Associate Director, Family Development Program
Sierra Kuzava, Ph.D., is the Associate Director of the Family Development Program at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Stony Brook University and completed both her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, where she specialized in treating children, families, and parents facing stress and trauma.
Dr. Kuzava’s research, teaching, and clinical work focus specifically on the intersection of perinatal and reproductive mental health and trauma, as well as understanding and addressing challenges faced by young families across the transition to parenthood. Much of her research focuses on combining neurophysiological, self-report, and observational methods to investigate variation in caregiving and the impact of early experiences on child development.
Clinically, Dr. Kuzava draws from cognitive-behavioral, trauma-focused, attachment-based, and third wave (ACT, DBT) models to meet families’ individual needs.