I am enthusiastic about helping clients identify and eliminate the causes of their psychological distress. With over two decades of training and experience, I have developed skill at conceptualizing each client’s unique situation, identifying the underlying factors that create and maintain psychological discomfort, and in assisting clients to implement effective change strategies. I enjoy helping clients regain a sense of control and increase pleasure and satisfaction with their lives. An eclectic clinician, my therapeutic approach draws on a variety of psychotherapeutic orientations, including Behavioral, Cognitive-Behavioral, Interpersonal, Rational-Emotive, Humanistic, and Acceptance and Commitment therapies.
For most of my career, I cared for patients in acute care settings, such as emergency departments and inpatient psychiatric facilities. For more than a decade, I helped patients who reported to emergency departments with acute mental health, emotional, behavioral, and/or substance abuse concerns. I have also enjoyed working with college students as a psychotherapist in a university counseling center and with inpatients with severe persistent mental illness as Chief Psychologist for a large state psychiatric hospital.
Professional Background & Experience
Education
| 2011 | Ph.D., Clinical-Community Psychology | University of South Carolina | Columbia, SC |
| 2002 | M.A., Psychology | University of South Carolina | Columbia, SC |
| 1995 | B.S., Psychology | University of North Carolina | Chapel Hill, NC |
Certifications
| Licensed Psychologist #4950 | State of North Carolina | ||
| Health Services Provider in Psychology | State of North Carolina | ||
| PSYPACT APIT #11484 | Association of State & Provincial Psychology Boards |
Clinical Experience
| 5/18 – present | Psychologist in Private Practice | New Perspectives Counseling and Consulting, PLLC | Boone, NC |
| 9/17 – 5/18 | Adjunct Psychologist | Appalachian State University | Boone, NC |
| 6/14 – 9/17 | Crisis Clinical Counselor | Appalachian Regional Healthcare | Boone, NC |
| 11/13-9/14 | Chief Psychologist | G. Werber Bryan Psychiatric Hospital | Columbia, SC |
| 9/06-7/14 | Mental Health Consultant | Palmetto Health Alliance | Columbia, SC |
| 9/06-11/07 | Intern in Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology | Palmetto Health Alliance | Columbia, SC |
Publications
| Vendemia, J. M. C., Schillaci, M. J., Buzan, R. F., Green, E. P., & Meek, S. W. (2009). Chapter 15: The Application of Biomedical and Alternative Technologies to the Measurement of Deceptive Behavior, in L. Madsen, D. Gruben, & D. Wilcox (eds.), Polygraph Post-Conviction Sex Offender Testing. | |||
| Vendemia, J. M. C., Buzan, R. F., & Schillaci, M., & Green, E. P (2007). HD-ERP and Behavioral Predictors of Involvement in a Mock Crime Scenario, Department of Defense Polygraph Institute, technical paper. | |||
| Schatz, J. & Buzan, R. (2006). Decreased corpus callosum size in sickle cell disease: Relationship with cerebral infarcts and cognitive functioning. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 12, 24-33. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., Schillaci, M., & Buzan, R.F. (2006). Credibility Assessment: Psychophysiology and Policy in the Detection of Deception. American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 24(4), 53-85 . | |||
| Vendemia, J. M. C., Buzan, R. F., Green, E. P., & Schillaci, M. J. (2005). Neural mechanisms of deception and response congruity in a visual two-stimulus paradigm with motor response, Journal of Neurotherapy: Special Issue EEG and the Law (Also published in, J. R. Evans (Ed.) Forensic Applications of QEEG and Neurotherapy, pp. 5-29), 9(3), 45-70. | |||
| Schillaci, M., Vendemia, J., & Buzan R. (2005). Modeling deception as a two-state quantum system, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Suppl., 31. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., Buzan, R.F., Green, E.P., Schillaci, M.J. (2005). Effects of Preparedness to Deceive on ERP Waveforms in a Two-Stimulus Paradigm. Journal of Neurotherapy: Special Issue EEG and the Law, 9(3), 45-70. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., & Buzan, R.F. (2005). Neural mechanisms of deception and response congruity in a visual two-stimulus paradigm with motor response. Polygraph, 34, 24-46. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., Buzan, R.F., & Green, E.P. (2005). Practice effects, workload, and reaction times in deception. American Journal of Psychology, 118, 413-429. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., Buzan, R.F., & Simon-Dack, S.L. (2005). Reaction Time of Motor Responses in Two-Stimulus Paradigms Involving Deception and Congruity with Varying Levels of Difficulty. Behavioural Neurology, 16, 25-36. | |||
| Follingstad, D. R., Runge, M. M., Ace, A., Buzan, R., & Helff. C. (2001). Justifiability, sympathy level, and internal/external locus of the reasons battered women remain in abusive relationships. Violence and Victims, 16, 621-644. | |||
Published Abstracts
| Vendemia, J., Green, E., Buzan, R., Schillaci, M., & Brooke, J. (2005). Practice effects on ERP-components related to deceptive responses. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Suppl., 223-224. | |||
