Walker, Courtney S., Ph.D.

Specialties: Child Development, Psychology

Gender: Female

Biography: Courtney Walker, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist and serves as the director for the Child Health and Developmental Promotion (CHDP) Fellowship. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Mississippi State University in 2018 following completion of internship at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC) where she also trained in the Harris Center for Infant Mental Health. Dr. Walker returned to Mississippi to complete a postdoctoral fellowship in early childhood developmental and behavioral health at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) and later joined the medical center as faculty in 2019. Dr. Walker’s clinical expertise centers on the assessment and evidence-based treatment of neurodevelopmental, emotional, and behavioral concerns in infants and young children. She is trained in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), and other evidence-based treatments for this population. She serves as the lead psychologist in the Newborn High-Risk Follow-Up Clinic where she completes developmental evaluations for young children with a history of NICU admission. She has served as PI or Co-I on a range of grant-funded projects that center on the dissemination of evidence-based mental health practices for young children in rural communities. Currently, she serves as Co-PI for a SAMHSA Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) grant entitled: MS Behavioral Health for Infants and Preschoolers Program (MS BeHIP). Her research interests include examining the influence of parenting strategies, adverse childhood experiences, and poverty on child neurodevelopmental and behavioral outcomes as well as how child and family resiliency can moderate these relationships.