Psychology professor
@GWUPsych
.
Director of Emotion and Resilience Lab.
Clinical psychologist.
Social anxiety researcher.
Has-been soccer player.
Mom.
Social anxiety is one of the most common mental health conditions worldwide.
Why?
In my
@TEDx
talk - now featured on - I dig into the sources of social anxiety and offer practical tips for being your authentic self in any situation.
Each lecture, I take a break and ask 3 students: “What’s good with you today?” Today’s class:
Student 1: “I’m learning how to drive.”
Student 2: “My friend’s getting a new kidney.”
Student 3: “I am the friend.”
First time I’ve cried in lecture.
#IHaveTheBestJob
interesting new study: 80 of 96 ppl (83%) who completed 8-week mindfulness based cognitive therapy reported at least one adverse side effect. 62.5% reported multiple.
common side effects:
-trauma re-experiencing
-time space distortion
-anxiety, panic
My student submitted a paper 5 months ago. Still under review.
I know the peer review system is backlogged.
At what point do we email the editor? Is this a helpful reminder/nudge to overstretched editors or futile pestering?
Asking bc student timelines for pubs are truncated.
last lecture of the semester today.
one student wants to see if she can hula hoop the entire lecture.
why not?
turns her camera on and starts hooping.
I challenge others to join. no takers.
I start lecture.
she hoops the entire 75 minutes.
class applauds.
and that's a wrap✌️
Struggling with social anxiety?
My lab put together a (vetted) list of free resources on social anxiety:
Interactive exercises, informational handouts, scientific articles, self-assessments, therapist finders, etc.
#SocialAnxiety
I'm giving a "how to" talk on experience-sampling/EMA methods to PhD students.
Ppl new to ESM/EMA: What would you want to learn or know more about?
Ppl who use ESM/EMA: Beyond the basics (e.g., prompt schedule) - what essential info is often overlooked or misunderstood?
Peer review in 2023 — this is the entirety of one reviewer's suggestions:
"I recommend that this manuscript is edited significantly to strengthen the rationale and to remove grammatical errors. Such edits would allow this paper to reach its full potential."
#FullPotential
Teaching in 2020:
When your student doesn't realize his camera is on and is making out with his partner(?) as you discuss the symptoms of social anxiety disorder.
#OnwardWeRoll
Sometimes research feels futile.
Other times an elderly man calls on a Friday night asking for help to sign up for your study.
Because he isn't sure how to use his new cell phone.
But he wants to participate in the study.
Because he feels lonely.
And wants to talk about it.
Life’s a dumpster fire, so I start each class with “what’s good with you today?”
1st student 1st class - I just auditioned for my dream job at Disney!
Me - Wanna show us?
Student - *courageously strides to the front & belts out Somewhere Over The Rainbow*
Chills.
Off we go!
I study anxiety.
I trained as a therapist for 7 years.
nothing prepared me for this.
but one thing I learned: there's no single solution to coping. there's no great white whale.
do the little and known things that help you get through.
go easy on yourself.
I’m grateful for the 40+ of my students who made me a video when my best friend died last month.
They waved hello, sent well wishes, read prayers, and told psychology jokes.
They sent it to me on the day I left for her funeral.
#grateful
Many of my students want to present at academic conferences, but travel costs often make them prohibitively expensive.
Does anyone know of good *virtual* conferences in psychology? Clinical psych, social psych, or general.
Started using voice dictation to write and it looks something like this:
“The purpose of the study is I mean was delete delete Jesus this stupid thing how do you delete a word backspace backspace what the hell.”
Emerging from the cocoon of two unexpected surgeries, nearly dying (unrelated), and the winding grief of losing my best friend.
Life is dark sometimes.
But I am here.
And onward we go.
Teaching a new diversity seminar this spring to clinical psych PhD students—would love any suggestions on readings, exercises, etc. that have worked well.
As a trainee, I unfortunately had more experience with what *doesnt* work in diversity seminars/trainings than what does.
I started my Intro Psych class like I always do: “What’s good with you today?” This week:
Student 1: I got approved for my first credit card
Student 2: I thought this class would be boring but I’m glad it’s not
Student 3: My father is finally coming home from a long deployment
I am recruiting a grad student this Fall at
@USouthFlorida
clinical psyc program! My lab studies emotions & well-being, with a focus on anxiety disorders. Please pass along to interested applicants. Here are the mission & values outlined in our lab manual:
New paper accepted at Psych Bull!
