Samantha Reznik

Dr. Samantha J. Reznik (she/her) is an Assistant Professor and licensed clinical psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She is the Director for Seattle Children’s Psychosis Program, providing holistic mental health care to support individuals with psychosis ages 13-21 to reach goals aligned with personal values and passions. With a commitment to research, training, and clinical leadership in serious mental illness (SMI), she strives to create meaningful change in mental health services, ensuring individuals receive the recovery-oriented care they deserve.

As an investigator at the Supporting Psychosis Innovation through Research, Implementation, & Training (SPIRIT) Center, she focuses on dissemination and implementation research to increase access to and quality of care for individuals with SMI and other underserved populations. She currently supports the Central Assessment for Psychosis (CAPS) project to increase access to psychosis assessment and reduce barriers to early psychosis treatment engagement across Washington. She is also committed to advancing SMI and health service psychology training and is actively involved in related national service, including serving as the Chair-Elect of the APA SMI/SED Subsection and founding member and Co-Chair of SMI Future of Academia, Training, and Education (FATE) committee to advance doctoral psychology training in SMI.

Dr. Reznik earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Arizona with a focus on psychophysiology and intervention science. Her clinical training included a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-funded Underserved Track clinical internship at University of Kansas Medical Center as well as an advanced clinical fellowship in rehabilitation and recovery for SMI at VA San Diego Healthcare System/University of California San Diego. She was previously a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin and investigator with the Advancing Early Psychosis Intervention Network in Texas (EPINET-TX) project.

Christina Warner

Christina Warner, MD (she/her) is the attending psychiatrist for the Early Psychosis Clinic and Partial Hospitalization Program at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She has clinical expertise in mood disorders, psychosis spectrum disorders, First Episode Psychosis, chronic suicidality, mood dysregulation, neurodiversity, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy.

Dr. Warner is a Washington native and graduate of the Seattle Public School system with a vested interest in expanding access to high quality mental health care in her community.

Robin Berger

I am a child and adolescent psychiatrist committed to improving outcomes for young people who face complex difficulties and systemic barriers. As a clinician, I aim to establish meaningful therapeutic relationships with young people and those supporting them, while also working to advocate for public policy and health systems that improve access to quality mental healthcare.

My main role includes providing inpatient care to older adolescents at the Child Study and Treatment Center through the Behavioral Health Administration, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, and acting as training lead for psychiatry at this site. My clinical interests include the transition from adolescence to adulthood, the emergence of mood disorder and psychosis, early intervention for personality disorder, and developmental disabilities. I have academic interest in medical education, health service development, and the social determinants of mental health.

Michelle Wiese

I am an Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. I received my MD, MPH from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and completed my adult residency at the University of Washington where I was chief resident. I then went on to complete a fellowship in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at the University of Washington. I am currently on faculty at Harborview Medical Center on the inpatient psychiatry unit and inpatient psychiatry consult service. I have a longstanding interest in the intersection between medicine and psychiatry and in working with people who suffer from serious mental illness and treatment-resistant conditions. I have clinical interests in ECT, psychopharmacology, co-morbid medical conditions, and adjunctive psychotherapies. I value caring for the whole person through thorough and accurate diagnosis, treating co-morbid medical conditions, and minimizing medications when possible. I have teaching interests in reducing stigma surrounding serious mental illness and educating residents and medical students about psychiatric care.

Dana Dieringer

I am an adult psychiatrist and palliative medicine physician within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. I am dual board certified within the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and American Board of Internal Medicine. I practice at Harborview Medical Center (HMC) on both palliative care consult and inpatient psychiatry teams. I help lead the HMC psychiatry quality improvement (QI) committee. My main areas of interest and expertise are in: the care and treatment of patients facing serious persistent mental illness (SPMI), particularly those with co-occurring chronic medical illness; complex communication skills with patients and families; the use of person-centered language in medicine; interprofessional teamwork. I enjoy providing clinical teaching and QI mentorship to medical trainees such as residents and medical students. I am the co-director of the interprofessional health-sciences elective “The Healer’s Art.” I am a member of the Northwest Narrative Medicine Collaborative.

Merrill Berger

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.

Benjamin Buck

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.