-president AABT Couples Research and Therapy Special Interest Group

• 2011 - Administration for Children and Families, DHHS; Primary Investigator
• 2014 - Relationship Rx: Integrating a Couples Intervention Program into a Primary Care Setting
  $2,155,342 over 3 years
• 2009 - National Institute for Alcohol and Addictions(NIAAA), Co-Investigator
• 2011 - Todd Moore, PI
  Ecological momentary assessment of relapse to substance use following treatment
  $73,500 total costs over 2 years
• 2009 - American Psychological Foundation Randy Gerson Memorial Award and Grant - Sponsor
  Jennifer Willett, Student, PI
  Intergenerational Transmission of Divorce and Discord
  Funded - $6000
• 2008 -  National Cancer Institute – R01; Co-Investigator,
• 2013    Kathryn Pollak, Duke University Medical Center, PI
  En parejas: A Latino couples intervention to help expectant fathers quit smoking
  $3,610,149 over 5 years
  Funded
• 2006 - NIAAA National Research Service Award for pre-graduate study, Sponsor
  Julianne Hellmuth, student, University of Tennessee, PI
  Funded for 2007-2010, $21,000/year
• American Psychological Foundation Randy Gerson Memorial Award and Grant, 2000
• UTK ICE Interdisciplinary Grant, 2001
• UTK SARIF Infrastructure Professional Development Award, 1999

*Flanagan, J.H., Gordon, K.C., Stuart, G.L., & Moore, T.M. (in press). Women's Postpartum Stress and Depression Symptom Profiles as They Relate to Intimate Partner Violence and Relationship Adjustment. Psychology of Violence.

*Flanagan, J. H., Gordon, K.C., Moore, T.M., & Stuart, G.L. (in press). The moderating effect of women's alcohol misuse on the relationship between intimate partner violence victimization and postpartum depression. American Journal on Alcohol and Addictions.

*Gilbert, S. E., & Gordon, K. C. (in press). Predicting forgiveness in women experiencing intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women.

*Hellmuth, J.C., Jaquier, V.E., Gordon, K.C, Moore, T.M., & Stuart, G.L. (in press). Examining the Prevalence, Bidirectionality, and Co-occurrence of Sexual Intimate Partner Violence among Women during Pregnancy and Postpartum. Partner Abuse.

Moore, T. M., Seavey, A., Ritter, K., McNulty, J. K., Gordon, K. C., & Stuart, G. L. (In press). Ecological Momentary Assessment of the Effects of Craving and Affect on Risk for Relapse during Substance Abuse Treatment. Psychology of Addictive Behavior

*Gordon, K.C., Dixon, L.J., & Wischkaemper, K.   (In press). Couple Therapy. In A.M. Nezu and C.M. Nezu (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies. New York: Oxford University Press.

*Hughes, J. A., Khaddouma, A. M., Gordon, K. C. (in press). "Couple Therapies." In Encyclopedia of Clinical Psychology. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

* Willett, J. M., Gilbert, S. E., & Gordon, K. C. (In press). Infidelity and Couple Dysfunction. In E. Lawrence  & K. Sullivan (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Relationship Science and Couple Interventions. Oxford University Press.

*Hellmuth, J.C., Gordon, K.C., Stuart, G.L., & Moore, T.M. (In press). Women's Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration During Pregnancy and Postpartum.Maternal and Child Health Journal.

*Hellmuth, J.C., Gordon, K.C., Stuart, G.L., & Moore, T.M. (2013). Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Violence Victimization During Pregnancy and Postpartum. Archives of Women's Mental Health, 16, 19-27.

*Gilbert, S. E., & Gordon, K.C. (2013). Treatment of Avoidant Personality Disorder with Subsequent Depression. Clinical Case Studies,12(2), 111-127.

*Dixon, L., Gordon, K.C., Frousakis, N. N., & Schrumm, J. (2012). A study of expectations and the marital quality of participants of a marital enrichment seminar. Family Relations, 61, 75-89.

Snyder, D. K., Baucom, D. H., Gordon, K. C., & Doss, B. D. (2012). Infidelity and other relationship betrayals.  In D. K. Snyder & C. M. Monson (Eds.), Couple-based interventions for military and veteran families. New York: Guilford Press.