Our main finding: people do not drink more often on days they experience high negative affect, but are more likely to drink and drink heavily on days high in positive affect
Led by the exceptionally talented
@jonas_dora_
Updated our preprint to the newest version which has just been accepted at Psychological Bulletin 🥳 many thanks to my amazing group of 67 co-authors from whom I learned so much collaborating on this meta-analysis project 🙏
@apadivision50
@RSAposts
@pailbuckets
Here’s a toolkit with instructions for how to use the toolkit, which isn’t available yet, so until then, here’s instructions for the toolkit to use in the interim. Confirm receipt by COB today.
I spent a year working as a therapist at a psychiatric hospital. My biggest lesson learned? People who seek help are among the bravest.
#WorldMentalHealthDay
Pumped to recruit a clinical psych PhD student this year! My lab at
@GWUPsych
studies social connection and resilience. Focus areas include social anxiety, emotion regulation, and social stressors (eg rejection, discrimination).
Lab mission and values: 1/
As our societies become more connected, we are also seeing concerning rates of social anxiety and loneliness.
In this
@TEDx
talk, I discuss the challenges of new social dynamics and offer solutions for addressing
#socialanxiety
.
#DoThingsThatScareYou
My student submitted a paper.
Sent out for review for 14 weeks ago.
Rejected today.
The ENTIRE review (1 reviewer) read: "Since the findings of this study were not made through an assessment of a clinically defined sample, I don't think that the conclusion can be supported."
Now I finally understand the joy that advisors feel watching their students succeed.
My grad student
@_Silva_G
just finished her 1st year with a bang — won the USF Psychology Dept. Stephen and Phillip Diebler Memorial Scholarship and had 2
@ABCTNOW
posters accepted. Bam!
#Proud
National Coming Out Day is a celebration of the courage to live authentically
It's also a reminder that coming out isn't a one-off. People come out over & over
Let's also celebrate the communities that create safe places for people to come out, if/when they want, on their terms
prelim data: my lab +
@JonRottenberg
collected 2 weeks of data from 300 adults with high depression/social anxiety
strongest predictor (3x stronger than all others) of high quality social interactions:
"Today, I was effortlessly myself during my social interactions"
#DoYou
The best decision I made in grad school was to dip out for a while and travel.
After massive burnout, I borrowed some money (my stipend didn’t even cover DC rent) and took 12 weeks off throughout my 3rd year to travel to Australia, Japan, and Spain.
Those trips changed my life.
Officially taking a leave of absence from my PhD starting in the summer to take care of my mother and take some time to reflect what I want from my life. I write this tweet to normalize taking a break from doing graduate school while in graduate school.
Encouraged to see addressing loneliness positioned as a top public health priority.
To get there, social anxiety must be part of the conversation.
#SocialAnxiety
1/
NEW: Today, I released a Surgeon General's Advisory on the epidemic of loneliness and isolation facing our country, the destructive impacts it has on our collective health, and the extraordinary healing power of our relationships.
#Connect2Heal
1/8
Widespread misunderstanding about
#socialanxiety
.
You can have social anxiety and succeed in sports.
You can have social anxiety and do photoshoots.
People with social anxiety are not antisocial recluses. They feel anxious in specific situations—and often tolerate them anyway.
My advisor
@toddkashdan
threw a grad party for me and
@david_disabato
. During his speech he said, "I know you doubt your ability to be a professor, but you're already there." From the dark days of presenting my poster to the Philly streets after 0 ppl at ABCT walked by, I am here
Time to draw some lines in the sand on how we measure "well-being."
Bring your popcorn to our
@ABCTNOW
symposium -
"Integrating principles of positive psychology into cognitive-behavioral psychotherapies: A roadmap for measuring and modifying well-being"
Read in a published paper today: “We estimated that approximately 60 participants would be needed to achieve sufficient power; however, funding only supported 50 participants.”
#OnePointForHonesty
Academia, the land of forms.
•Course transfer form
•Graduate petition form
•Return to campus form
•Space impact request form
•[insert anything] IRB form
•Opinion survey of forms form
•Sign-me-or-receive-unrelenting-DocuSign-reminders form
•Permission to breathe air form
When I tell a personal story (even if not that personal) I have a dramatic increase in engagement in class. Yesterday I received a long, kind email thanking me for doing this because it helped the student pay attention. Our students need personal connection now more than ever.
More ideas for fixing a problematic system.
>1 in 10 students have children.
>50% are partnered.
Safe to assume a decent portion of them will have to uproot their lives for 1 year. To complete a degree they basically already finished.
