I have always been interested in the thoughts and feelings that drive us. This led me to major in Psychological and Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins University and to later enroll in the psychiatry residency training program at Washington University in St. Louis. Since completing training, I have had an excellent experience working at UW/Harborview’s emergency and inpatient psychiatry services. My teaching interests include the psychiatric interview, documentation, and fundamentals of clinical decision-making. Clinically, I enjoy taking a holistic approach to care, utilizing interventions across behavioral changes, pharmacology, and psychotherapy.
Dr. Jaffe’s research is focused on responding to the public health problem of sexual assault and co-occurring alcohol misuse by improving understanding of survivors’ experiences and promoting recovery through novel interventions.
Taking an ecological perspective, Dr. Jaffe considers individual factors (e.g., cognitions, stress response), microsystems (e.g., interpersonal interactions, social networks), macrosystems (e.g., societal norms), and chronosystems (e.g., changes over time) that affect survivors’ recovery after sexual assault. Across these systems, she seeks to design and improve clinical interventions that support survivors’ recovery, mitigate post-assault alcohol misuse, and reduce distress.
My primary research and clinical interests are in diagnosis and management of neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly, autism spectrum disorder. I am a psychologist at the Seattle Children’s Autism Center where I participate in team evaluations for children and teens with co-occurring medical or psychiatric complexity, and I also see patients through our Gender Clinic. I also work at the University of Washington’s Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD) where I see patients in the Infant Development Follow-up Clinic and in the Child Development Clinic. I love the interdisciplinary nature of CHDD and I am proud to be a faculty mentor for the LEND program (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities). Overarchingly, I am invested in learning more about how to support individuals and families, how to embrace the neurodiversity movement, encourage affirming care where strengths are celebrated, and work toward equitable treatment for the families I serve.
I am a seasoned clinical psychologist who has worked with children and adults in a wide variety of settings. Currently, I provide evidenced based psychotherapies in the Adult Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic at the University of Washington Medical Center. This includes Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Cognitive Processing Therapy for trauma, Trauma informed care, CBT for anxiety and depression, and CBT for Adult ADHD.
I am particularly interested in providing care to health care professionals who have met many challenges over the last few years. I also provide treatment to adults experiencing psychosis and bipolar disorder.
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 numerous articles and book chapters 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.
I am a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Seattle Children’s Hospital and faculty member at the University of Washington Medicine. My SCH practice locations include the Gender Clinic (Adolescent Medicine), Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic, Autism Center, and the inpatient unit- Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Unit (PBMU). I believe in delivering compassionate, evidence-based care in supporting patients and their families. My approach is both comprehensive and patient-centered, as it is important to consider the needs of the individual while also appreciating societal and cultural context. I specialize in working with diverse patient populations with various marginalized identities, such as those who identify as LGBTQ, gender diverse, and/or neurodiverse. I also work closely with the Adolescent Medicine Gender Clinic in supporting any mental health needs of transgender/gender diverse youth and their families. I also collaborate with colleagues in specialty medical clinics to coordinate care of medically complex patients. Additionally, I serve as a consultant with various school programs to support mental health initiatives and advocacy efforts.
Academically, I am involved with several initiatives both locally and nationally, particularly those that work to promote diversity and equity. I serve on committees supporting the SCH/UW CAP Fellowship Program, educating trainees and students through direct clinical supervision as well as with lectures and discussions. On a national level, I serve on the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues Committee (SOGIIC) for the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). My clinical research focuses on finding strategies to better support the mental health and well-being of patients and families who are LGBTQ+. Additionally, I work on studies that explore the intersection between gender diversity and neuro diversity/autism spectrum.
