The Behavioral Medicine Service (BMED) was founded by Dr. Steven A. Safren in 2004 with an integrative emphasis on providing specialized help to patients suffering from both a medical condition and mental health illness.
Faculty
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Dr. Steven Safren is the Director of Behavioral Medicine. He is also a Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Behavioral Medicine Track of the MGH clinical psychology internship, and board certified in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy from the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). His focus is on cognitive behavioral intervention development, particularly in the areas of HIV and other chronic illnesses, as well as adult ADHD. Dr. Safren also serves as the Editor of Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, the clinical journal of the Association for the Advancement of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy (ABCT) which focuses on bridging the gap between published clinical research and the practice of cognitive and behavioral therapies.
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Dr. Conall O'Cleirigh is the Associate Director of Behavioral Medicine. He is also an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. O'Cleirigh's research interests are in developing and adapting cognitive-behavioral intervention technologies for application with medical populations, particularly among people living with HIV. As part of this research emphasis he is involved in developing primary and secondary HIV prevention interventions with particular application among gay and bisexual men). |
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Dr. C. Andres Bedoya is a staff psychologist in the Behavioral Medicine Service at Massachusetts General Hospital. He also serves as an Instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His work focuses on research that improves medical and mental health outcomes of minorities, including through the development of culturally competent evidence-based interventions. The majority of Dr. Bedoya’s research has centered on cultural and linguistic adaptation of cognitive-behavioral interventions for Latinos, including for the treatment of depression within primary care settings and within primary/secondary prevention of HIV. |
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Dr. Aaron J. Blashill is a staff psychologist in the Behavioral Medicine Service at Massachusetts General Hospital. He also serves as an Instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on body dissatisfaction and eating pathology among gay men, in addition to body image, depression and medication adherence in individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Aaron’s research interests also include studying body image in other medical populations, as well as the impact of gender roles on men’s psychological distress. |
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Dr. Mark J. Gorman is a licensed staff psychologist in the Behavioral Medicine Service in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and the MGH Weight Center. He is also an Instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.Dr. Gorman’s work focuses helping individuals with chronic illness, pain, obesity/eating disorders, body image disturbance, depression, and anxiety disorders – with a special focus on stress management, sleep health, and lifestyle change. Dr. Gorman’s research interests include obesity medicine, combination therapy for obesity management, and adherence factors associated with behavioral medicine treatment. |
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Dr. Joseph Greer is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Greer provides clinical care and conducts research at the MGH Behavioral Medicine Service and at the MGH Cancer Center where he studies how anxiety can affect patients' ability to complete cancer treatments and novel ways to treat anxiety with behavioral interventions. He also collaborates with Drs. Pirl and Temel on supportive care studies in the Center for Thoracic Oncology. He currently is running a randomized clinical trial of a behavioral intervention for anxiety in advanced lung cancer patients. Dr. Greer's other clinical and research interests include recognition and treatment of psychological distress in primary care medical settings; adherence to medical therapies; and racial and ethnic disparities in health care |
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Dr. Robert Knauz is a staff psychologist in the Behavioral Medicine Service. He is also an Instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. |
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Dr. Jonathan Lerner is a staff psychologist in the Behavioral Medicine service at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also an instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Lerner's clinical and research interests are in the areas of behavioral medicine and adult anxiety disorders, with a special interest in Internet-based psychological assessment and treatment. Related to his work in Behavioral Medicine, Dr. Lerner sees patients at the Massachusetts General Hospital Digestive Healthcare Center’s Crohn’s and Colitis Center. He also has a private practice office in Cambridge, MA. |
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Dr. Matthew Mimiaga is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School (Psychiatry) and Harvard School of Public Health (Epidemiology) with expertise in designing and conducting intervention trials in HIV sexual risk reduction, substance abuse treatment and prevention, and HIV medication adherence with a variety of populations, including individuals in resource limited countries, sexual minority groups, and adolescents. He has co-authored more than 100 articles, chapters and other publications on HIV/AIDS and related infectious disease topics. His main research interests include HIV/AIDS, sexual minority health, mental health and substance use disorders, psychiatric and infectious disease epidemiology, and global health. |
