Rate My Professor Stephen Cook

Dr. Stephen Cook serves as Dean of the Cynthia Ann Parker College of Liberal Arts and holds the position of Professor of Psychology and Counseling at Hardin-Simmons University, along with the Cynthia Ann Parker Endowed Chair of Liberal Arts. He assumed these roles in 2016 after a distinguished career spanning twenty-four years at Texas Tech University, where he most recently directed the Counseling Psychology doctoral program. In this capacity, he supervised multiple faculty members and oversaw a robust program enrolling 30 to 40 doctoral students annually. Throughout his professional journey, Cook has demonstrated significant leadership within the field of psychology, holding officer and board member positions in prominent organizations such as the Society of Counseling Psychology, the Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, the Texas Psychological Association, the Association of Psychology Training Clinics, the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs, and the South Plains Association of Psychologists.

Cook's academic credentials include a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Texas A&M University (1986), a Master of Arts (1989), and a Doctor of Philosophy (1992) in Counseling Psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. His research specializes in areas such as counseling, religiousness, femininity ideology, minority stress, coping processes, and gender roles. With 35 peer-reviewed publications that have garnered over 1,700 citations, notable contributions include "Men's self-reports of unwanted sexual activity" published in the Journal of Sex Research (1988); "Progress in resolving problems: A problem-focused style of coping" in the Journal of Counseling Psychology (1995); "The influence of personal growth initiative and coping styles on career exploration and vocational identity" in the Journal of Vocational Behavior (1999); "A psychometric study of three coping measures" in Educational and Psychological Measurement (1997); "The normative Male Alexithymia Scale: Measurement of a gender-linked syndrome" in Psychology of Men & Masculinity (2006); "Correlates of distress following heterosexual relationship dissolution" in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships (1993); and "Functions of Christian prayer in the coping process" in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (2008).