Programs of Excellence in Scientifically Validated Behavioral Treatment

Cheryl Carmin, Ph.D. (PI) Dr. Carmin is a Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry. She brings 20 years of experience in training graduate psychology students, post-doctoral fellows and psychiatry residents to this educational program. She directs the Stress & Anxiety Disorders Clinic and the Cognitive Behavior Therapy Program at UIC. She is a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and a former Beck Scholar. She is a recognized leader in the areas of anxiety disorders research and treatment as well as CBT training. She has authored over 50 papers, book chapters, and books and given over 100 conference presentations nationally and internationally. In addition to developing a CBT training curriculum, Dr. Carmin also established the first evidence based anxiety disorders treatment program in an academic medical center within the metropolitan Chicago area. The Stress & Anxiety Disorders Clinic offers clinical research and training experiences for psychology externs, interns, and a post-doctoral fellow as well as for psychiatry residents. As a result of the reputation of the clinics and associated research opportunities, we have been able to recruit interns from top ranked graduate programs from across the US and Canada. Dr. Carmin is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Association for Behavioral & Cognitive Therapies (ABCT).

Marc Atkins, Ph.D.. Dr. Atkins has a long standing interest in the development of mental health services for children and families living in high poverty urban communities. He is an active researcher in the areas of childhood ADHD and aggression, and on the development of innovative models for community mental health services for children and families. He has been the recipient of numerous grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and other federal agencies and private foundations and the author of over 75 papers and chapters and over 100 conference presentations. He has been a consultant to the Chicago Public Schools Office of Specialized Services since 1995, He has served on the executive board of the Association of Psychological Science’s Academy of Psychological Clinical Science, and the American Psychological Association’s Society for Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. He has directed internships in clinical psychology since 1992, including currently at UIC, Department of Psychiatry, since 1994. In 2005, under his direction, the Child Track of the UIC internship based at the Institute of Juvenile Research received the inaugural award for the Outstanding Internship by the APA Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.

Elise Massie, Ph.D. Dr. Massie is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she earned her doctoral degree in clinical psychology and did her postdoctoral training. She completed her clinical internship at the Edward Hines VA Hospital. Dr. Massie specializes in the use of cognitive-behavioral therapy for the spectrum of anxiety disorders. Dr. Massie also teaches and supervises psychology graduate trainees and psychiatry residents in the theory and application of cognitive-behavioral therapy. She has published in the area of anxiety disorders and cognitive-behavioral treatment approaches.

Robert Marvin, MD - Dr. Marvin is currently an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry. Having trained at University of Wisconsin for medical school, he came to Illinois for his Psychiatry Residency Training. After graduation, he stayed on as Assistant Professor and became active in the clinical and educational missions of the department. He worked as Assistant Residency Training Director and clinical supervisor to psychiatry residents. In 2003, he aligned himself with the Psychosis Program, led by John Sweeney, PhD, and cultivated a team specializing in prodromal and first episode psychosis. In fall of 2004, he took over the role of Residency Training Director with the goal of integrating the departmental missions of outstanding clinical service, cutting-edge research, and superior education into the training program.

Sabine Schmid, Ph.D. – Dr. Schmid is an Assistant Professor. She obtained her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Vanderbilt University and completed an NIMH funded post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Aaron Beck and colleagues at the Psychopathology Research Unit and at the Center for Cognitive Therapy at the University of Pennsylvania. Her areas of interest include anxiety disorders and depression, cognitive behavior therapy, and affect regulation. She has published on the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and phobias and presented on dimensional approaches to affective disorders at several national conventions. She is interested in the relation between anxiety and depression and has most recently explored the differential effects of medication and cognitive therapy on positive and negative affect. Dr. Schmid has also been involved in the teaching, mentoring, and supervision of clinical psychology interns and psychiatry residents.

Liza Suárez, Ph. D. – Dr. Suárez is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she develops research and treatment programs for urban children within the Pediatric Stress and Anxiety Disorders Clinic. Before coming to Chicago, she was an Assistant Professor at Boston University where she participated in CBT-based research and treatment programs for anxious youth at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders (CARD) and directed the Adolescent Traumatic Stress and Substance Abuse Treatment program. She has considerable training and experience in conducting treatment and research programs employing cognitive behavioral strategies in both research and clinical community settings. Dr. Suárez is currently leading research-community collaborations to adapt an integrated intervention targeting traumatic stress and substance abuse problems among adolescents. Dr. Suárez is also the Chair of the Adolescent Trauma and Substance Abuse Committee, a nationally represented group of clinicians and researchers representing the fields of trauma and substance abuse sponsored by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.