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Dr. Elyse Park is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and is a staff psychologist in the Behavioral Medicine Service, a faculty member at the MGH Mongan Institute for Health Policy, and serves as Director of Behavioral Sciences at the MGH Center for Psychiatric Oncology and Behavioral Sciences at the Cancer Center as well as Director of Behavioral Health Research at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine. Dr. Park’s clinical research focuses on motivational and behavioral intervention development, particularly for chronic stress and smoking cessation treatment among cancer and obstetric patients. |
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Dr. Christina Psaros is a staff psychologist in the Behavioral Medicine Service at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Instructor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School. Her clinical work focuses on women’s mental health, while her research focuses on psychosocial aspects of HIV care and prevention (particularly among women) both in the United States and in sub-Saharan Africa. |
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Dr. Lara Traeger is a staff psychologist and clinical researcher in the MGH Behavioral Medicine Service and at the MGH Cancer Center and Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine. She is also an Instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Her research interests include mental health disparities in the context of chronic diseases and aging. |
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Dr. Ana-Maria Vranceanu is a staff psychologist in Behavioral Medicine and Orthopedics Hand & Upper Extremity Services at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she conducts research and provides clinical services to patients with chronic illnesses and/or psychological disorders. She is also an Instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. |
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Dr. Timothy Wallace is a staff psychologist in the Behavioral Medicine Service. He is also an Instructor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Wallace’s work focuses on helping medical patients modify behaviors that affect their health and well-being. He also works with individuals with chronic pain, depression and anxiety disorders and is especially interested in the role of exercise and stress management in the amelioration of these problems. |
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| Post-Doctoral Fellows | |
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Dr. Allison Labbeis a Post-Doctoral Psychology Fellow in Behavioral Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Labbe received her Ph.D. in Clinical Health Psychology at Syracuse University. Her research interests broadly focus on addiction among medically ill individuals. Specifically, her current research focuses on the development and testing of brief interventions for alcohol and substance use disorders among patients with chronic medical illnesses. |
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| Pre-Doctoral Fellows | |
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Jessica Magidson, M.S. is a Clinical Psychology Fellow in Behavioral Medicine at the Massachussetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. She is completing her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her clinical and research interests primarily focus on developing and testing brief integrated interventions for depression and substance use comorbidity, with a particular focus on individuals living with HIV or at high risk for HIV. |
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Giselle Perez-Lougee, M.A. is a Clinical Psychology Fellow in Behavioral Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. She is completing her Ph.D. in Clinical Health Psychology at the University of Connecticut. Her research interests broadly focus on cancer prevention and the development of interventions to enhance quality of life, treatment adherence and treatment outcomes in cancer populations. Her other research interests include racial and ethnic disparities in health care. |
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| Affiliated Faculty and Staff | |
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Dr. Bruce Masek is the clinical director of Child and Adolescent Outpatient Psychiatry at MGH and a staff psychologist with the Behavioral Medicine Service. His primary clinical and research interests focus on health-related quality of life assessment in pediatric chronic illness and pediatric pain disorders. |
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Dr. Dennis Norman is the Chief of Psychology at MGH. His interests are with psychological assessment (at the psychological assessment center), coping with chronic illness and trauma, diabetes, evaluation of neuropsychological/developmental disorders. |
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Dr. Sheila O'Keefe is the Director of Psychology training at MGH. Her interests in behavioral medicine involve palliative care. |
