About Me

I am a tenured Professor in the Counseling and Counseling Psychology Programs at Indiana University. My research interests are in positive psychology (especially the psychology of gratitude and the psychology of encouragement), Asian/Asian American mental health, and the psychology of men and masculinities.

I coedited two books on the psychology of men and masculinities: the APA Handbook of Men and Masculinities (Wong & Wester, 2016) and the Psychology of Men and Masculinities (Levant & Wong, 2017).

I am a fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 17, 45, and 51) and of the Asian American Psychological Association.

In terms of professional service, I am an associate editor of the Psychology and Men and Masculinity and a former associate editor of the Journal of Counseling Psychology.

Regarding my clinical interests, I recently developed a psychoeducational group program to cultivate gratitude.

If you are interested in admission to the Counseling Psychology Program as my advisee, I encourage you to state so explicitly in your personal statement and to explain how your research interests align with mine.

Please also describe the types of research questions you're interested in addressing if you were to become my advisee. The following are some of my recent research interests:

  • suicide-related outcomes among Asian Americans
  • psychological interventions to cultivate gratitude
  • the psychology of encouragement
  • conceptualizing and measuring masculinities
  • psychological interventions for men

I am most interested in admitting doctoral advisees with the following profile:

  • Interest in at least one of my three major areas of research: Asian/Asian American mental health, the psychology of men and masculinities, and positive psychology
  • Genuine interest in research (not viewing research solely as a means to obtaining a Ph.D.)
  • Interest in quantitative research and willingness to learn statistics. If you are exclusively interested in qualitative research, I might not be a good fit for you.

My goal is to provide my doctoral advisees many opportunities to be involved in research projects as soon as they join our program. I am also committed to creating opportunities for my advisees to present papers at conferences, be co-authors on scholarly publications, and initiate their own research projects. Several of my advisees have also been successful in winning national research awards. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions about my research interests or my mentoring style.