Public Lecture by Bethany Teachman (expired event)

MindTrails: Using technology to change anxious thinking in the real world.

Anxious individuals of all ages tend to interpret situations in threatening ways - a racing heart doesn't just mean you ran up the stairs quickly, it is interpreted as a sign of an impending heart attack! New research suggests we can provide focused training to change this unhealthy thinking pattern and deliver the training by phone or computer, greatly increasing access to care. This is especially important for people who are reticent to seek treatment in person or who don't have access to evidence-based care; a serious issue given the millions of people struggling with anxiety disorders who do not receive adequate care.

Bethany Teachman is a Professor and the Director of Clinical Training at the University of Virginia in the Department of Psychology. She received her PhD from Yale University, and her BA from the University of British Columbia. Her lab investigates biases in cognitive processing that contribute to the development and maintenance of psychopathology, especially anxiety disorders. She has had continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health and private foundations, and is an author on over 150 publications, including books on treatment planning and eating disorders. Dr Teachman has been awarded an American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology, multiple national mentoring awards, and is an Association for Psychological Science Fellow. Currently, Dr Teachman is Chair of the Coalition for the Advancement and Application of Psychological Science and Director of the public web sites MindTrails and Project Implicit Mental Health, and she is past president of the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology.

Professor Teachman is a 2019 UWA Institute of Advanced Studies Visiting Fellow and her visit is co-sponsored by the UWA School of Psychological Science.