Paxton, Megan Viar 5
MEGAN VIAR PAXTON, M.A.
4030 Westlawn Drive, Nashville, Tennessee 37209
Vanderbilt University
Department of Psychology
Phone: 615-671-9829
Fax: 615-343-8449
Education
Doctoral Candidate / Vanderbilt University / PresentClinical Psychology / Dissertation title: “Measurement, Mechanisms, and Modification of Disgust: Implications for Anxiety-Related Disorders”
Dissertation Proposal successfully defended October, 2014
Supervised by Bunmi Olatunji, Ph.D.
Master of Arts / Vanderbilt University / Aug, 2011
Clinical Psychology / Thesis title: “The effect of context on disgust habituation: Implications for the treatment of blood-injection-injury phobia”
Supervised by Bunmi Olatunji, Ph.D.
Bachelor of Arts, High Honors / University of Virginia / May, 2009
Psychology / Thesis title: “Threat or challenge? Self-focused attention and evaluation on perceived performance in social anxiety”
Supervised by Bethany Teachman, Ph.D.
Grants and Fellowships
Vanderbilt University National and International Travel Award
Current Accrued Value: $3000
Location of Tenure: Vanderbilt University
Period Held: 2009 – Present
NIMH 2 T32 MH018921-21A1
Title: Development of Psychopathology: From Brain and Behavioral Science to Intervention
Role: Graduate Student Trainee Location of Tenure: Vanderbilt University
Value: $1,883,438 Period Held: June 1, 2011 – May 30, 2013
Principal Investigator: Judy Garber, Ph.D.
Snyder Fellowship
Value: $5425
Location of Tenure: Vanderbilt University
Period Held: 2010
Clinical Training and Experience
- PRACTICUM OUTPATIENT THERAPIST 08/2014 – Present
VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare Women’s Center
Supervisor: Michelle Panucci, Ph.D.
o Conduct intake interviews and outpatient empirically-based therapies for female veterans
o Consult with multidisciplinary team including primary care providers and psychiatric nurse practitioners
o Receive skills-based training in Cognitive Processing Therapy and CBT for Chronic Pain with emphasis on veteran care
- PRACTICUM OUTPATIENT THERAPIST 08/2013 – 05/2014
Vanderbilt University Psychological and Counseling Center
Supervisor: Anabella Wilson, Ph.D.
o Conducted therapy within an integrative framework for Vanderbilt undergraduate and graduate students with a range of disorders including anxiety and mood disorders, personality disorders, bipolar disorder, and general phase of life issues
o Worked with an interdisciplinary team including psychiatrists/psychiatric nurse practitioners, social workers, psychology pre-doctoral interns, as well as university administrators to develop comprehensive treatment plans
- CAMP COUNSELOR 07/2013
Vanderbilt Next Steps Program
Supervisor: Evon Lee, Ph.D.
o Conducted milieu therapy and life skills training for special-needs adolescents and young adults during a week-long overnight camp
- PRACTICUM CO-THERAPIST 01/2013 – 05/2013
Youth Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Group Therapy
Supervisor: Amy Mariaskin, Ph.D.
o Conducted cognitive behavior-based group therapy with youth ages 10 -14 years
- PRACTICUM OUTPATIENT THERAPIST 08/2012 – 09/2013
Vanderbilt Psychiatry Adult Anxiety Clinic
Supervisor: Bunmi Olatunji, Ph.D.
o Conducted cognitive behavioral therapy for adults with anxiety and mood disorders
o Received didactic training in CBT
- PRACTICUM CO-THERAPIST 08/2012 – 01/2013
Vanderbilt Intensive Outpatient Youth Offenders Program
Supervisor: Carlos Tilghman-Osbourne, Ph.D.
o Conducted court-ordered family and group therapy with adolescent males ages 10 – 15 years with a serious felony offense to reduce the risk of repeat offenses in the system
o Worked within a systems-based approach with probation officers, lawyers, courts, Child Protective Services, schools, and parents/guardians to develop comprehensive treatment plans
- PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATOR 01/2012 – 08/2012
Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, Division of Developmental Medicine
Supervisor: Linda Ashford, Ph.D.
