Mental health matters to Mary McNaughton-Cassill

UTSA psychology professor, Mary McNaughton-Cassill, encourages people to discuss mental health to reduce the stigma associated with it.

(April 30, 2019) -- UTSA psychology professor and clinical psychologist Mary McNaughton-Cassill wants more people to talk about mental health. Through her research and teaching, she aims to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. 

McNaughton-Cassill researches stress management and how our media diets and the influx of information we receive daily impacts our mental state.

She has been tapped to share her expertise on mental health by local, regional and national media outlets such as the San Antonio Express-News, the Houston Chronicle, Mental Floss, The Atlantic, the New York Times and several other publications.

In addition to conducting her own research, McNaughton-Cassill cares about her students’ learning experiences. She mentors her students and tries to make her course material relevant to their lives.

McNaughton-Cassill’s contributions to teaching and her academic and scholarly achievements have been recognized time and again. She was named a recipient of the 2017 Piper Professor Award and was inducted into the University of Texas System Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 2015, the first UTSA instructor selected for the prestigious academy.

She was recently awarded the University Life Diane Abdo Advisor Award for her work with Active minds, a student organization that empowers college students to speak openly about mental health.

We recently asked McNaughton-Cassill about her research, focusing on mental health, media diets and the stress college students encounter.

You study mental health and media diets. Tell us about the projects you’re working on.

I have been studying the impact of exposure to stressful news media content since the Oklahoma City bombings. At that time, psychologists tended to conceptualize stress as something that happened to you personally, not something you could experience vicariously through the media.

Of course, since that time, the media landscape has only gotten more complicated. Between television, radio, podcasts, the internet, social media and print sources, we can literally follow the news 24 hours a day. The irony is that we no longer struggle to get information; instead we struggle to sort through it all. 

Some people choose to ignore it all, as much as possible. Others focus only on outlets that support their current views, and all of us question the validity of what we see and hear.

My recent studies have been exploring how college students get their news, and how exposure to news media impacts their future views, their coping choices and their emotions. My lab is looking at psychosocial factors that predict student academic success and well-being in general. 

My graduate students presented some of our work at the annual Southwestern Psychological Association Conference in Albuquerque this spring, and we have several manuscripts in preparation.

I am also working on a sequel to my first book on stress management Mind the Gap. The follow-up book, Give Way, focuses more on social stress and will be published by Cognella Press by late 2019 or early 2020.

What fascinates you the most about the research and how does it benefit the everyday person? 

Although psychology is a research-based science, many of the members of the general public don’t really know what that means. This is due, in part, to the fact that psychology is typically an elective course in high school, so many people are never formally exposed to the field.

In addition, outside of college campuses, academic psychologists are less visible than practitioners. Fortunately, there is a growing movement to make the links between research and practice more explicit.

Certainly, this is one of the benefits of taking a psychology course, even if you aren’t a major. Understanding human development, social interactions, how and why we think, feel and behave the way we do, and how the brain works can certainly make us all better parents, partners, colleagues and bosses and can increase our personal happiness and life satisfaction.

I think that understanding how technology and the media are impacting us will be crucial if we are going to thrive as individuals, in a rapidly changing world. I was a guest on the podcast, Hurry Slowly, talking about this very topic.

What is something going on in your field that people are not talking about as much as they could be?  

Reducing the stigma around mental illness! Rising numbers of college students are struggling with anxiety and depression and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the suicide rate in the U.S. has increased substantially.

Despite these statistics, misperceptions about mental illness abound, and many people are reluctant to seek help, even when it is available. The two clubs I advise, the UTSA Chapter of Active Minds and the Student Psychology Association have been working diligently to increase mental health awareness on campus.

Unfortunately, a survey we conducted suggested that only about 35 percent of our students even know where the Counseling Center is located. (Hint: It is near the Rec Center.)

I am also chairing several campus committees focused on mental health awareness and education, so hopefully we can all learn how to better help each other.

What do enjoy most about being a member of the UT System Academy of Distinguished Teachers? Describe your current work with the Academy.

Because I am a Regents’ Teaching Award Winner, I am a member of the UTSA Academy of Distinguished Teachers, and one of two UTSA Fellows of the UT System Academy (Dr. Jill Fleuriet joined the academy last year.)

Both groups focus on teaching innovation. The members of the System Academy come from the undergraduate serving schools in the system and meet three times a year. 

I am currently the Academy secretary, so I also get to participate in leadership and planning meetings.

In the past year, we created an electronic version of the group’s first project, The Little Orange Book: Short Lessons in Teaching Excellence.

The Academy will be releasing the second book in the series later this year. It features student essays on teaching, including contributions by several UTSA students. As the co-chair of the publications committee for the Academy, I also helped to launch a teaching blog.

In coming years, we hope to continue to advocate for the crucial role that teaching and mentoring play in student success.

What advice would you share with UTSA students interested in entering psychology?

I give all students the same advice: Figure out what you are good at doing and what you are passionate about, and then choose a major and a career path that are compatible with your skills and interests.

After that, apply yourself to figuring out what you need to do to succeed in that field. Grades almost always matter, and you may have to prepare for admissions exams like the MCAT, the LSAT and the GRE, etc. You may also need specific experiences. 

Shadowing professionals, getting involved in campus organizations, conducting research, doing an internship or volunteer work can all help you figure out whether you like the career you are thinking about, and enhance your resume.

You also need to remember the value of social interactions. Interacting with your classmates is not a waste of time. It gives you a chance to expand your horizons, to learn from people who are different from you and to bolster your own mental health.

Talking to your professors, online, in class or during office hours can increase your understanding of their discipline. They can also help you figure out your career options and write the letters of recommendation you will eventually need. If you aren’t sure what you really want to do, try reading the book Authentic Happiness, by Psychologist Martin Seligman and make a visit to the UTSA Career Center.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not teaching or conducting research?

I love spending time with my husband, UTSA biology professor Aaron Cassill, playing with our four indoor rescue and two outdoor semi-feral cats and visiting our twin daughters, one of whom is married and going to graduate school in Dallas and the other who is the director of the YMCA summer camp near Kerrville, Texas.

I also love reading mystery novels, skiing and doing small craft projects. I am an avid NCAA gymnastics fan and traveled to Fort Worth to watch the 2019 finals on April 20. 

Finally, I am a volunteer with a group called the Green Cross Academy of Traumatology. In the past couple of years, I have deployed with them to Rockport, Texas, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Paradise, Calif. to do disaster mental health work.

I find it incredibly rewarding to spend time with a group of mental health professionals providing support to people whose lives have literally been blown, washed or burnt away. As my daughters and my students are all too aware, I firmly believe that psychology should play a central role in every human endeavor!

— Kara Soria

Learn more about Mary McNaughton-Cassill.

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