Results of the 2021
#APPIC
Internship Applicant Survey have been released. A 🧵about some of my personal takeaways (focused on US data). Please feel free to share your interpretations/thoughts about the survey in comments below!
when people are rejected, they tend to seek out others to buffer the blow. but ppl with elevated social anxiety may do the opposite and further withdraw, potentially exacerbating the pain of rejection.
new study from my favorite
#socialanxiety
researcher.
Social anxiety is one of the most common mental health conditions worldwide.
There are tools that can help.
I wrote a short, evidence-based guide to identify if & where social anxiety is interfering with your life and how to overcome it.
#SocialAnxiety
Social anxiety is very treatable. In this expert Guide, a clinical psychologist offers steps to help you overcome social anxiety, feel better, and start living the life you want to live
Biggest difference I've noticed between work life before parenthood and life now (besides the constant exhaustion): no buffer time.
In the morning, it's a race to wake up and my daughter usually wins.
When the evening chaos is done, I'm done.
Weekends are for the kid/naps.
I'm creating an assignment on science miscommunication — anyone have an example of their psych science research being misrepresented by a popular press article? Collecting a few goodies.
New member of the lab crew!!!!!
The future Dr. Jorgensen (
@sl_jorgensen
) arriving to our Emotion and Resilience Lab
@GWUPsych
this Fall🤩
Welcome Saskia!!!
SO thrilled to be joining the
@GWUPsych
clinical psychology PhD program with
@FallonRGoodman
in the fall! This process isn’t easy, and I couldn’t be more excited about this as my next step!
Brenton
@bmwiernik
is exceptionally generous and helpful. He is ALWAYS willing to help (and usually immediately). For me, students, many colleagues, and probably 57% of academic Twitter.
The dept. "stats person" often carries a massive service burden that should be recognized.
@BrentWRoberts
@hankinben2
@drl4567
@siminevazire
@hardsci
I included my Twitter activity and contributions to Zotero and other open source scholarly software as Service on my mid-tenure review. The college deleted all that and added a remark “we consider Service to be serving on editorial boards and professional society committees”
This is the book I needed in grad school. And one I'll keep using as I build my lab. It decodes the ambiguity of starting a research career and offers an actionable roadmap. Andy was my first research mentor - 10 yrs later, he continues to support and guide me. He lives the work.
Entering hour 5 with IT.
Me: It's an interesting psychological experience watching you dig around my computer
IT: I know
Me: I bet you find bizarre things on people's computers
IT:
Me: So do you like your job?
IT: Please reenter your password
Me: *enters for 248th time*
My wildly talented grad student
@Paddy_Loftus
presenting his new work on structural stigma in LGBTQ+ adults at the
@gwucolumbian
Research Showcase!
Paddy created a novel measure of perceived discrimination risk in different environments.
@GWUPsych
@GiGi_I9
@AcademicChatter
One of the many reasons I love academia - tends to be very chill about appearance choices (clothing, piercings, tats, etc.). I taught a class the other day in my new Nike sneaks.
Pumped to team up with
@JonRottenberg
on our new project examining how people high in depression/anxiety can build & maintain social connection as social distancing drags on.
USF's new
#COVID19
Rapid Response Research Grants program has selected 14 projects totaling $340K to receive initial funding for research on potential treatments, technologies and social mitigation strategies in the wake of the global pandemic.
Details:
Best podcast episode I’ve listened to in 2019. Only listen if you want to hear about why we suck at measuring things, how our life circumstances are not our fate, and/or weed. Bras optional. Cheers to successful & strong women in academia.
New episode!
Jessica Flake (
@JkayFlake
) joins Mickey and Yoel to talk measurement. What is it, how do you do it well, and do social psychologists care about it?
Jessica also explains how she went from high-school dropout to professor at McGill.
@clvr_suzy
@AcademicChatter
I adopted a "guilt free mindset" (key word mindset)—I took time off when I wanted/needed to & fought against the tendency to feel guilty about it
Grad school is important, and I poured hours into my own, but it isn't your life. You're a human with other needs, desires, and joys
Experience-sampling researchers - any norms, guidelines, or suggestions for amount to pay participants (e.g., $ per survey, bonus $ for high compliance)? I've seen quite a range of payment amounts (of course dependent in part on available funds).
Last lab Question of the Week for 2022 — which throwback hit describes your end of the semester?
Dicey times.
With the first ever appearance from our newest lab member, my daughter Maya.
Suggestions for articles, books, and/or blogs on academic writing? Putting them in my new lab manual. Already have my faves: Paul Silvia’s How to Write A lot, Pinker’s Tips for Better Writing, and the classic Strunk and White’s Elements of Style.
