Rate My Professor Bethany Teachman

Bethany A. Teachman is a Commonwealth Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at the University of Virginia, positions she has held since 2014 and 2010, respectively. She joined the faculty in 2002 as an Assistant Professor, advancing to Associate Professor in 2008. Teachman earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from Yale University in 2002, an M.S. from the same institution in 1999, and an Honours B.A. in Psychology from the University of British Columbia in 1996. She completed a clinical psychology internship at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2001-2002 and a postdoctoral residency at the University of Virginia in 2002-2003. Her research investigates cognitive processes underlying anxiety disorders and emotion dysregulation, focusing on automatic biases in attention, interpretation, and memory. As director of the Program for Anxiety, Cognition, and Treatment (PACT) Lab, she develops digital technologies, including the MindTrails platform for cognitive bias modification and Project Implicit Health for assessing implicit health associations, to enhance access to evidence-based mental health interventions by addressing barriers like cost and stigma.

With over 250 publications and more than 17,000 citations, Teachman has significantly influenced clinical psychology. Key works include co-authoring Introduction to Clinical Psychology: Bridging Science and Practice (2020), Treatment Planning in Psychotherapy: Taking the Guesswork out of Clinical Care (2002), and Helping Your Child Overcome an Eating Disorder (2003). Recent publications address emotion regulation diversity in social anxiety (Daniel et al., 2023, Clinical Psychological Science) and digital mental health services (Teachman et al., 2022, Cognitive and Behavioral Practice). She has secured continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health and foundations. Awards include the APA Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology (2012), APA Presidential Citation (2019), AAAS Fellow (2019), SSCP Lawrence H. Cohen Outstanding Mentor Award (2018), and Inaugural Psychology Department Excellence in Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Award (2020). Teachman has served as Associate Editor for Perspectives on Psychological Science (2010-2015) and Cognition and Emotion (2007-2010), on the Board of the Society for Digital Mental Health, and as inaugural Chair of the Coalition for the Advancement and Application of Psychological Science.