Additional title
Professor of Psychiatry
Education
Ph.D., Emory University (Neuroscience)
B.S., North Georgia College & State University (Biology/Chemistry)
Before coming to Vanderbilt to work, I was employed by a few different substance abuse treatment centers. The first was an intense 12 step Men’s Spiritual Retreat called Discovery Place located in Burns, TN in which I was a counselor at their extended care and main campus. After Discovery Place, I went to work for Cornerstone of Recovery in Knoxville, TN as a counselor for their Young Adult Substance Abuse Treatment Department. While at Cornerstone, I underwent LADAC training and supervision which is ongoing. What I found working in this field is a passion to help the hopeless. I have walked in the shoes of my patients and feel a deep obligation to pass on what my counselors gave to me. If I communicate anything to my patients, it is that change is possible no matter how lost you may feel.
Education
Middle Tennessee State University
Prior Role
Outreach
Education
LMSW, Barry University, Miami, FL
I received both my bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work from a private university in Miami Florida, Barry University. Since graduate school I have worked with the dually diagnosed population at the residential level of care in both Miami and the Nashville area. I’d like to continue working with this population and further develop my skills from a medical model perspective in order to provide comprehensive clinical and case management services.
Beth Michelle Black is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who joined the Division of Addiction Psychiatry in 2019 and currently works at the Vanderbilt Recovery Clinic. She received her Bachelor of Social Work at Tennessee State University, her Master of Social Work at University of Tennessee and completed her clinical supervision at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Prior to joining Vanderbilt Integrated Services for Treatment of Addiction (VISTA), she worked at Vanderbilt University Hospital on the Cardiology, Infectious Disease and General Medicine services, providing care for patients with addiction, mental health and complex psychosocial circumstances. Her clinical care over the past 8 years has largely focused on addiction and providing patient centered comprehensive care.
Education
LMSW, University of Tennessee
Rachel Craig is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who joined the Division of Addiction Psychiatry in January of 2020. She previously worked on the Addiction Consultation Team and currently works at the Vanderbilt Recovery Clinic. She received her Bachelor of Social Work at Belmont University and her Master of Social Work at University of Tennessee with a concentration of 'Evidence-based Interpersonal Practice'.
Prior to joining Vanderbilt Integrated Services for Treatment of Addiction (VISTA), she worked in Residential, Partial Hospitalization, and Detoxification which focused on co-occurring disorders. In those roles, she served as an individual counselor, group facilitator
Dr. Emily Fink joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2020 as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She received her doctorate from Indiana State University and completed internship and postdoctoral training in health psychology at the University of Florida and Cleveland Clinic, respectively. Specializing in behavioral weight management and treatment of disordered eating, Dr. Fink provides psychological services to pre-surgical candidates at the Vanderbilt Weight Loss Center.
Dr. Light received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and completed post-doctoral training in clinical neuropsychology at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Clinical neuropsychological and psychological evaluation of adults with an emphasis on changes in positive affectivity, social cognition, and executive function associated with neurological disorders (such as dementia, demyelinating diseases, stroke, and traumatic brain injury) and/or psychological disorders (such as Major Depressive Disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia); and improving the assessment of affective states during the course of the traditional clinical neuropsychological assessment.
Research interests: Affective neuroscience and clinical neuropsychology; particularly the role of the prefrontal cortex in modulating emotional experience with foci on positively valenced emotions such as joy and social-cognitive emotions such as empathy; study of anhedonia as a transdiagnostic symptom-as it cuts across several disorders including Major Depressive Disorder, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, and some forms of dementia. Neuroimaging tools used to carry out this research include fMRI, rTMS, EEG, and EMG.
1. Mirabito, G., Taiwo, Z., Bezdek, M. & Light, S.N. (2019). Fronto-striatal activity predicts anhedonia and positive empathy subtypes. Brain Imaging and Behavior, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-019-00081-z.
2. Light, S.N., Bieliauskas, L.A., & Taylor, S. (2019). Measuring change in anhedonia using the "Happy Faces Task" pre- to post- rTMS treatment in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Translational Psychiatry, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-019-0549-8.
3. Light, S.N. (2019). The heterogeneity of empathy: Possible treatment for anhedonia? Frontiers Psychiatry, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00185.
4. Light, S.N., Moran, Z.D., Zahn-Waxler, C. & Davidson, R.J. (2019). The measurement of positive forms of empathy and their relation to hedonic capacity & other depressive symptomatology. Frontiers Psychology, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00815.
5. Taiwo, Z., Bezdek, M., Mirabito, G. & Light, S.N. (2020). Empathy for joy recruits a broader prefrontal network than empathy for sadness and is predicted by executive functioning. Neuropsychology, in press.
