Seattle U

Claire Steele LeBeau, PhD — Faculty ; Associate Professor ; Department of Psychology , College of Arts & Sciences ; Areas of Expertise: Existential Phenomenology .

Associate Professor, Psychology

Biography

Dr. Claire Steele LeBeau is an Associate Professor of Psychology at 91̽»¨. She teaches courses at both an undergraduate and graduate level in existential phenomenological psychology. After completing her Master’s Degree from 91̽»¨ in 1997, she worked in the Seattle area in a broad range of community mental health positions and in private practice. She completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA in 2013. Her research interests focus on the interpersonal origins of ethics, primarily through the philosophical work of Emmanuel Levinas, and the therapeutic application of phenomenology to the healing relationship.  She has spent the last decade conducting research on the experience of maternal guilt with first-time mothers and the experience of vulnerability for first-time parents couples.  Dr. LeBeau developed a novel research methodology applying the use of Gendlin’s Focusing Technique in the interview process. This methodology continues to inform her current research on the lived experience of forgiveness and existential anxiety and guilt.