CATES:
at the
Texas Child Study Center
Austin, TX
Child Anxiety Treatment Enhancement Study
Graduate Research Team
The Graduate Research Team is a research team composed of Doctoral students from UT’s School Psychology Program, and led by Dr. Kevin Stark. Our team maintains an active research program dedicated to CBT intervention studies targeting a range of Anxiety and Related Disorders. In addition to providing top-of-the-line treatment to members of the greater community, we also provide ongoing training to graduate students in UT’s School Psychology Program.
Leah Wang, MA
Leah Wang entered the UT School Psychology PhD program in 2010. Before that, she earned a B.S. in Brain & Cognitive Sciences from MIT and worked in public health and as a teacher in North Carolina. Leah joined the anxiety study team in January 2012. When she is not coaching parents on how to reduce accommodating behaviors or helping children face their fears, Leah can often be found playing in the sandbox with her daughter.
Hannah Jones
Hannah Jones entered the UT School Psychology Doctoral program in 2011. Before that, she earned a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish from Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Hannah has been working with the anxiety study team since June 2012. She has always had an interest in working with kids and their families and works at a preschool part-time. In her free time, Hannah loves to travel, watch movies, and cheer on the Longhorns.
Annette Cantu
Annette Lynn Cantu joined the anxiety study team in September 2012. She is a doctoral student in the UT School Psychology program and received her B.A. from Reed College. Annette enjoys traveling, meditation, and laughing. She appreciates investigating the world through multidisciplinary approaches and lenses, using the mindset of an open-hearted traveler when approaching any new topic or client.
Josh Morris
Josh began the UT School Psychology Doctorate Program in 2013, where he is specializing in child clinical psychology. Before moving to Austin, Josh worked as a recreational and social skills therapist in Boulder, Colorado at an intensive treatment center for children and adolescents with learning disabilities and co-occurring mood difficulties. Josh currently researches the interaction between learning disabilities and negative mood states, self-perception and self-concept, peer social categorization, and positive coping in children and adolescents with learning disabilities. Josh's interests also extend to mindfulness-based therapeutic techniques as well as the role of video games in social anxiety.
Becca Hammonds
Becca Hammonds entered the UT School Psychology PhD program in 2013. Before that, she earned a B.A. in Psychology and Education from Mount Holyoke College and worked as a teacher. She later worked on a program evaluation of early education programs and as a lab manager in a Cognitive Neuroscience lab, working with preschoolers and their families. Becca joined the anxiety study team in August, 2014. She is interested in helping children face their fears and researching how to best strengthen the family supports that enable them to do so.
Kim Rinehart, MA, LPC
Kim joined the team and UT's School Psychology PhD program in 2014. She received her Master's in Clinical Psychology from the University of Houston-Clear Lake in 2011, and before moving back to Austin, worked as a Manager & Research Coordinator at the Houston OCD Program. Her primary research and clinical interests are in mindfulness and acceptance based therapies for children and families with severe anxiety as well as research on interpersonal effectiveness. When she's not working or traveling, you can usually find Kim experimenting in the kitchen with new recipes or playing outside with her adorable dog, Sadie.
Patrick Vincent
Bio coming soon!
Johnna Jones, PhD
Johnna received her Doctorate from UT's Educational Psychology Program in the Department of Human Development, Culture, and Learning Sciences. She holds her Masters in both Counseling and in Human Services. Her research has focused on anxiety disorders in children and adolescents, parental anxiety, family accommodation, and perfectionism. She has 4 children (3 teenagers) and in her very little free-time likes to cycle, hike, and do anything active!
Sarah Koenig entered the UT School Psychology PhD program and joined the anxiety team in 2012. Before that she earned a B.A. in Psychology from Cornell University. After college, Sarah moved to NYC where she taught middle school and received her masters through the NYC Teaching Fellows Program. Before her big move to Texas, Sarah had a short stint living in Argentina. Her hunger for travel continues and she loves exploring new places when graduate school lends the chance.
