Karlee S. Hoecker

As an assistant professor of psychology at Saint Joseph's College, Dr. Karlee Hoecker brings not only her clinical experience and research interests, but also her passion for teaching and challenging students to learn and grow. Dr Hoecker finds it immensely rewarding to help students meaningfully relate the material they are learning to the whole of their lives. Her approach to teaching is to work with students using a collaborative model. She believes strongly that a successful class is an active class, involving lots of interaction, as well as application and integration of the material. "I emphasize that the classroom is a small community, that good learning involves being open and willing to examine our biases, and that respect of each others' views and opinions is key."

Dr. Hoecker has been licensed as a clinical psychologist in the state of Maine since 1999. She has provided counseling, training, and outreach services at college counseling centers, the Maine Correctional Center , and in private practice. Before coming to Saint Joseph 's College she taught part time at the University of Southern Maine and Southern Maine Community College. 

During graduate school, her research interests focused on women who had been victimized. Her thesis, presented at a symposium at the American Psychological Association, examined optimistic bias as related to perceptions of risk of sexual assault. Her dissertation, presented at the Southeastern Psychological Association, analyzed the role that "meaning" plays in women's response to sexual assault. She is enthusiastic about using qualitative research methods and also including the construct of gender in her work. Recently she has begun to examine factors associated with positive aging, and how cultural constructs of being old effect both young and old people's perceptions and behaviors regarding aging.