Sexton, T.L., Gordon, K.C., Gurman, A.S., Lebow, J.L., Holtzworth-Monroe, A., & Johnson, S. M.. (2012). Recommendations from the Division 43: Family Psychology Task Force on Evaluating Evidence-Based Treatments in Couple and Family Psychology. Family Process, 50, 377-392.

*Carmody, P. & Gordon, K. C.  (2011). Offender variables: Unique predictors of benevolence, avoidance, and revenge? Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 1012-1017.

Pollak, K. I., Denman, S., Gordon, K. C., Lyna, P., Rocha, P., Brouwer, R. N., Fish, L., & Baucom, D. H. (2010).Is pregnancy a teachable moment for smoking cessation among US Latino expectant fathers?: A pilot study.  Ethnicity and Health, 15, 47-59.

*Gilbert, S., Willett, J. M., Carmody, P., & Gordon, K. C. (2010). Forgiveness as a resolution strategy for severe marital conflicts. In F. Colombus (Ed.), Marriage: Roles, Stability, and Conflicts. Hauppaug, NY: Nova Science Publishers.

*Gordon, K.C., Dixon, L. J., Hughes, F. M., & Willett, J. (2009). Behavioral and Cognitive-Behavioral Couple and Family Therapies. In M. Stanton & J. Bray (Eds) Handbook of Family Therapy. New York: Blackwell.

Sexton, T.H., & Gordon, K. C. (2009). Identifying Evidence-based Couple and Family Treatments. In M. Stanton & J. Bray (Eds.) Handbook of Family Therapy. New York: Blackwell.

*Gordon, K.C., Hughes, F. M., Tomcik, N. B., Dixon, L. J., & Litzinger, S.  (2009). Widening circles of impact: The effects of forgiveness on family functioning.  Journal of Family Psychology, 23, 1-13.

*Gordon, K.C., Frousakis, N., Dixon, L. J., Willett, J., Christman, J., Furr, R., & Hellmuth, J. (2008). Intrinsic/extrinsic religiosity, social pressure, and views of forgiveness. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 27, 311-319. (Invited contribution to a Special Issue).

Snyder, D. K., Baucom, D. H., & Gordon, K. C. (2008). An integrative approach to treating infidelity. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 16, 300-307. (Invited contribution to a Special Issue.).

*Gordon, K.C., & Christman, J. A. (2008). Integrating Social Information Processing and Attachment Style Research with Cognitive-Behavioral Couple Therapy. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 38, 129-138(Invited contribution to a Special Issue).

Gordon, K.C., Baucom, D.H., & Snyder, D.K. (2008). Optimal Strategies in Couple Therapy: Treating Couples Dealing with the Trauma of Infidelity. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 38, 151-160. (Invited contribution to a special issue).

*Gordon, K.C., Baucom. D.H., Snyder, D. K., & Dixon, L. J. (2008). Treating affair couples. A. Gurman (Ed.), Clinical Handbook of Couple Therapy (pp. 429-458). New York: Guilford Press.

Kröger, C, Vasterling, I., Schütz, K., Plack, K., Gordon, K. C., & Baucom, D.H. (2007) Kognitiv-behaviorale Paartherapie nach Affäre: Zwei Fallbeschreibungen. Verhaltenstherapie. 17, 271-277.

Snyder, D. K., Baucom, D. H., & Gordon, K.C. (2007). Treating infidelity: An integrative approach to resolving trauma and promoting forgiveness. In P. R. Peluso (Ed.), In Love's Debris: A Practitioner's Guide to Addressing Infidelity in Couples Therapy.  New York: Routledge.

*Hughes, F. M., Stuart, G. L., Gordon, K. C., & Moore, T. M. (2007). Predictors of
Relationship Violence Perpetration in Women Arrested for Domestic Violence.  Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 24, 155-176.

Whisman, M., Gordon, K.C., & Chatav, Y. (2007). Predicting sexual infidelity in a nationally representative sample:  The relative contributions of vulnerability, stressors, and opportunity. Journal of Family Psychology, 21, 320-324.