Shaelise M. Tor, Ph.D.

About Me

Dr. Tor holds an MS and PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in New York State. She is also a Certified Lactation Counselor. Her research focuses on the intersection of perinatal mood, infant sleep, and breastfeeding/chestfeeding. She has completed quant...

Dr. Tor holds an MS and PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in New York State. She is also a Certified Lactation Counselor. Her research focuses on the intersection of perinatal mood, infant sleep, and breastfeeding/chestfeeding. She has completed quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods studies on the topics of: bedsharing, postpartum depression, breastfeeding/chestfeeding, and maternal-infant relational health. Clinically, Dr. Tor will continue working as a pediatric behavioral health therapist at Golisano Children’s Hospital Pediatric Practice, primarily serving the birth-to-three population supporting: infant mental health, parent-child relationships, sleep, lactation support, weaning, introduction to solids, tantrums, toilet training, transition to parenthood, psychoeducation about child development, and parenting skills. She will be teaching in the Master's of Marriage and Family Therapy program in the Department of Psychiatry. Having completed her 3-year T32 Academic Pediatric Fellowship, she is excited to come on board as joint faculty in Psychiatry and Pediatrics!

Faculty Appointments

Senior Instructor - Department of Psychiatry, Child & Adoles Serv (SMD)

Senior Instructor - Department of Pediatrics (SMD) - Joint

Credentials

Post-doctoral Training & Residency

T32 NRSA General Pediatrics & Primary Care Research Fellowship, Department of Pediatrics, URMC

Education

PhD | Syracuse University. Marriage & Family Therapy. 2021

MS | University of Rochester. Marriage & Family Therapy. 2017

BA | Roberts Wesleyan College. Psychology. 2012

Awards

Departmental Scholarship Recipient. 2016

Class of 1945 Endowed Scholarship. 2011 - 2012

Presidential Scholarship. 2009 - 2012

Publications

Journal Articles

A year of nouns from English-learning infants' daily lives: The SEEDLingS-Nouns dataset.

Kalenkovich E, Koorathota S, Tor S, Amatuni A, Egan-Dailey S, Moore C, Laing C, Garrison H, Baudet G, Bulgarelli F, Uner S, Righter L, Bergelson E

Behavior research methods.. 2025 October 157 (11):298. Epub 10/01/2025.

Role of Gardening in Mental Health, Food Security, and Economic Well-being in Resettled Refugees: A Mixed Methods Study

Gangamma, R.; Walia, B.; Minkoff-Zern, L.; Tor, S.

Journal on Migration and Human Security. 2024; 12(1): 3-18.

Publication Link

Gangamma, R; Tor, S.

A Training Program to Increase Collaboration Between

Examining the association between fatherhood attitudes and parental warmth among a sample of incarcerated fathers

Tadros, E; Tor, S.

The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families. 2022; 0(0).

Discrimination, Depression, and Dyads

Tor, S.; Watson, D.; Tadros, E.

The American Journal of Family Therapy. 2022; 50(3): 248-263.

Behavioral Health and Refugee Youth in Primary Care: An Ecological Systems Perspective of the Complexities of Care

Lewis, F.; Tor, S.; Rappleya, D.' Didericksen, K.; Sira, N.

Child and Youth Services Review. 2021; 120.

Perceived discrimination as a mediator of ACEs and psychological distress

Gangamma, R.; Tor, S.; Whitt, V.; Hollie, B.; Gao, Q.; Stevens, A.; Hutchings, R.; Stone Fish, L.

The American Journal of Family Therapy. 2020; .

Day by day, hour by hour: Naturalistic language input to infants.

Bergelson E, Amatuni A, Dailey S, Koorathota S, Tor S

Developmental science.. 2019 January 22 (1):e12715. Epub 08/10/2018.

Revisiting the issue of influential sources in the integration of psychology and theology: More than a decade summary

Grimm, J. P.; Barnett, K. L.; Bassett, R. L.; Pearson, S. M.; Cornell, A.; Morton, S.; Scott, K.; Stevenson, P.

Journal of Psychology and Theology. 2012; 40(1): 5-15.

Books

American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Systemic Ethics Textbook (2024)

Chapter: Utilizing spoken language interpreters in family therapy

Authors: Tedeschi, L.; Tor, S.; Gangamma, R.

Publisher: American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy 2024

A Therapist's Guide to Writing in Psychotherapy: Assessment, Documentation, and Intervention (2023)

Chapter: Writing for Legal and Medical Contexts

Authors: Pantaleo, L.; Tor, S.; Reiter, M. D.

Publisher: Routledge, New York 2023

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