#AcademicTwitter
People with social anxiety disorder are not “antisocial” (or even shy). They want enjoyable, meaningful, intimate relationships—they just struggle to develop them.
Thanks for having me today
@UFPsychology
@ErinWestgate
! Most fun I’ve had all week.
Some clinical internship applicants will not be happy with their news today. For what it’s worth: 2 years ago I was devastated by my news. And today 4 people I did internship with are flying across country just so we can visit bc we grew to love each other that much on internship
Important perspective on the
#COVID
crisis from over here in psychology land. Social distancing is necessary right now *and* will likely increase loneliness, especially among those most vulnerable (e.g., people w/ social anxiety disorder). Time to get creative with tech.
One side of the COVID crisis we should discuss more is the emotional impact of social distancing.
We're being asked to overcome the desire for human connection during a stressful time.
This could produce widespread loneliness and spur non-compliance with recommendations.
1/2
Screening for anxiety is critical step in getting people help.
Social anxiety should be included in these screenings. It's one of the most common mental health disorders, starts early (~12-14 yrs old), and increases risk for later problems.
Here's a 3-item screener:
Adults ages 19 to 64 in the United States should be screened for
#anxiety
disorders, according to a new recommendation from the US Preventive Services Task Force:
This hits.
Academia is more than Pleased to Announce and Despair.
Human things I love about academia: autonomy, mentoring, lecturing, summer break, writing sessions, creative freedom.
Crappy things: quadrillion committees, unclear goalposts, obsession w/ publication metrics.
Today’s class:
Me - “what’s good with you today?”
Student 1 - “I tried the coffee shop you always talk about and it was bomb!”
Student 2 - “I just crushed my exam.”
Student 3 - “We found out today that my mom is cancer free.”
❤️
Excited to see that well-being is central to
@ABCTNOW
's 2013 conference theme.
My lab is organizing a symposium about how to best measure well-being and test critical questions about resilience and recovery in psychotherapy.
Looking for a few more speakers to join! 1/
I read
@katiecorker
's and
@siminevazire
's article on eminence, gender, and power ().
I read
@KinglaKing
's announcement committing to expanding the diversity of authors and viewpoints in her new role as Editor of Perspectives. () 9/n
@EikoFried
@ChrisWebbPhD
Agreed. I led therapy groups every day for the past year and no less than once a week someone asked why coping skills / psychoed weren’t taught in schools. Could divert a lot of painful trajectories.
Writing a paper that provides specific measurement recommendations (yikes🍿)
Researchers -- which emotion/affect measure(s) do you prefer and why? At trait or state level.
The ACE scale is overdue for revision.
"Before the age of 18, were you...
"Witness to collapse of democracy"
"Quarantined for 8+ months due to deadly airborne disease"
"Exposed to presidential Twitter rant degrading a teen climate activist with autism" (h/t
@FallonRGoodman
)
So glad I dropped in on
@UVAPsyc
Clinical Psych brownbag today so
@FallonRGoodman
could casually blow my mind about social anxiety disorder. Thanks for an awesome talk!!
NOA for R01 from NIMH!
@DartmouthCTBH
co-Is: Andrew Campbell & Haiyi Xie
We'll be studying the use of personalized deep learning models to predict rapid changes in depressive symptoms using passive sensor data from smartphones and wearable devices.
Also👇
Recruiting a postdoc!
Decade highlights, travel version:
–swam past shark at Great Barrier Reef
–climbed Mt Fuji
–slept on farm in Portugal
–survived bathhouse in Budapest
–taught a class at the Parthenon
–ate schnitzel in Vienna
–rode bike in Montreal in a tiger suit
–6-day red wine diet in Madrid
In 2016, I was baffled to learn that there were 99+ measures of “well-being” that contain a staggering 196 “dimensions” of well-being, including some kickers: eco-awareness, peace of mind, sex life, and vacations ()
2/n
People who teach graduate psych research methods — is anyone willing to pass along a syllabus? 🙏
Trying to gather a range of perspectives on content and structure.
5.5 yrs in the making. It is my delight to finally share our scale outside the lab! Understanding psychological flexibility: A multi-method exploration of pursuing valued goals despite the presence of pain via
@OSFramework
@FallonRGoodman
@david_disabato
What is the highest number of journal rejections you've received for a single manuscript? Been talking a lot about rejection with first-year grads students this week.
@AcademicChatter
complete with a live feed curtesy of her classmates:
2:02- Is there a hula hoop world record?
2:34- she still hoopin
2:35- ^
2:40- why do I see someone spinning a hoop on my screen (joined class late)
2:49- HOW is she still going?
3:11- I can't hulu hoop but I can do the worm