Dr. Caitlyn R. Owens is an Assistant Director at MCCD. She received her doctoral training in School Psychology from North Carolina State University. During her graduate school tenure, she completed an NICHD T32 fellowship at the Carolina Consortium on Human Development, where she trained in an inter-institutional and multi-disciplinary community dedicated to understanding the complex development of people in context, ranging from families to culture.

In addition to her role at MCCD, Dr. Owens is also an Assistant Professor in the Graduate Psychology Department. Dr. Owens trains future school and clinical psychologists with a particular teaching focus on psychological assessment. She was recently awarded the 2024-2025 Outstanding Junior Faculty Award for the Department of Graduate Psychology.

Dr. Owens is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and specializes in working with children, youth, and families. She is particularly interested in supporting the social-emotional development of children by partnering with and supporting caregivers. As a researcher, her work focuses on promoting positive development among children and youth with a history of adverse experiences. Her work utilizes both quantitative and qualitative approaches to provide a holistic view of the experiences of individuals and families as well as collecting data to understand the processes involved with implementing various community programs. She has particular expertise in working with child welfare, families experiencing homelessness, integrated behavioral health, prevention of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and justice-involved individuals. Dr. Owens’ work is dedicated to bridging gaps between research, clinical work, and policy.