About Cascade Center
A research, consulting, resourcing, and mental healthcare practice studying how people's spiritual lives shape their health and flourishing—and putting what it learns to work.
We conduct and direct funded scientific research. We advise faith-based organizations, universities, and digital health platforms on program design, evaluation, and research strategy. We create practitioner resources and open-access tools that carry research findings to the people who can benefit from them. And we provide psychological assessment, psychotherapy, and consultation to individuals and organizations.
The Cascade Center for Health and Flourishing, P.C. is a professional corporation registered in South Carolina.
Our Vision
A world in which people's spiritual lives are understood, taken seriously, and drawn upon as a source of health, healing, and human flourishing.
Our Mission
To catalyze that flourishing—by generating rigorous science on spiritual practice, health, and well-being, and by translating that science into clinical care, practitioner resources, and the programs, platforms, and policies that shape how people live.
I am a researcher, licensed clinical psychologist and am the founder of the Cascade Center for Health and Flourishing. For 16 years I taught and conducted research as a professor of psychology, most recently at Wheaton College, where I was the doctoral psychology programs' director of clinical training. I now bring that work together in one place: research, resources, consulting, and clinical care.
My research asks how people's religion and spirituality shape their health and flourishing: how we come to view and experience the sacred, what happens when faith is strained by suffering or adversity, and which practices actually help people heal and grow. Much of that work has followed people over time and in real-world settings. It has produced two books, 120+ publications, and nearly $10 million in research funding from the John Templeton Foundation, Templeton World Charity Foundation, and Lilly Endowment. I am a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and currently serve as President-Elect of its Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (APA Division 36).
In my clinical work, I approach assessment and therapy as a collaborative relationship. I work from a Therapeutic Assessment framework that aims to help people illumine the story of their mind's journey and then author a data-informed sense of where to go from here. I see clients by telehealth throughout all 40+ PSYPACT states.
Dr. Ward Davis
Credentials
Education
Psy.D. and M.A. in Clinical Psychology, Regent University.
B.A. in History (Highest Distinction) and B.A. in Psychology (Highest Honors), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Licensure
Licensed Psychologist, South Carolina (PSY.1987) and Illinois (071.008813). Authority to Practice Interjurisdictional Telepsychology (APIT #7226, current through April 28, 2027), authorizing telehealth practice in all PSYPACT participating states.
Academic appointments
Professor of Psychology (tenured), Wheaton College, 2012–2026; Director of Clinical Training, 2020–2025.
Assistant Professor and Postdoctoral Fellow, Rosemead School of Psychology, Biola University, 2010–2012.
Adjunct Professor, School of Undergraduate Studies, Regent University, 2008–2010.
Society leadership
President-Elect, Fellow, and former Treasurer (2017–2024), Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (APA Division 36).
Fellow, American Psychological Association.
Editorial roles
Associate Editor, Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.
Associate Editor, Spirituality in Clinical Practice.
Books
Handbook of Positive Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality (Springer).
Attachment, Religion, and Spirituality (Cambridge University Press).
Selected honors
Distinguished Service Award, APA Division 36 (2024).
Senior Scholarship Achievement Award, Wheaton College (2022).
Margaret Gorman Early Career Award, APA Division 36 (2020).
Randall Sorenson Outstanding Faculty Award,
Rosemead School of Psychology, Biola University (2012).