Elaine Clanton Harpine, Ph.D., is a motivational psychologist specializing in group-centered motivational program design. She has 43 years of experience designing and conducting motivational prevention programs for children and youth. Dr. Clanton Harpine earned her doctorate in Educational Psychology, Counseling from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Her research for the past 13 years has focused on using group-centered interventions with at-risk readers. Dr. Clanton Harpine designed the motivational reading program called, Camp Sharigan, which she has used extensively in her work and research. She also designed the Reading Orienteering Club after-school prevention program and 4-Step Method for teaching at-risk children to read. Her research with these programs has been published in psychological journals and reported through presentations at the American Psychological Association's annual conventions.
In recent years, Dr. Clanton Harpine has been teaching Group Therapy and Counseling, Lifespan Development and Human Growth and Development at the University of South Carolina Aiken and is continuing her research with group-centered prevention. She is the editor for the “Prevention Corner” column, which appears quarterly in The Group Psychologist. She was selected for inclusion in Who’s Who of American Women, 2006-2014, for her work with children in inner-city neighborhoods and at-risk communities.