About Us

Director

Lori A. Zoellner, PhD
Professor, Psychology

Education:
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, Minor: Behavioral Neuroscience
M.A. Clinical Psychology, Minor: Behavioral Neuroscience
Rice University
B.A. Psychology and Sociology

Selected Publications

Echiverri, A., Jaeger, J., Chen, J., Moore, S., & Zoellner, L. A. (in press). Dwelling in the past: The role of rumination in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice.

Keller, S.M., Zoellner, L.A., & Feeny, N.C. (2010). Understanding factors associated with early therapeutic alliance in PTSD treatment: adherence, childhood sexual abuse history, and social support. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Stines Doane, L., Feeny, N.C., & Zoellner, L. A. (2010). Sudden gains in exposure therapy for PTSD. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48, 555-560.

Eftekhari, A., Zoellner, L. A., & Vigil, S. (2009). Patterns of emotion regulation and psychopathology. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping: An International Journal, 22, 571-586.

Feeny, N. C., Zoellner, L. A., Mavissakalian, M.R., & Roy-Byrne, P.P. (2009). What would you choose? Sertraline or prolonged exposure in community and PTSD treatment seeking women. Depression and Anxiety, 28, 724-731.

Feeny, N.C., Zoellner, L. A., & Kahana, S. (2009). Providing a treatment rationale for PTSD: Does what we say matter? Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47, 752-760.

Zoellner, L. A., Abramowitz, J. S., Moore, S. A., & Slagle, D. M (2009). Flooding. In W. O’Donohue & J. Fisher (Eds). General Principles and Empirically Supported Techniques of Cognitive Behavior Therapy. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Zoellner, L.A., Eftekhari, A., Bedard, M. (2009). Psychological models of posttraumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder. In M. Antony & M. Stein (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders (p. 250-261). New York, NY: Oxford Press.

Zoellner, L. A., Feeny, N. C., & Bittinger, J. (2009). What you believe is what you want: Modeling PTSD-related treatment preferences for sertraline or prolonged exposure. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 40, 455-467.

Angelo, F. N., Miller, H. E., Zoellner, L. A., & Feeny, N. C. (2008). “I need to talk about it”: A qualitative analysis of trauma-exposed women’s reasons for treatment choice, Behavior Therapy, 39, 13-21.

Bedard, M. A. & Zoellner, L. A. (2008). The utility of the criteria A1 and A2 stressors in the diagnosis of PTSD. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46, 1062-1069.

Zoellner, L. A. (2008). Translational challenges with tonic immobility. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 15, 93-101.

Moore, S. A. & Zoellner, L. A. (2007). Overgeneral Autobiographical Memory and Traumatic Events: An Evaluative Review. Psychological Bulletin, Vol 133(3), 419-437.

Zoellner, L. A., Sacks, M. B., & Foa, E. B. (2007). Dissociation and serenity induction. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 38, 252-262.

Foa, E., Zoellner, L.A., & Feeny, N.C. (2006). An evaluation of three brief programs for facilitating recovery after assault. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19, 29-43.

Cahill, S., Zoellner, L., Feeny, N. & Riggs, D (2004). Sequential treatment for child abuse-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 543-548.

The Pediatric OCD Study (POTS) Team (2004). Cognitive-behavioral therapy, sertraline, and their combination for children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of the American Medical Association, 292, 1969 – 1976.

Zoellner, L. A., & Bittinger, J. (2004). On the uniqueness of trauma memories in PTSD. In G. Rosen (ed.), Posttraumatic stress disorder: Issues and controversies. NY: John Wiley, Inc.

Zoellner, L. A., Jaycox, L. A., Watlington, C. G., & Foa, E. B. (2003). Are the dissociative criteria in ASD useful? Journal of Traumatic Stress, 16 (4), 341-350.

Zoellner, L. A., Feeny, N.C., Cochran, B., & Pruitt, L. (2003). Treatment choice for PTSD. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 879-886.

