Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical Training Coordinator, Psychologist

Dr. Kavitha Venkateswaran Prior to coming to Marquette, I spent several years training and working in VA medical centers providing mental health services to Veterans in integrated care settings, training future psychologists, and advancing initiatives that increased accessibility to culturally responsive care and perinatal mental health care. My experience working as a practitioner within integrated care has fueled my current research interests in health psychology and perinatal and reproductive mental health care. I am a part of the Multicultural Perinatal Mental Health Collaborative[BROKEN LINK] and am currently the principal investigator on a grant funded through the American Rescue Plan Act and hosted by the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment. Through this funding, we are adapting an existing evidence-based program to create an interdisciplinary, culturally-responsive postpartum depression prevention intervention. The funding will also support increasing the workforce trained in this intervention and building a community-based collaborative to identify barriers in care and to promote culturally-responsive perinatal mental health initiatives. I am a licensed psychologist in Wisconsin and provide clinical services with particular emphases on treating trauma, sleep concerns, perinatal mental health issues, and adjustment and life transitions. I received my master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Wake Forest University and my doctorate in Counseling Psychology from University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Dr. Venkateswaran will NOT be taking a new counseling psychology doctoral student for Fall 2025.

Recent Publications and/or Presentations

  • Venkateswaran, K.D. (2023, April 20-22). Addressing microaggressions and prejudicial comments in therapeutic settings [Conference Session]. Wisconsin Psychological Association Annual Conference, Elkhart Lake, WI.
  • Vallejo, L.G., Venkateswaran, K.D., & Skerven, K. (2023, April 20-22). Development and implementation of culturally responsive practice training rotation [Conference Session]. Wisconsin Psychological Association Annual Conference, Elkhart Lake, WI.
  • Fedele, K., & Venkateswaran, K.D. (2021, August 12-15). The potential for clinical application of multicultural orientation in integrated health settings: Enactment of Counseling Psychology’s commitment to social justice and anti-racism [Symposium]. American Psychological Association Annual Convention: Virtual.
  • Venkateswaran, K.D., & Hauser, C.T. (2020). Living with PTSD amid a global pandemic. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1), 71-72. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tra0000857
  • Walker, K., Gregas, A., & Venkateswaran, K.D. (2019, August 8-11). Creation and implementation of a diversity workgroup in an integrated healthcare setting [Symposium]. American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Chicago, IL.
  • Kantamneni, N., Dharmalingam, K., Orley, G., & Kanagasingam, S. (2018). Cultural factors, perceived barriers, and Asian American career development: An application of Social Cognitive Career Theory. Journal of Career Assessment, 26(4), 649-665. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072717723097
  • Kantamneni, N., Dharmalingam, K., Tate, J., Perlman, B., Majmudar, C., & Shada, N. (2016). DREAMing Big: Understanding the current context of academic and career decision-making for Undocumented students. Journal of Career Development, 43(6), 483-497. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845316633527
  • Dharmalingam, K., Dahl, A., & Kantamneni, N. (2016, August 4-7). Perceptions of barriers for undergraduate international students in the job search process: A qualitative analysis [Symposium]. Symposium presented at the American Psychological Association Annual Convention: Denver, CO.