As a cognitive-behavioral therapist, I use empirically-supported techniques to treat clients ranging in age from childhood to adulthood, with a variety of presenting problems. I specialize in treating suicidal ideation and behaviors and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). I also focus on treating individuals with depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, aggressive behaviors, and borderline personality disorder. I am interested in treatment development and outcome research, and I am developing and piloting an intervention for NSSI in young adults through a grant from NIMH.
My research interests focus on the continuum of self-harm behaviors, including non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and attempted suicide, with the goal of developing a better understanding of the phenomenology of NSSI and self-harm behaviors. Specifically, my research investigates factors that contribute to the expression of one form of self-harm versus another, the functions of different types of self-harm, physiological processes in self-harm, the effects of self-harm on psychopathology and behavior severity, and the treatment of NSSI and attempted suicide. I am principle investigator on a federally-funded grant to develop and pilot an intervention for NSSI in young adults. This time-limited intervention integrates theoretically-based strategies whose utility has been identified through empirical research with the goal of reducing the frequency and severity of NSSI.
Interested students are encouraged to contact me regarding opportunities to become involved in ongoing projects.