Zoellner, L. A., Sacks, M. B., & Foa, E. B. (2003). Directed forgetting following mood induction in female assault victims with chronic PTSD. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112, 508-514.

Feeny, N. C., Zoellner, L. A., & Foa, E. B. (2002). Treatment outcome for chronic PTSD among female assault victims with borderline personality disorder. Journal of Personality Disorders, 16 (1), 30-40.

Foa, E. B., Zoellner, L. A., Feeny, N. C., Hembree, E. A., & Alvarez-Conrad, J. (2002). Does imaginal exposure exacerbate PTSD symptoms? Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,70 (4), 1022-1028.

Zoellner, L. A., Alvarez-Conrad, J. A., & Foa, E. B. (2002). Peritraumatic dissociative experiences, trauma narratives, and trauma pathology. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 15(1), 49-57.

Zoellner, L. A., Sacks, M. B., & Foa, E. B. (2001). Stability of emotions for traumatic memories for acute and chronic PTSD. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39(6), 671-711.

Zoellner, L. A., Foa, E. B., Brigidi, B., & Przeworski, A. (2000). Are trauma victims susceptible to ‘false memories’? Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109(3), 517-524.

Associate Director

Michele Bedard-Gilligan, PhD
Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

My research interests are in understanding mechanisms of recovery following trauma exposure. I am interested in answering questions that can help us understand “what works for whom” to improve our current prevention and intervention approaches for PTSD and related problems. I also have interests in the overlap of PTSD and substance use, with a particular focus on how alcohol and cannabis use impact recovery following trauma exposure.

Medical Director

Richard Ries, MD

Director of Global Programs

Dega Angula, MSc

Dega Angula MSc. has over 20 years’ experience in, leading, designing and implementing public health interventions in diverse international settings and led multi-cultural interdisciplinary professional teams. Dega joined University of Washington in 2007 and has served as Country Director in Namibia and South Africa. Prior to joining University of Washington, she served various global health organizations including the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and Medecins du Monde (France) and held a senior leadership positions. Dega has a MSc from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, University of London.

Research Fellows and Clinicians

Elizabeth Lehinger, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
My research interests are related to improving treatment outcomes for people who have PTSD and co-occurring substance use disorders. I am passionate about improving PTSD treatment initiation and retention in this population. I am also interested in better understanding the role of emotional avoidance in PTSD treatment outcomes.

Doctoral Researchers and Clinicians

Pete Rosencrans, MS
My research interests include applying principles from dynamical systems science to better understand PTSD etiology, maintenance and treatment. Specifically, I am interested in applying systems-oriented analytic techniques, such as network modeling, to study how elements of PTSD interact with another over time in order to identify drivers of PTSD maintenance and recovery.

Emma PeConga, MS
My research interests center on the cognitive mechanisms underlying autobiographical and working memory deficits in populations that have experienced trauma, particularly survivors of sexual assault, and how these mechanisms contribute to the maintanence and etiology of PTSD.

Gabby Gauthier, MS
I am interested in better understanding the development and maintenance of intrusive memories following trauma exposure. In particular, I am interested in peritraumatic cognitive mechanisms and their potential application to early intervention in trauma-related disorders.

Shivani Pandey, BS
My research interests center on the common mechanisms underlying the development of PTSD and depression, and understanding what is driving the high comorbidity of these disorders. I am also interested in global mental health and understanding how we can tailor our treatments to better serve diverse and underrepresented populations in psychology.

Research Coordinators

Jenna Mohr, BS
My research interests include the role of social mechanisms on the development and treatment outcomes of PTSD and co-occurring substance use, specifically among those who have had unwanted sexual experiences. Additionally, I am interested in the trajectory of seeking treatment after trauma exposure.

Sarah Cornell-Maier, BA
My research interests center on the interactions and co-occurrence of trauma-related disorders and substance use. I am particularly interested in the use of substances as a coping mechanism for trauma symptoms and the impact of self-medication on treatment success, specifically in populations who have experienced sexual assault.