rIQ Staff
Kelly Haer, PhD, LMFT
Dr. Kelly Maxwell Haer is the Executive Director of the Boone Center for the Family and oversees the Relationship
IQ program. She loves helping young adults form healthy relationships through researching,
developing, and implementing materials that make the intersection of psychological
science and theology relevant to daily life. She enjoys creating space for young adults
to process relational concerns, training leaders to connect with young adults, and
equipping the church to support young adults' relational needs.
Prior to joining the Boone Center team, Kelly taught as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology at Pepperdine's Seaver College. She earned a BS in Nutrition from Furman University, her MA in Counseling from Covenant Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Family Therapy from Saint Louis University. Kelly is a researcher and speaker on the emotional experience of never-married single women. She has presented at local, state, national, and international conferences on singleness, long-distance dating relationships, eating disorders, and couples' use of communication technologies after infidelity. As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, she specializes in couples work, adults wrestling with undesired singleness, and women struggling with eating disorders.
Kelly and her husband, Adam, have been married since 2016 and have three young children.
Kelly's Favorite Speaking Topics:
- Equipping young adults for relational success (dating, friendships, boundaries, relational styles, communication & conflict, relationship with family, and relationship with God)
- Helping singles cope with ambiguous loss
- Helping parents and teens understand eating disorders from a faith-based perspective
Contact Kelly at kelly.haer@pepperdine.edu or 310.506.8551.
Dori Lansbach, PhD
Dori Lansbach, Ph.D., serves as the Assistant Director of Relationship IQ at the Boone Center for the Family and is an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology. She teaches graduate-level courses including Individual, Couple, and Family Development: A Life Cycle Approach, Social Psychology, and Human Sexuality and Intimacy. She also instructs undergraduates in Relationship IQ 101: Building Healthy Relationships, equipping students with tools to foster strong, healthy connections. Deeply invested in the well-being of student athletes, Dr. Lansbach helps lead the student athlete ministry at Pepperdine and supports athletes in strengthening both their mental and relational health. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from The University of Edinburgh, where she also earned a Master’s degree in Documentary Film Directing. Her academic journey began at Pepperdine, where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts for Education. In addition to teaching elementary education, she has served as a teaching assistant for undergraduate psychology courses at Edinburgh. Dr. Lansbach’s research focuses on psychological abuse in romantic relationships. She has presented her work at prominent conferences including the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention, the International Association for Relationship Research Conference, and the Conference of the Association of European Qualitative Researchers in Psychology. A former collegiate athlete, Dr. Lansbach played basketball for Pepperdine and later competed professionally in Scotland and Spain for five years. She is passionate about Jesus, family, and empowering young adults to recognize the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships.
Contact: dori.lansbach@pepperdine.edu
Program Interns
rIQ Interns are an essential part of our team. This year we are proud to have the following Pepperdine students as interns (additional names to be announced soon):
- Liza Shevetovska