| Schillaci, M., Vendemia, J., & Buzan R. (2005). Modeling deception as a two-state quantum system. Jounal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Suppl., 31. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., & Buzan, R. F. (2004). Neural mechanisms of deception and response congruity in a visual two-stimulus paradigm involving autobiographical information. Psychophysiology, 40, S88. | |||
| Buzan R.F., Sasine G. M., Spade A., Vendemia J.M.C. (2002). Source localization of the effects of deception and stimulus congruity on event-related potentials. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Suppl., C42. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., & Buzan, R. F. (2002). Deception and response congruity in visual two-stimulus paradigms involving motor response. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 45, 28-29. |
Professional Presentations
| Vendemia, J.M.C., Brooke, J., Green, E.P., Schillaci, M.J., & Buzan, R.F. (2005). Practice Effects on ERP-Components Related to Deceptive Responses. Poster presented at the 12th annual Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) meeting in New York, NY. | |||
| Schillaci, M.J., Vendemia, J. M.C., Buzan, R.F., & Green, E.P. (2005, April). A Two-Level Quantum Analysis of ERP Data for Mock-Interrogation Trials. Poster presented at the 12th annual Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) meeting in New York, NY. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., & Buzan, R.F. (2004, April). HD-ERP Correlates of Workload During Deception in two Mock Crime Paradigms. Poster presented at the 11th annual Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) meeting in San Francisco, CA. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., & Buzan, R.F. (2003). Neural Mechanisms of Deception and Response Congruity in a Visual Two-Stimulus Paradigm Involving Autobiographical Information. 43rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Chicago, IL. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., & Buzan, R.F. (2003). The Effects of Response Predictability on HD-ERP and RT Measures Across studies of Deception. Talk given 11th Annual Conference, Houston, TX. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., & Buzan, R.F. (2003). The Effects of Response Predictability on HD-ERP Measures Across Studies of Deception. Poster session presented at the 10th Annual Convention of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, New York, NY. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., & Buzan, R.F. (2002). Deception and response congruity in visual two-stimulus paradigms involving motor response. Talk presented at the 11th World Congress of Psychophysiology, Montreal, Canada. | |||
| Buzan, R.F., Sasine, G.M., Spade, A., & Vendemia, J.M.C. (2002). Source localization of the effects of deception and stimulus congruity on event-related potentials. Poster session presented at the 9th Annual Convention of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., & Buzan, R.F. (2001). ERP correlates of the attentional processes involved in deception. Paper presented at the South Carolina Bicentennial Symposium on Attention, Columbia, SC. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., Buzan, R.F., Pollina, D., & Ryan, A. (2001). ERP correlates of deception using a two-stimulus paradigm. Poster session presented at the 8th Annual Convention of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, New York, NY. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C. & Buzan, R.F. (2001, February). ERP correlates of deception. Talk presented at North Carolina Cognition Group, Greensboro, North Carolina. | |||
| Follingstad, D.R., Runge, M.M., Ace, A., Buzan, R., & Helff. C. (1999). Justifiability, sympathy level, and internal/external locus of the reasons battered women remain in abusive relationships. Talk presented at South Carolina Psychological Association Annual Conference, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. |
Invited Addresses
| Vendemia, J.M.C., Schillaci, M.J., Buzan, R.F., & Meek, S.W. (March, 2006). The Future of Alternative Technologies for the Detection of Deception: Implications, Improbabilities, and Impossibilities. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Maryland Polygraph Association. Annapolis Junction, MD. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., Meek, S.W., Schillaci, M.J. (July, 2006). Neuroscientific Techniques of Studying Human Deception. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Polygraph Association. Las Vegas, NV. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., Schillaci, M.J., Buzan, R.F., Green, E.P., & Meek, S.W. (April, 2006). ERP and fMRI Research in the Detection of Deception. Talk presented at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory Seminar on the Deception of Deception. Aberdeen, MD. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., Schillaci, M.J., Buzan, R.F., Green, E.P., & Meek, S.W. (June, 2006). Examining the Underlying Assumptions of Neuroscientific Tests of Deception. Talk presented at the Judicial Seminar on Emerging Issues in Neuroscience hosted by the Association for the Advancement of Science. Washington, D.C. | |||
| Vendemia, J. M.C, & Buzan, R.F. (July, 2004). Mapping the Brain During Deception: Extended Studies of Deception Using HD-ERP and fMRI . Paper presented at the annual Meeting of the American Polygraph Association. Orlando, FL. | |||
| Vendemia, J.M.C., & Buzan, R.F. (July, 2001). Brain Measurements During Deception. Paper presented at the annual Meeting of the American Polygraph Association. Indianapolis, ID. |