Amy Krueger McDiarmid
Clinical Associate Professor, School Psychology
Director of Clinical Training | Rural School Psychology Program Director
Katherine A. Ruffatto Hall, 1999 East Evans Avenue Denver, CO 80208-1700
What I do
I am passionate about ensuring that the University of Denver produces high-quality school psychologists to serve all communities in Colorado through an ecological lens and a focus on equity and social justice.
Specialization(s)
school psychology, crisis prevention & intervention, adolescent addictions, Clinical Training
Professional Biography
Dr. Amy K. McDiarmid received her doctorate degree from the University of Denver and is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist. In the past, she has worked as a Behavior Specialist through the Colorado Department of Education and provided urban and rural districts with guidance around intervention and data collection at the universal, targeted and intensive levels of service. Prior to becoming faculty at DU, she was a school psychologist with Denver Public Schools for eleven years and specialized in alternative education providing assessment, counseling, consultation and crisis intervention (school, district & state level).
Currently, Dr. McDiarmid serves as the Director of Clinical Training and through this role collaborates with school districts, Boards of Cooperative Education Systems (BOCES), hospitals, private practices, community mental health clinics as well as other partners focused on mental health services for youth.
Dr. McDiarmid developed and implemented the Rural School Psychology Program at the University of Denver in close collaboration with rural communities. By partnering directly with local districts, she tailored the program's curriculum and training pathways to address the unique mental health and educational needs of underserved rural schools, preparing practitioners to deliver equitable, community-grounded school-based service.
Dr. McDiarmid enjoys spending her free time outside hiking, skiing and biking with her husband and daughter.
Professional Affiliations
- National Association of School Psychologists, Member
- Trainers of School Psychology, Member
- PREPARE Trainer for National Association of School Psychologists
- Colorado Society of School Psychologists, Board Member
- American Psychological Association, Member
Research
My scholarship, research, and program development primarily focus on addressing school-based mental health shortages through community-engaged rural initiatives and a strong social justice lens. As a member of the Morgridge College of Education’s Mental Health Think and Action Committee, I partnered with colleagues and the Colorado Department of Education through Project AWARE and Project AWARE II to research the recruitment and retention of rural mental health providers, yielding statewide administrative training and national presentations. This foundational work led to the creation of the SPIRIT initiative and the subsequent Rural School Psychology Program. Serving as Program Director, I collaborated directly with rural community members to design a curriculum and structure allowing residents to complete their graduate training while living and working in their regions. Securing federal and state level grants enabled the program to provide graduate students with substantial tuition coverage, and I remain dedicated to securing future funding to sustain these vital rural pipelines.
Expanding upon this community-embedded approach, my research also examines collaborative partnerships between metro-based institutions and rural organizations, emphasizing that effective rural initiatives require valuing local strengths, building deep trust, and listening to regional challenges. This work has resulted in several co-authored articles and presentations with colleagues and graduate students focusing on our LEA partnerships.
In addition to rural scholarship, my research agenda encompasses crisis response and graduate student field experiences. In my crisis response work, I have collaborated with students and faculty to enrich the literature on marginalized populations, culminating in a book chapter and national presentation on suicide prevention and assessment for students with intellectual disabilities. Furthermore, I led a study examining the criteria graduate students use when selecting internship placements, providing actionable recommendations that were distributed to Colorado school district leaders to influence state policies and practices around school psychology internships.
