Kate Hails, Ph.D.

Dr. Kate has had a lifelong interest in child psychology and a desire to help children and families overcome challenges. She was drawn to join us at Eugene Pediatric Associates in part because we integrate pediatric care and behavioral health in a medical setting. “It helps promote better care and better outcomes for kids and families,” she says.

Education

Dr. Kate earned her undergraduate degree in psychology at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and her master’s and Ph.D. in clinical and developmental psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. She also spent four years in Boston and was involved in research at major hospitals.

She completed her clinical internship at Oregon Health & Science University and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Oregon Prevention Science Institute. She was a psychologist resident at the HEDCO Clinic at the UO College of Education Child and Family Center. She also has served as an instructor in psychology courses at both the UO and University of Pittsburgh.

Influences

Dr. Kate says growing up in a household of professional therapy and care workers fueled her interest in child psychology. Her mother is a social worker in private practice and saw clients in her home office. Her father is a psychiatrist.

Dr. Kate’s research has focused on understanding early predictors of mental health problems and improving access to parenting supports for managing child behavior challenges. While working on clinical trials for adult major depression prior to graduate school, she noticed that in screening participants, many shared that they began feeling depressed as a child or teen. This experience informed her interest in child psychology and desire to help families cope with intergenerational stress and mental health difficulties.

Oregon

In the summer of 2020, Dr. Kate drove from Pittsburgh to Oregon to start her clinical internship in pediatric psychology at OHSU. There, she provided therapy, assessment, and consultation for children with special health needs and their families. While pursuing an internship, she interviewed for OHSU’s pediatric psychology program and was very interested in its setting involving children and families. As her internship took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, she gained a lot of experience in the virtual space and with telehealth.

“It was an amazing training experience,” she says.

During that time, she also grew to love Oregon and looked for an opportunity to stay in the state to pursue her license and postdoctoral training. She moved to Eugene in 2022 and pursued a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Oregon Prevention Science Institute.

When the opportunity arose, she joined EPA. She was already familiar with us and our commitment to care because her daughter is a patient here.

Fun Facts

Dr. Kate loves living in Eugene with its friendly people, access to parks, and the fact that she has a choice of mountains, coast or desert within an easy drive.

“We really love it,” she says. “My family is really into the outdoors. And as a lifelong runner, Eugene is a natural fit with the running culture here.”

In addition to running, she likes to bike, cook, travel, go camping, do a little gardening and engage in family activities. She also is a big reader, enjoying fiction and nonfiction alike. “I’ve always enjoyed consuming stories of any kind,” she says.