Susan Orsillo, PhD

Professor
Director of Clinical Training 
Department of Psychology
(On Sabbatical Spring 2012)

Phone: 617.305.1924
Fax: 617.367.2924
Email: sorsillo@suffolk.edu
Office: Donahue Building, 636E

Education

• PhD, University at Albany, SUNY
• MA, University at Albany, SUNY
• BA, University at Albany, SUNY

Internship: Tufts University School of Medicine/Boston Department of Veterans Affairs Psychology Internship Consortium; Postdoctoral fellowship: National Center for PTSD: Behavioral Sciences Division Boston VA Healthcare System; Licensured Psychologist, Health Services Provider MA.

Specialty Areas

Acceptance and mindfulness; acceptance-based behavior therapy; anxiety disorders; evidence-based therapies; emotional responding

I am interested in developing and refining acceptance-based behavioral approaches to improving psychological functioning, health and quality of life. Acceptance-based behavior therapy (ABBT) involves integrating acceptance and mindfulness-based approaches (such as ACT, MBCT, DBT and MBSR) with more traditionally behavioral approaches to therapy (e.g., psychoeducation, skills training, exposure therapy). My colleague Liz Roemer and I developed an ABBT to treat generalized anxiety disorder and we are currently completing an National Institute of Mental Health funded randomized control trial comparing this approach to applied relaxation. Future directions for this work include examining the efficacy of a self-directed version of the treatment and developing more effective methods of training and dissemination. I also collaborate with graduate students in my lab to develop acceptance-based behavioral approaches to target other problem areas. For example, we have developed programs aimed at decreasing relational aggression among middle schoolers, reducing the risk of sexual assault among college students, decreasing procrastination and improving body dissatisfaction. My second research interest involves experimentally examining the nature and parameters of the constructs we target with ABBT, including emotional avoidance, suppression, and the strategic withholding of emotion across several channels of responding including self-report, facial expression, psychophysiological responding and narrative expression.

Please click here to view the Acceptance, Mindfulness, and Emotion Lab's Research Web Page

Selected Publications

Orsillo, S.M. & Roemer, L., (2011). The mindful way through anxiety. New York: Guilford.

Glick, D.M. & Orsillo, S.M. (2011). Relationships among social anxiety, self-focused attention, and experiential distress and avoidance. Journal of Cognitive and Behavioral Psychotherapies, 11, 1-12.

Michelson, S., Lee, J.K., Orsillo, S.M., & Roemer, L. (2011). The role of values-consistent behavior in generalized anxiety disorder. Depression and Anxiety, 1-9.

Hill, J., Vernig, P., Lee, J.K., & Orsillo, S.M. (2011). The Development of a Brief Acceptance and Mindfulness-Based Program Aimed at Reducing Sexual Revictimization among College Women with a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67, 1-12.

Roemer, L., & Orsillo, S.M. (2009). Mindfulness and acceptance-based behavior al therapy in practice. New York: Guilford.

Courses Taught

PSYCH 216 - Research Methods
PSYCH 718 - Research Methods and Ethics
PSYCH 721 - Evidence-Based Principles in Psychotherapy
PSYCH 779 - Acceptance & Mindfulness in Psychotherapy