Massachusetts General Hospital

Research

My research interests include the development and implementation of CBT to residual symptoms, medication adherence, and substance use disorders in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.  Our group was the lead site for the first randomized controlled trial of CBT in schizophrenia published in the United States.  The CBT intervention used in that study was based on a CBT manual on which I was the lead author together with David Penn, PhD, a colleague at the University of North Carolina.  My current work focuses on optimizing CBT for use in first episode and early psychosis.  Another area of interest has been modifying CBT to target prominent negative symptoms in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.  I have also manualized treatments for enhancing motivation to quit smoking as well as smoking cessation and relapse prevention for individuals with schizophrenia who are ready to quit.