The Researcher

Hello!!! My name is Dr. Grisel Lopez-Escobar and am a hearing researcher and Licensed Mental Health Counselor. In August 2022 I graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a PhD in Counseling.

During my PhD I invented a new therapeutic intervention integrating American Sign Language (ASL) learning into therapy between hearing therapists and hearing clients.

My dissertation was entitled: "Teaching Hearing Clients Sign Language in Therapy: the Sign Your Feelings Intervention's Effects on the Therapeutic Alliance and Client Outcomes."

I am currently enrolled in a Postdoctoral Fellowship at FAU and to this end have created a Beta version of the intervention and training, which I would like to test by conducting a second randomized control trial. Given that the Alpha version of the study pointed towards significant gains for clients who reported unhappiness, this Beta version will focus specifically on clients experiencing depression.

If I am able to establish Sign your Feelings as a valid therapeutic intervention, I would like to funnel money and resources into projects to benefit the Deaf community, improve awareness of Deaf mental health issues and linguistic deprivation, and raise the visibility of American Sign Language (ASL). One of the main differences between the Alpha and Beta versions of the intervention and the therapist trainings and is that all ASL teaching videos are being recorded by professional ASL teachers who are Deaf, and that I have added Deaf Culture modules.

I completed my Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling at Lynn University, in Boca Raton, Florida. I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the State of Florida, under license number MH20052.

I have always been fascinated with languages, and have been lucky enough to learn quite a few! I was first introduced to American Sign Language during my undergraduate degree at Trinity College of Vermont back in the 80s. My Doctoral dissertation offered me a chance to revisit my love for ASL, with the goal of creating and testing an intervention which could expand on work traditionally carried out in "talk therapy."