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Dr. Ellen Slawsby provides individual and couples therapy, specializing in individuals with chronic illness, chronic fatigue, and pain. She received her MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She is a staff psychologist in Behavioral Medicine, a researcher and clinical trainer at the Benson-Henry Institute (BHI) for Mind/Body Medicine as well as Director of the Pain Services at the BHI. Dr. Slawsby is an Assistant Professor in Psychology in the department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Slawsby has published and presented research on chronic medical illness, Infertility, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Irritable Bowel Disease and Chronic Pain. |
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Dr. Stephanie Sogg earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Rutgers University in 1998. She is a staff psychologist at the MGH Weight Center, treating patients with obesity and eating disorders. She is the director of the Weight Center rotation for Behavioral Medicine psychology interns, and serves on committees for the national scientific obesity and weight loss surgery societies. Dr. Sogg's clinical and research interests include: Behavioral medicine, obesity, major mental illness, substance abuse, psychiatric emergency services, and forensic psychology. |
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Dr. Susan Sprich is the Clinical Director of the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. She received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the State University of New York at Albany. She is an Assistant Professor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School. Her primary research interests are cognitive-behavioral treatment of ADHD in adults and adolescents, and cognitive-behavioral treatment of Trichotillomania in children, adolescents in adults. Clinically, she treats adults with anxiety, ADHD, mood and OC-Spectrum disorders. She also teaches seminars and does supervision with the interns and residents at MGH. She has a private practice office in Wellesley, MA. |
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Dr. Ann Webster is an associate psychologist in Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, and is a staff psychologist in the Behavioral Medicine Service, an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and a scientist and health psychologist at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind/Body Medicine. Dr. Webster has been lecturing on mind/body health and conducting workshops for corporations, hospitals and universities across the globe for over 20 years. Dr. Webster graduated with honors in 1988 from the Department of Health Psychology, Ferkauf Graduate School at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. |
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| Research Assistants and Administrative Staff | |
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Janna Gordon, B.A. is a clinical research assistant in the Behavioral Medicine Service at Massachusetts General Hospital. She received her undergraduate degree from Williams College in 2011, where she majored in Psychology and concentrated in Cognitive Science. She primarily assists Dr. Steven A. Safren with his study “Efficacy of CBT for Depression and Adherence in HIV Care Settings.” Her research interests include quality of life enhancement among those living with chronic illness or disability, and she plans to pursue graduate school in health psychology after her time at Massachusetts General Hospital. You can reach Janna by phone at 617-643-1168 or by email at jrgordon@partners.org. |
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Jesse Kosiba, B.A. is a clinical research assistant in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. Jesse graduated from the University of Vermont (UVM)and worked as a Research Coordinator under Dr. Michael Zvolensky at UVM prior to joining the team at MGH. Jesse is working primarily with Dr. Conall O'Cleirigh and Dr. Lara Traeger. His primary interests lie in translational research on psychological vulnerabilities (e.g., anxiety sensitivity) and maladaptive substance use in the context of certain chronic health conditions (e.g., HIV/AIDS, cancer). Jesse plans to pursue graduate school in clinical psychology. He can be reached by phone at (617) 724-0637 or e-mail at jkosiba1@partners.org |
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Aleksandra Margolina is a clinical research assistant in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. She graduated from Amherst College in 2011. She is working primarily with Dr. Steven Safren on “Efficacy of CBT for Adherence and Depression in HIV Care Settings” and Dr. Safren and Dr. Sprich on “Compensatory Executive Functioning Skills Training in Adolescents with ADHD”. After her time at MGH, Aleksandra plans to pursue graduate school in clinical psychology. She can be reached by phone at (617) 726-3679 or by e-mail at amargolina@partners.org. |
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Johannes Wilson, B.A. Johannes Wilson, B.A. is a clinical research assistant in the Behavioral Medicine Service at Massachusetts General Hospital. He graduated from Williams College in 2011 with a double major in Psychology and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. His research interests include preventive psychosocial and behavioral interventions for at-risk populations. He is primarily working with Dr. Conall O’Cleirigh on the study “HIV Prevention and Trauma Treatment for Men Who Have Sex with Men with Childhood Sexual Abuse Histories.” After his time at MGH, he plans to pursue graduate school in clinical/community psychology or public health. You can reach Johannes by phone at (617) 643-4566, by fax at (617) 724-8690, or by email at jwilson22@partners.org. |
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