Teresa Ostler
Associate Professor
Office location: 2115
Phone number: 217-244-5233
Email: tjacobse@illinois.edu
Educational Background
Dr. Ostler received her bachelor’s degree and PhD in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1973 and 1984, respectively. She joined the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois as an Associate Professor in 2003, after 9 years as a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Ostler is also a licensed clinical psychologist. Her research focuses on parent-child attachment relationships, individuals with major mental illness as parents, children of parents with major mental illness and substance use problems, and children in foster care.
Research and Practice Interests
Dr. Ostler has research interests that examine attachment across the lifespan, developmental psychopathology, major mental illness and parenting, children in foster care, and children of parents with major mental illness.
Current Research
Her current research focuses on mental health functioning of children of parents who abuse methamphetamine. as well as attachment in children living in foster care and parents with major mental illness.
Recent Publications
Books
Ostler T (2008): Assessing Parenting Competency in Individuals with Mental Illness. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, MD.
Haight W, Ostler T, Black J, & Kingery L (2008). Families and Methamphetamine Misuse: The Case of Rural Illinois. Oxford University Press: New York.
Articles and Book Chapters
Ostler, T. (in press). Mental illness in the peripartum period. Zero to Three.
Ostler, T, Ackerson B (2008). Chronic parental mental illness. In MM Haith & J Benson (Eds). Encyclopedia of infant and early childhood development., V. 2, pp. 479-490. Elsevier Press: Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Ostler T, Haight WL (in press). Viewing young foster children’s responses to visits through the lens of maternal containment: Implications for attachment disorganization. In: J Solomon & C George (Eds.). Attachment Disorganization, 2nd Edition. Guilford Press: New York
Presentations
April, 2008 Panelist, Maternal Depression Forum, “Maternal Depression and its Impact on Families and Young Children” Champaign Public Library
(sponsored by Family Resiliency Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
March 2008 Continuing Education Workshop, Strengthening Vulnerable Families, “Parenting and Severe Mental Illness”, Champaign, Illinois (sponsored by School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)