Kelly Beck is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. She is a rehabilitation scientist, clinical educator, and Licensed Professional Counselor that works to improve improve mental health of autistic and other neurodivergent people.
Dr. Beck’s passion is to form interdisciplinary, community-based research teams to solve complex problems. Beck directly involves community partners in all of our research projects. She founded and directs the Pittsburgh Adult Autism Research Community Collaborative (PAARCC). PAARCC is a group of 8 adults (i.e., autistic adults, parents of autistic children, and community allies) that meet monthly to ensure that our research reflects autistic community needs and priorities. Beck is the Lead of the Dissemination and Partnership Core of the Pittsburgh Autism Center for Excellence (ACE). The Dissemination and Partnership Core works to partner directly with the autistic community, shares the latest scientist findings with the community, promotes autistic art and advocacy efforts, and oversees all career development opportunities for those interested in autism research.
Dr. Beck also directs the Schools Unified in Neurodiversity (SUN) Collaborative project. The SUN Project aims to foster inclusive and safe schools for neurodivergent children. The SUN project partners directly with public school districts to implement practical tools that reduce unnecessary barriers to learning and wellbeing. The SUN project complements her other work, which studies the impact of social adversity on mental health and suicide risk in autistic people.
Beck is a co-developer of the Emotion Awareness and Skills Enhancement Program (EASE), a mindfulness-based intervention for adolescents and young adults on the autism spectrum. EASE utilizes a combination of mindfulness practices and cognitive behavioral therapy in an individual setting to improve emotion regulation impairment. She is the lead program developer, evaluator, and clinical supervisor for the Cognitive Skills Enhancement Program (CSEP), a transition program for young adults (ages 18-28) with autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities. She is also a qualified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher and has over 11 years of experience with mindfulness meditation. Beck is an MBSR teacher at the UPMC Center for Integrative Medicine.
Kelly spends most of her time outside of work with her 'pack' - including her children (2 and 5), two labrador retrievers, and her husband. She coaches swimming to 6-10 year olds with the Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics (PEAQ) team and helps with the Special Olympics swimming program through PEAQ. She loves swimming, reading, traveling to see live music, and spending time with her family.
Education & Training
· BA in English & Classics, University of Notre Dame - 2009
· MS in Rehabilitation Counseling, University of Pittsburgh - 2014
· PhD in Rehabilitation Science, University of Pittsburgh - 2017
· Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, Commission of Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (00169936) - 2015
- BA in English & Classics, University of Notre Dame - 2009
- MS in Rehabilitation Counseling, University of Pittsburgh - 2014
- PhD in Rehabilitation Science, University of Pittsburgh - 2017
- Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, Commission of Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (00169936) - 2015
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Qualified Teacher, Oasis Institute, Mindfulness-Based Professional Education and Training, University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society - 2017
- PEERS for Young Adults Certified Provider, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior - 2019
- Pennsylvania Licensed Professional Counselor (PC011721) - 2019