Contact Info
dev.crasta@va.gov  
585-364-8119

Publications
https://bit.ly/39wriYS

Research Interests

I have seen many families support each other around mental health challenges – both while treating Veteran clients and giving/receiving care in my own family. Through this work, I have become deeply familiar with the impact that individual mental health can have on our closest relationships. But these same experiences have also shown me the many ways that friends and loved ones can help each other through their struggles. My research takes a family approach to preventing Veteran suicide and works to turn distressed relationships into supportive partnerships. As part of a VA-funded Career Development Award (CDA-2), I will be launching an investigation of brief Relationship Checkups (RC; Cordova et al. 2017) for Veterans struggling with both relationship problems and mental health concerns (for example, suicidal thoughts, depression, PTSD, alcohol misuse).

I also help support healthy relationships more broadly through developing tools for researchers, therapists, and couples. This includes self-report measures to help researchers and couple therapists more precisely assess emotional intimacy and relationship quality. I have also helped develop and evaluate online tools to build relationship skills.

I also support collaborators who want to bring family to the table to support existing suicide prevention efforts. These collaborations have included:

• Contributing to a resource for families who want to discuss suicide safety with a loved one who’s struggling (www.WorriedAboutAVeteran.org)
• Providing input on a coding system to help evaluate the Veteran’s Crisis Line’s approach to “third party callers” (i.e., family, friends, or professionals calling the VCL because they are worried about someone else’s safety)
• Helping evaluate the benefits of including family members in suicide safety planning