Dr. Reneé Zucchero

Dr. Zucchero is passionate about educating students about older adults and to work with this underserved population. She is a proud alumna, having completed her Bachelor’s (1991) and Master’s degrees (1993) in psychology at Xavier. Dr. Zucchero completed her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, with a specialization in Gerontology, at Ball State University (1998). Dr. Zucchero returned to Xavier in 2002 as a Staff Psychologist at the Counseling Center, prior to her faculty appointment in the School of Psychology in 2005.  

Dr. Zucchero currently serves as the Associate Director of Clinical Training for Xavier’s Psy.D. program.

TEACHING

Courses Dr. Zucchero regularly teaches:

Undergraduate

• PSYC 231- Developmental Psychology
• PSYC 367- Psychology of Aging

Graduate

• PSYC 704- Health Issues in Geropsychology
• PSYC 722- Intervention: Older Adults
• PSYC 760- Clinical Practicum III
• PSYC 761- Clinical Practicum IV

RESEARCH

Dr. Zucchero’s research has been published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals including: Clinical Gerontologist, International Psychogeriatrics, Gerontology and Geriatrics Education, Educational Gerontology, Journal of Interprofessional Care, Teaching of Psychology, Psychology: Learning and Teaching, and The Counseling Psychologist.

DISSERTATIONS

Titles of recent Psy.D. student dissertations that Dr. Zucchero has chaired include:

• Caregiver burnout, compassion satisfaction, and personality: The moderating role of work engagement and job satisfaction (Mallory Richert, 2021)
• The impact of memory stereotype threat on memory and memory self-efficacy in older adults (Lauren Fredriksen, 2020),
• A cross-sectional comparison of psychosocial adjustment among spousal caregivers for hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients (Marissa Miroglotta, 2019)
• Resident Aggression, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: Investigating the Effects of Certified Nursing Assistants’ Resilience (Hannah Ottmar, 2018).

PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS AND EXPERTISE 

Broadly, geropsychology (older adults) and health in older adulthood. Specifically, healthy aging and psychosocial oncology.

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH INTERESTS 

Service-learning and interprofessional education