Abigail Mitchell
Abigail Mitchell joined UT's School Psychology PhD program in 2013. She earned her B.A. in English Literature from Middlebury College and has held jobs as a special education teacher and as a textbook writer/editor. Broadly, Abigail is interested in the relationship between Learning Disabilities and Internalizing Disorders, while her applied interests include targeted mental health interventions in the school system. A native of New York City, Abigail is enjoying Austin's ample music, food, and hiking opportunities, not to mention its mild winters!
Hayley Lobelin
Hayley graduated from the College of William and Mary in 2008 with a BS in Neuroscience and a minor in Women's Studies. After graduation, she worked as a Data Manager and a Project Manager for MONEAD (Maternal Outcomes and Neurodevelopmental Effects of Antiepileptic Drugs), a large scale NIH funded observational study following pregnant women with epilepsy and their children. Hayley's research interests include understanding what moderates the effectiveness of CBT therapies and how therapy can change the neural circuits in the brain.
Danika Maddocks
Bio coming soon!
Krista Talley, MA, LPC-Intern
Bio coming soon!
Abby Bailin
Bio coming soon!
Gabriela Moats
Gabriela EchavarrÃa Moats began in UT's School Psychology Master's program in 2015. She graduated from Swarthmore College with a B.A. in Psychology and Educational Studies, as well as an Elementary Teacher Certification. She's held jobs as the coordinator for access and disability services at a college and the coordinator of a summer camp program for teens with high functioning autism. Broadly speaking, Gabriela is interested in children's and families' experiences of disability and identity, and the factors and strategies that help them cope with stressors. Outside of her academic work, Gabriela enjoys cooking elaborate meals, running obstacle course races, and attempting to meditate.
Cole Travis
Bio coming soon!
Lauren Smith
Lauren Smith joined UT's School Psychology PhD program in 2014. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from DePaul University. Lauren is interested in the development of treatment programs and interventions through community collaboration to identify the most prevalent stressors/disorders within a specific population of interest. Additionally, she is interested in mental health services/intervention dissemination in school/ community settings for anxiety. Lauren is a foodie, so she enjoys venturing to new restaurants. Lauren's love for traveling has not only exposed her to various exciting cuisines and cultures, but has also enhanced her cultural sensitivity in working with diverse families.
Hannah White
Hannah White joined the team and UT's School Psychology Master's program in 2015. A Massachusetts native, Hannah earned her B.A. in Psychology and Political Science from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA. Prior to entering UT's program, Hannah worked in the public relations industry and spent nearly two years teaching English to middle school students in Seoul, South Korea. Hannah enjoys traveling, cooking, and teaches ballet barre-based workout classes at a local studio in her spare time. She appreciates the influence parents can have on their child's development and coping skills, and is looking forward to working with families of children with anxiety disorders.
Rebecca Woo
Rebecca Woo joined UT's School Psychology PhD program in 2015. She earned a B.A. in American History from Swarthmore College, and then pursued post-baccalaureate studies in Psychology at Swarthmore College and the University of Pennsylvania. Rebecca's research interests include gender differences in the treatment and etiology of depression, the implementation of evidence-based therapeutic practices in school settings, and exploring how to define and operationalize the construct of therapeutic alliance. She also enjoys spending weekends with her cat, Nolen-Hoeksema (named after the influential psychologist), and covering pop songs on the ukulele.
Alumni of the Anxiety Team
Listed below are our alumni team members who have completed their studies and are proudly representing UT in their work beyond our lab.
Kelly Banneyer- Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX
Eli Lotz- University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM
Kati Morrison- University of New Mexico Health Science Center, Albuquerque, NM
Kristina Metz-La Rabida Children’s Hospital, Chicago, IL
Samantha Winton- Children’s Hospital Stanford, Palo Alto, CA