Rachel B
- Research Program Mentor
PhD candidate at University of Southern California (USC)
Expertise
clinical psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy, improving therapy
Bio
Rachel is a first year graduate student in the Clinical Science PhD program at USC in Los Angeles, California. After completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan, she worked as a post-bac research fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Rachel is interested in understanding mechanisms of change in psychotherapies for anxiety and depressive disorders. In her research, she examines why some people have better outcomes than others in Cognitive Behavioral Therapies, and how to improve these treatments so therapy can be more effective for more individuals. Outside of her research, Rachel enjoys hiking, spending time at the beach, going to concerts, and trying new restaurants around LA.Project ideas
Tracking Changes: Trajectories in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Depression and anxiety are two of the most common mental health problems people face. One approach to treating these disorders are Cognitive Behavioral Therapies (CBT). However, CBT only works ~60% of the time. Why does CBT work for some people and not others? How can we better understand the changes that are occurring over the course of CBT to make improvements for individuals? In this project, students could conduct a search of the current literature and compile data to highlight and present various predictors that influence treatment response for CBT. In addition to learning the important skill of comprehensive literature search and review, interpreting data, and preparing a scientific research paper, students would dive deep into psychotherapy research and learn up-to-date information on an important and rapidly changing field.