Kelly Lavin Elliott
Research Faculty, Perinatal to Five Specialty, PsyD Program
303-871-3084 (Office)
Ammi Hyde Building, 2450 South Vine Street Denver, CO 80208
What I do
Dr. Elliott's career objective is to foster sustainable environments centered on mental health well-being, enabling children to flourish and grow into well-adjusted adults. Her research highlights the need to strengthen the entire caregiving ecosystem to achieve this goal. She is committed to supporting the mental health of caregivers, teachers, and healthcare/service providers to support positive social-emotional development.At DU, Dr. Elliott developed and leads the Baby S.T.E.P.S. Lab (Supporting Teachers, Educators, Parents, and Service providers). She designs, implements, and evaluates play-based prevention and early intervention programs to support child social-emotional development and strengthen caregiver-child relationships. Dr. Elliott also designs and leads the facilitation of training programs for healthcare providers and graduate students.
Feel welcome to learn more about Dr. Elliott's work through the Baby S.T.E.P.S. Lab webpage:
https://sites.google.com/view/babystepslab/home
Professional Biography
Dr. Elliott is an Assistant Research Professor in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver (DU). She received a research faculty endorsement from the Colorado Association for Infant Mental Health in recognition of her expertise in infant mental health research. As a developmental psychopathologist with a focus on prevention and early intervention, she earned her Ph.D. and master's degree with a specialization in Children, Families, and Cultures from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She holds a second master’s degree in Counseling Psychology (Clinical Mental Health) from the DU.
Before joining the faculty, Dr. Elliott completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in infant/early childhood mental health at DU. She came to DU following her role as a Research Associate at Georgetown University’s Center for Child Development in the Early Childhood Division, where she contributed to numerous federally funded applied projects supporting maternal and infant/early childhood social-emotional development.
Before joining the faculty, Dr. Elliott completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in infant/early childhood mental health at DU. She came to DU following her role as a Research Associate at Georgetown University’s Center for Child Development in the Early Childhood Division, where she contributed to numerous federally funded applied projects supporting maternal and infant/early childhood social-emotional development.
Licensure / Accreditations
- Organizational Development
- Integration of Working Models of Attachment Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (IoWA PCIT) co-Trainer
- Endorsed Research Faculty and Mentor in Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health- Received Level 4 Endorsement
Research
Dr. Elliott is a committed developmental psychopathologist conducting applied clinical science research to best support positive child development outcomes and the mental health well-being of expectant caregivers and caregivers with young children.
