Dr. Tyrel Starks administers cognitive-behavioral and motivational interviewing interventions as part of randomized clinical trials examining the effectiveness of behavioral interventions in reducing substance use, risky sexual behaviors, and medication non-adherence.

Dr. Starks received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. In his research, Dr. Starks has focused on the construct of sexual orientation and its assessment. Early in his graduate training, he began the process of constructing pencil-and-paper measure for the assessment of sexual-romantic attraction and behavior. Termed the Attraction-Intimacy Assessment inventory, this instrument facilitates the dimensional assessment of Attraction to Men, Attraction to Women, Intimacy with Men, and Intimacy with Women. Dr. Starks is particularly interested in interactions among components of sexual orientation (identity, attraction, and behavior) and the impact of single component assessment methods on study results.

Dr. Starks’ clinical training included extensive work with children, adolescents, families, and adults. He recently completed a pre-doctoral internship at MercyFirst, a large residential foster care agency based in Syosset, NY. His experiences included a year long practicum appointment on the adult units followed by a year long externship appointment on the child and adolescent unit at Clyde L. Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center, a large state-funded psychiatric hospital in Illinois, as well as a year long externship at the medium/maximum securing Illinois Youth Correctional Center in Harrisburg, Illinois. In addition, he managed a drop in center for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and questioning youth and provided outpatient psychological assessment services to children and parents involved with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

Publications:
Starks, T.J., Nadler, J.T. Sagrestano & Sarvela, P.D. (2009). Examining the presence and meaning of discrepancies among sexual orientation components in a representative sample of men at risk for HIV/AIDS. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health,13, 234-252.

Starks, T. J., Gilbert, B.O., Fischer, A.R., Weston, R.J., & DiLalla, D.L. (2009) . Gendered sexuality: A new model and measure of attraction and intimacy. Journal of Homosexuality, 56, 14-30.