Adriana Kipper-SmithI am a bicultural clinical psychologist who is passionate about working with the stories of struggle and growth which are essential to the journey of self-awareness. I am deeply honored to witness my clients reinvent themselves and create more meaningful and nurturing relationships.
Weaving my 25+ years of training and experience in Brazil and in the U.S., I utilize an integrative and culturally responsive approach to psychotherapy, grounded in insight-oriented, cognitive behavioral, and mindfulness-based strategies.
In addition to helping my clients alleviate distress stemming from their presenting symptoms, I carefully listen to the ways in which the past has inadvertently been re-created in the here-and-now situations that cause pain and heartache.
My clinical practice is anchored in the values of perseverance, hope, wholeheartedness, and courage. While I am a generalist, I have focused my training in the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders, insomnia, traumatic stress, grief, and on the impact of dementia on caregivers and families.
Services provided in English or Portuguese.
Experience & Background
I practiced as a clinical psychologist in Brazil for several years, both in private practice and in university administration, where I served as Associate Director of Human Resources for the University of Santa Cruz do Sul (UNISC).
After moving to the U.S. in 2004, I completed my doctoral training at Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, CA, and postdoctoral fellowship at the Vanderbilt University Counseling Center (UCC) in Nashville, TN. I spent 13 years at the Vanderbilt UCC, where I served as the lead psychologist for the Biofeedback Team and then as the center's Clinical Director.
Live, Love, & ServiceI am the proud mother of a kind and beautiful teenage boy. My partner and I love to take long bicycle rides, travel and explore the beauty of nature and good food, and spend time with our well-loved pets, Bella and Katze.
My volunteer work has been focused on the caregivers of individuals who have been diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), and I have facilitated a Caregivers’ Support Group in Nashville since 2014. I have also served as the lead organizer on a number of FTD Awareness Events at VUMC’s Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology (Grand Rounds and Community Events).
Publications
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Stetkevych, K., Sherman, M. F., Sriken, J., Erford, B. T., Smith, H. L., Kipper-Smith, A., & Niarhos, F. (in press). Testing for longitudinal measurement invariance of CCAPS-34 scores with a large university sample. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development.
Sherman, M. F., Sriken, J., Erford, B. T., Smith, H. L., MacInerney, E., Niarhos, F., & Kipper-Smith, A. (2021). Psychometric Analysis of CCAPS-34 Scores With a Large University Sample. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 54:4, 219-232, DOI: 10.1080/07481756.2020.1843971
Kipper-Smith, A. (2021). The Bearable Lightness of Being. HealthyU: Fostering the holistic wellbeing of Vanderbilt faculty and staff, Jan-March 2021.
Erford, B. T., Sriken, J., Sherman, M., Hibbs, J. S., Smith, H. L., Kipper-Smith, A., & Niarhos, F.(2020). Psychometric analysis, internal structure, and measurement invariance of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) Scores from a large university sample. Measuring and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07481756.2020.1770101
Kipper-Smith, A., Tift, J., & Frye, J. (2016). Effects of biofeedback on distress in a university counseling center: Preliminary Results. International Journal of School & Education Psychology, 4, 34-42. DOI:10.1080/21683603.2016.1130556
Kipper-Smith, A. (2014). An example of learning from clients cross-culturally: North American and Brazilian psychologists. In S. L. Hatcher (Ed.), What Psychotherapists Learn from Their Clients (pp. 216-264). Bloomington, IN: Xlibris.
Kipper-Smith, A., & Hatcher, S. L. (2014). Learners about life and art. In S. L. Hatcher (Ed.), What Psychotherapists Learn from Their Clients (pp. 29-53). Bloomington, IN: Xlibris.
Hatcher, S. L., Kipper-Smith, A., Waddell, M., Uhe, M., West, J. S., Boothe, J. H., Frye, J. M., Tighe, K., Usselman, K. L., & Gingras, P. (2012). What therapists learn from psychotherapy clients: Effects on personal and professional lives. Qualitative Report, 17, 1-21. DOI: 10.46743/2160-3715/2012.1702
Kipper-Smith, A. (2012). Amizade, trabalho e bem-estar Subjetivo.[Friendship, work, and subjective well-being]. In L. K. de Souza and C. S. Hutz (Eds.), Amizade em Contexto: Desenvolvimento e Cultura. [Friendship in Context: Development and Culture] (pp.197-227). Sao Paulo, SP: Casa do Psicologo.