Wendy D’Andrea, Ph.D
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor of Psychology (Clinical)
The New School for Social Research
Dr. Wendy D’Andrea is a clinical psychologist whose work examines how chronic and interpersonal trauma reshape emotional, cognitive, relational, and physiological systems across development. Her research centers on complex trauma and complex PTSD, with particular attention to how adaptations to trauma are embodied in attention, shame, dissociation, and nervous system functioning.
Her lab integrates psychophysiology, experimental methods, qualitative inquiry, and community-based research to understand how trauma reorganizes both subjective experience and biological processes. Across projects, she asks how individuals adapt to environments marked by threat, and how those adaptations can be understood not only as symptoms, but as meaningful responses to context.
Her work bridges laboratory research with real-world settings, including residential treatment programs, schools, and global communities impacted by collective violence.
Scholarly Contributions
Dr. D’Andrea has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and has led multiple externally funded research initiatives, including a National Institute of Mental Health R01. Her work has helped clarify distinctions between dissociation and attentional processes, identify psychophysiological markers of trauma-related stress response, and advance empirical models of complex PTSD.
Her scholarship contributes to both theoretical and applied domains, linking affective neuroscience with trauma-informed practice.
She has collaborated on research and intervention efforts in South Sudan, South Africa, Gaza, and the United States, extending trauma science into community and cross-cultural contexts.
Research Leadership and Public Impact
Dr. D’Andrea’s work extends beyond academic publication into field-building and research-to-practice initiatives. She collaborates closely with the Trauma Research Foundation, contributing to initiatives that translate trauma science into clinical training, public education, and interdisciplinary dialogue.
Through this partnership, she supports the integration of empirical research with practitioner communities, helping to strengthen connections between laboratory findings and real-world trauma-informed systems.
Her broader leadership emphasizes building sustainable research infrastructures that support both scientific rigor and public impact.
Teaching and Mentorship
Dr. D’Andrea mentors doctoral, master’s, and undergraduate students in trauma science and psychophysiology. She supports trainees in developing independent research identities grounded in methodological rigor, ethical responsibility, and collaborative inquiry.
She previously served as Director of Clinical Training at The New School, leading the program through APA reaccreditation and securing a ten-year accreditation term.
Her mentorship model emphasizes intellectual generosity, conceptual clarity, and interdisciplinary engagement.
Grants and Funding
Dr. D’Andrea has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on multiple federally and foundation-funded grants supporting research on trauma, affect regulation, psychophysiology, and intervention development. As a lead investigator on projects funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and other major agencies, she has directed interdisciplinary research teams examining the biological and relational dimensions of complex trauma, with an emphasis on translating empirical findings into scalable, trauma-informed models of care.
National Institute of Mental Health
National Child Traumatic Stress Network
Trauma Research Foundation
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft