My primary areas of research include artificial intelligence, AI/machine ethics, behavioral health technologies, telemedicine, telehealth, forensic psychology, and military and Veteran population health. I’ve consulted widely on the topic of military and veteran health and technology in healthcare and have helped to develop national guidelines for telemental health, clinical best practices for technology-based treatments, and standards for human-AI interaction transparency. My vision is to build, and help others to build, technologies that help promote behavioral change and that improve the lives of people.
I am a perinatal and addiction psychiatrist and Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. My main area of interest and expertise is substance use disorders in the perinatal period as well as women’s mental health more generally. I am also passionate about doing my part to address inequities in healthcare.
My research broadly seeks to understand the ways in which our social and romantic relationships intersect with physical and mental health. Additionally, I work in treatment development and evaluation with the aim of improving and harnessing social relationships to increase physical and mental wellbeing. I was recently funded by a 5-year Career Development Award through VA HSR&D. This award aims to both improve clinicians’ measurement of social relationships in the context of mental health care and modify and test brief, Primary Care-based interventions for PTSD and social support. In this line of research, I am PI of an HSR&D and VAPS R&D-funded nationwide survey of veterans both with and without PTSD that seeks to collect psychometric and acceptability data on social support instruments for future use in measurement-based care. I am also collaborating with colleagues in HSR&D to develop and test a dyadic intervention for improving health behavior. I am lucky to provide clinical care as a staff psychologist in the PTSD Outpatient Clinic at VA Puget Sound, where I deliver individual, group, and couples treatments for PTSD and provide psychoeducation on trauma and related conditions to loved ones of veterans with PTSD.
I am a clinical psychologist and researcher. My research focuses on pediatric psychology, intervention science, and leveraging digital technologies to disseminate and implement evidence-based psychosocial interventions for children, teens, and young adults with serious medical conditions and co-occurring anxiety, stress, and depression. Digital mental health care initiatives have the potential to scale-up interventions and overcome structural barriers and unequal access to psychosocial care. Current and future research investigations aim to help improve patient and family coping skills, psychosocial well-being, and quality of life by developing and implementing evidence-based mental health interventions.
I am a Psychologist and the Coordinator of the DBT Program at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System as well as an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington. I previously worked as the Research Director of Dr. Marsha Linehan’s Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics at the University of Washington (2006-2018), Director of Research and Development for Behavioral Tech, LLC (2014-2017), and Director of Behavioral Tech Research, Inc. (2013-2016). My research focuses on the development and evaluation of the DBT Prolonged Exposure protocol for PTSD as well as methods of disseminating and implementing this and other evidence-based treatments into clinical practice. I regularly provide training and consultation nationally and internationally in DBT and DBT PE and have published extensively on these treatments. I am a certified DBT therapist, a certified PE therapist and supervisor, am board certified in Behavioral and Cognitive therapy, and am licensed as a psychologist in the state of Washington.
Dr. Jenness is a clinical child psychologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver in 2015. Her past research includes NIMH-funded studies on the neural and behavioral changes that predict treatment response to behavioral activation for depressed adolescents (K23/NARSAD). As the director of the Adolescent Depression and Intervention Innovations (ADII) lab, her recent work focuses on innovative digital treatment approaches to improve adolescent depression care. Current projects include 1) adapting behavioral activation to an online platform, ActivaTeen (R03, NIMH R34); 2) leveraging paraprofessional coaching of video-guided depression care (Garvey Innovation Grant); and 3) developing and testing a digital just-in-time adaptive intervention (Sidekick; NIMH R61) as a first-step adolescent depression treatment within primary care settings. In addition to research, Dr. Jenness is an Attending Psychologist in the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at Seattle Children’s Hospital where she primarily treats adolescent depression and suicide. She has also trained mental health professionals at various sites around the US in the use of behavioral activation with adolescents.
Personal Statement
I am a board certified child and adolescent psychiatrist in the Pediatric Clinic at Harborview, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in the Division of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine.
In my clinical work, I strive to create active partnerships with my patients and their families to achieve the best possible outcomes regardless of their needs and circumstances. I am lucky to have great behavioral health and primary care partners across the different clinics I work in, who are invaluable collaborators in caring for our patients and families.
I am involved in the child and adolescent training program and supervises trainees at several outpatient clinics. My clinical and research interests include integrating mental healthcare into primary care settings, ADHD, disruptive behaviors, aggression, trauma-related disorders, and improving clinical supervision of child and adolescent psychiatry trainees.
Personal Statement
Dr. Dworkin’s research explores (1) the role of social, community, and societal contexts in shaping trauma survivors’ recovery and well-being and (2) approaches to modifying these contexts to support better outcomes after trauma.
Personal Statement
My research is focused on (1) developing innovative mHealth assessments and interventions for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and cross-diagnostic persecutory ideation, as well as (2) “engagement mHealth,” or the development of mobile health interventions that increase the likelihood that underserved populations present to and receive evidence-based treatment, with a particular focus on young adults at risk for psychosis and their families. My research is supported by a NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation and multiple grants from NIMH including a K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award.
Prior to my faculty position at UW, I was an Advanced Fellow in VA Health Services Research and Development and the Department of Health Services at UW. I completed my clinical psychology internship at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, where I was awarded the APA Division 18 Outstanding VA Trainee Award. Prior to internship, I completed my undergraduate and doctoral training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Throughout my training, I have been dedicated to services for individual with serious mental illness, with experience in an inpatient state hospital, VA psychosocial rehabilitation, intensive outpatient and dual-diagnosis clinics, and in coordinated specialty care for young people with early psychosis.
In addition to my program of research and clinical work, I am committed to clinical supervision and training. I currently lead the development of one of the first clinical training sequences designed for frontline clinicians integrating mHealth into community mental health. I was the first-ever graduate student to win UNC’s David Galinsky Award, an honor recognizing excellence in clinical supervision that had previously only ever been won by faculty. I am currently active in providing supervision in CBT to third-year psychiatry residents at UW.
Personal Statement
As a practicing psychiatrist and health services researcher, I seek to improve mental health services in medical settings, especially among underserved populations. I work with colleagues in a wide array of disciplines (medical, public health, engineering and others) to develop new ways to increase the reach of evidence-based mental health services using technology-enabled service models to leverage limited specialty mental health expertise. I have a strong interest in using consumer technologies to empower patients, improve communication with providers, and provide targeted treatment.
