About
Maya Adler-Soto joined the AB faculty in 2017 as Assistant Professor of Psychology, was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2023, and was named Director of the Battler Wellness Initiative (a campus-wide mental-health promotion program) in 2024. She is one of the most nationally visible AB faculty researchers, currently the principal investigator on a $1.1M NIMH R01 grant studying adolescent depression screening in rural primary care.
Adler-Soto was raised in Atlanta to a Cuban-American father (a pediatrician) and a Jewish-American mother (a clinical social worker). She holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Emory University (2014), an internship from the Boston Consortium in Clinical Psychology (2013), and a B.A. in Psychology and Religious Studies from Vassar College (2008). She is licensed as a Clinical Psychologist in West Virginia and Georgia.
At AB she teaches across the psychology curriculum, runs an active clinical-research lab with eight undergraduate research assistants, and supervises the Battler Buddies peer-mentoring program — a campus-wide program that pairs every first-year student with a trained upper-class peer mentor.
Education
- 2014Ph.D., Clinical Psychology — Emory University. Dissertation: Adolescent Depression Screening in Pediatric Primary Care: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation.
- 2013Predoctoral Internship — Boston Consortium in Clinical Psychology.
- 2008B.A., Psychology & Religious Studies (cum laude) — Vassar College.
Teaching
Dr. Adler-Soto teaches the introductory and abnormal psychology core, the clinical theories & skills practicum, and a junior seminar in child and adolescent psychology.
- PSY 101Introduction to Psychology (Hilltop Core)A foundational course in the major findings, methods, and history of psychology as a discipline. The most-enrolled course in the AB Hilltop Core.
- PSY 215Abnormal PsychologyA sophomore-level survey of major psychopathology categories with attention to cultural variation and rural-Appalachian context.
- PSY 308Counseling Theories & SkillsA junior-level course co-taught with Dean Greene. Includes 30 hours of supervised practicum.
- PSY 410Senior Research Capstone in Clinical PsychologyA year-long mentored research project in Dr. Adler-Soto's lab.
Research, Clinical Practice & National Voice
Adler-Soto's research program addresses adolescent depression and suicidality, particularly in rural pediatric primary-care settings. Her NIMH R01 (currently in year 3 of 5) is evaluating an enhanced depression-screening intervention at 14 rural pediatric primary-care clinics across central Appalachia. The work has been featured in Health Affairs, JAMA Pediatrics, and The New York Times.
She maintains a 4-hour weekly clinical practice at the Davis Memorial Hospital Behavioral Health Clinic (adolescent psychiatry caseload), serves on the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on adolescent mental health, and was the lead author on the 2023 AAP Bright Futures depression-screening clinical guideline.
Selected Publications & Presentations
- 2024Adler-Soto M et al. "Enhanced Depression Screening in Rural Pediatric Primary Care." JAMA Pediatrics.
- 2023Lead author, AAP Bright Futures Depression-Screening Clinical Guideline.
- 2022Adler-Soto M. "The Rural Adolescent Mental-Health Workforce Gap." Health Affairs.
- 2021Co-author, Adolescent Depression in Primary Care: A Clinician's Guide. Oxford University Press.
- 2025Plenary, APA Annual Convention, "What Rural Adolescents Tell Us."
Honors & Service
- 2024NIMH R01 Award — $1.1M (PI, 2022–2027).
- 2024Appointed Director, Battler Wellness Initiative.
- 2023Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure.
- 2022AAP Bright Futures Lead Author Recognition.
- 2014Emory Distinguished Dissertation in Clinical Psychology.
A rural 14-year-old in central Appalachia has the same prevalence of depression as a suburban 14-year-old in Atlanta. She has approximately 1/40th the access to a psychiatrist. Every choice we make in this lab, in this clinic, in this department is a response to that asymmetry.— Dr. Maya Adler-Soto
Beyond the Classroom
Adler-Soto lives in Buckhannon with her wife Sara (a UMC pastor) and their two young children. She is a member of Temple Beth El of Charleston, an active Spanish-English clinical interpreter for the Davis Memorial Hospital ED, and a frequent guest preacher / Torah-reader at small Reform congregations across central WV.
She is a serious distance runner (a 3:18 marathon PR), an accomplished baker (her challah bread is locally famous), and the AB Faculty Senate Vice-Chair.