About Dr. Esposito-Smythers
Dr. Esposito-Smythers is a Professor in the Psychology Department at George Mason University (GMU), Director of Clinical Training/Program Director for the Clinical Psychology Doctoral program at GMU, Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Brown University, and a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. She is also a clinical supervisor at the GMU Center for Psychological Services (psyclinic.gmu.edu). She supervises graduate students in the provision of cognitive behavioral therapy for children and adolescents experiencing suicidality, non-suicidal self-injury, depression, anxiety, and/or behavioral difficulties.
Dr. Esposito-Smythers’ research interests include the development and testing of cognitive-behavioral, family-focused, interventions for adolescent suicidal behavior, depression, substance abuse, and other high risk behaviors. In addition to outcomes, she studies mechanisms that underlie improvement in the context of these interventions. She is also interested in the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions into community-based settings. Dr. Esposito-Smythers also studies risk factors and social-cognitive processes that underlie adolescent suicidality, substance abuse, and other high risk behaviors. Her research has been funded by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS. Her papers have appeared in the Behavior Research and Therapy, Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Journal of Traumatic Stress, Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, American Journal on Addictions, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, and many other journals. She is sits on the Scientific Advisory Council for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Fairfax County Youth Suicide Review Team (Chair), and multiple Fairfax County workgroups dedicated toward improving access to evidence-based assessment and treatment for youth and families.
