Brett Welch

Hello! My name is Brett Welch and I am a clinician-researcher who is interested in the psychological aspects of voice and communication. I recently finished my PhD in Communication Science and Disorders (CSD) from the University of Pittsburgh, and I am currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Affective Communication & Computing Lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of Kansas.

Clinically, I specialize in working with the psychological aspects of voice and voice disorders – identity, personality, and trauma routinely come up in my sessions. My line of research stems directly from this clinical background. Broadly, I am interested at the intersections of CSD and Psychology. My research seeks to examine both the psychological factors relevant to voice and communication disorders, as well as how one's voice and communication behaviors influence their psycho-social well-being. To interrogate these relationships, I leverage contemporary analytic methods used in Quantitative Psychology. My dissertation project integrated contemporary theories and methods used in Personality Psychology to advance our understanding of chronic vocal hyperfunction. 

As a postdoc, I am continuing to investigate these psycho-social-vocal relationships. Currently, my research is expanding to include transdiagnostic psychopathologies. I am leveraging and integrating my background as a voice and speech scientist while furthering my knowledge of advanced quantitative methods to interrogate how voice and speech serve as a biomarker of psychopathologies (e.g., anxiety, PTSD). After successfully completing my postodc, I seek to become a tenure-track professor at an R1 institution and continue to research the psychological aspects of voice and communication. By continuing to understand these relationships, I aim to improve the assessment, treatment, and clinical outcomes for patients working with speech-language pathologists. 

I have gained many data analytic skills during my PhD. I have become extremely proficient using R to clean, organize, and analyze data for projects. I have also taken courses in computer science and have a working proficiency with SQL and Python. For structural equation modeling (SEM), I primarily use lavaan, though I will begin using Mplus in the near future. I have spent a substantial amount of time over the last two years taking additional courses and trainings on quantitative methods. Additionally, I thoroughly enjoy mentoring and teaching students, and presenting research findings at conferences.