Departmental Affiliations
Primary
Division
Social and Behavioral Interventions
Center & Institute Affiliations
Victoria M. O’Keefe, PhD, MS, works to achieve strengths-based and culturally informed suicide prevention, mental health promotion, and wellness among Indigenous communities.
Experiences & Accomplishments
Education
PhD
Oklahoma State University
2016
BS
John Carroll University
2009
MS
Oklahoma State University
2012
Overview
As a member of the Cherokee and Seminole Nations of Oklahoma, I am dedicated to working collaboratively with tribal communities to eradicate health inequities. I am an Associate Director at the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, where I also conduct research. My community-based participatory research (CBPR) with Native communities focuses on strengths-based and culturally-informed suicide prevention, mental health promotion, and wellness.
Honors & Awards
Cherokee Nation Community Leadership Individual Award (2020)
Child Intervention, Prevention, and Services (CHIPS) Research Training Institute (National Institute of Mental Health, Division of Services and Intervention Research; 2019)
Research Training Institute in Suicide Prevention, Injury Control Research Center for Suicide Prevention (2018)
Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship (2012-2015)
Psychologists in Public Service Wayfinder Award, American Psychological Association, Division 18 (2015)
Select Publications
Select publications
- O’Keefe, V. M., Cwik, M. F., Haroz, E. E., & Barlow, A. Increasing Culturally Responsive Care and Mental Health Equity with Indigenous Community Mental Health Workers. Psychological Services. Advance online publication: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ser0000358
- O'Keefe, V. M., Tucker, R. P., Cole, A. B., Hollingsworth, D. W., & Wingate, L. R. (2018). Understanding Indigenous suicide through a theoretical lens: A review of majority, cultural, and Indigenous frameworks. Transcultural Psychiatry, 55(6), 775-799. doi: 10.1177/1363461518778937
- O'Keefe, V. M. & Reger, G. (2017) Suicide among American Indian/Alaska Native military service members and Veterans. Psychological Services, 14(3), 289-294. doi: 10.1037/ser0000117
- O’Keefe, V. M., Wingate, L. R., Cole, A. B., Hollingsworth, D. W., & Tucker, R. P. (2015). Seemingly harmless racial communications are not so harmless: Racial microaggressions lead to suicidal ideation by way of depression symptoms. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 45(5), 567-576. doi: 10.1111/sltb.12150
- O’Keefe, V. M., Wingate, L. R., Tucker, R. P., Rhoades-Kerswill, S., Slish, M. L., & Davidson, C. L. (2014). Interpersonal suicide risk for American Indians: Investigating thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 20(1), 61-67. doi:10.1037/a0033540
