Biography
Christopher Menard, Psy.D., directs the Psychology Department’s mindfulness services and instructor training. In addition to teaching undergraduate Service Learning classes (PSYC-340 and PSYC-341) and graduate-level mindfulness-based interventions (PSYC-546), he has also provided neuropsychological diagnostic assessment training & supervision to U of I graduate students. Dr. Menard was a board member of the local Mindful Teacher Foundation from 2013 – 2017 and helped develop the training curriculum for the Mindful Teacher Mindful Kids program. He has led Mindfulness Training classes (e.g., MBCT) since 2011 for numerous C-U groups including U of I Staff/Faculty/Graduate Students, Champaign-Urbana k – 12 school teachers, University High School students, Prairie Center & Rosecrance addiction recovery clients, Champaign County Jail inmates, & Education Justice Program students at the Danville Department of Corrections medium security prison. He has received a Campus Award for Excellence in Public Engagement. Also, in the U of I ICES list of teachers ranked as excellent by their students, he has been ranked as an outstanding instructor. He brings his understanding of healing and emotional growth from psychotherapy and from secular and Buddhist mindfulness traditions to enrich his teaching. He is also a licensed clinical psychologist and provides individual therapy via telehealth and in-person.
Research Description
Psychology Building Office# 733
Education
Chicago School of Professional Psychology (Psy.D. 2007)
External Links
Highlighted Publications
Davis, J. P., Berry, D., Dumas, T. M., Ritter, E., Smith, D. C., Menard, C., & Roberts, B. W. (2018). Substance use outcomes for mindfulness-based relapse prevention are partially mediated by reductions in stress: Results from a randomized trial. Journal of substance abuse treatment, 91, 37-48.
Husain, F., Zimmerman, B. Tai, Y., Finnegan, M. K., Kay, E., Khan, F., Menard, C., & Gobin, R. L. (2019). Assessing Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Intervention for Tinnitus Using Behavioral Measures and Structural MRI: A Pilot Study. International Journal of Audiology. Doi: 10.1080/14992027.2019.1629655.