o Conducted comprehensive developmental assessments with children referred for developmental concerns including autism spectrum disorders, emotion regulation difficulties, genetic syndromes, and anxiety disorders
- PRACTICUM CO-THERAPIST 01/2012 – 05/2012
Resilience and Social Skills Building Therapy Group for Girls
Supervisor: F. Joseph McLaughlin, Ph.D.
o Conducted a resilience and social skills building group for girls ages 10 – 13 years old with a range of diagnoses including ADHD, anxiety, and depression
- PRACTICUM THERAPIST 09/2011 – 08/2012
Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, Center for Child Development
Supervisor: Linda Ashford, Ph.D.
o Received training in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and conducted PCIT with parents and children, ages 3 – 7 referred for disruptive behavior problems
o Conducted cognitive behavioral therapy for young children with anxiety and OCD
- PRACTICUM TRAINEE 08/2011 – 08/2012
Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, Parenting and Behavior Clinic (P-ABC)
Supervisor: Linda Ashford, Ph.D.
o Conducted brief interviews in collaboration with Dr. Ashford and a behavior specialist with parents and children under 8 years presenting with a range of concerns including developmental delay, possible autism spectrum disorders, anxiety, aggression, sensory dysfunction, emotion regulation, and psychosis
o Integrated parent reports and observation of child to make ‘next step planning’ which included developmental evaluations, therapy referrals, speech/language referrals, psychiatry referrals, and assistance with preschool/school placement
- CLINICAL INTERVIEWER 09/2010 – Present
Emotion and Anxiety Research Laboratory
Vanderbilt University Department of Psychology
Supervisor: Bunmi Olatunji, Ph.D.
o Conducted intake interviews for a research study using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for DSM-IV (M.I.N.I.) with veterans with and without a diagnosis of PTSD and/or patients with OCD.
Research Experience
Emotion and Anxiety Research Lab; Bunmi Olatunji, Ph.D.
Vanderbilt University Psychology Department, Nashville, TN 08/2009 - Present
Graduate Researcher
- Measurement of disgust. Developed and validated a reliable measure of disgust propensity specifically designed for children.
- Disgust and anxiety. Conducted several studies examining the role of disgust in the development and maintenance of anxiety. Specifically, I examined the effect of a disgust exposure in multiple contexts vs. a single context for the reduction of phobic symptoms in blood-injection-injury phobia (BII). Additionally, I examined the effect of a disgust-focused attention bias modification in the reduction of contamination fears. My dissertation study will investigate the potential risk mechanism of disgust in the development of childhood anxiety via negative information transfer.
Cognitive Aging Lab; Timothy Salthouse, Ph.D.
University of Virginia Psychology Department, Charlottesville, VA 05/2008 - 08/2009
Project Coordinator
- Coordinated a project which examines the effects of aging on many aspects of cognitive functioning, including memory, reasoning, and spatial abilities.
Program for Anxiety, Cognition, and Treatment Lab; Bethany Teachman, Ph.D.
University of Virginia Psychology Department, Charlottesville, VA 08/2006 - 05/2009
Research Assistant
- Information processing in social phobia. My honors project examined the interaction between interpretation biases via perceived evaluation and self-focused attention in the manifestation of social phobia symptoms
Teaching and Supervisory Experience
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Vanderbilt University Psychology Department, Nashville, TN 08/2014 – Present
Instructor: Elizabeth Sandberg, Ph.D.
o Assist in an undergraduate course: General Psychology
o Hold weekly office hours and responded to student concerns
o Grade course exams and written assignments
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Vanderbilt University Psychology Department, Nashville, TN 01/2014 – 05/2014
Instructor: Leslie Kirby, Ph.D.
o Assisted in an undergraduate course: Positive Psychology
o Held weekly office hours and responded to student concerns
o Assisted in the development of exam and written assignments
o Graded course exams and written assignments
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Vanderbilt University Psychology Department, Nashville, TN 08/2013 – 12/2013
Instructor: Leslie Kirby, Ph.D.
o Assisted in an undergraduate course: Social Psychology
o Held weekly office hours and responded to student concerns
o Assisted in the development of exam and written assignments
o Graded course exams and written assignments
Guest Lecturer
Vanderbilt University Psychology Department, Nashville, TN 09/2011
Instructor: Leslie Kirby, Ph.D.
o Guest lecturer for undergraduate course: Emotion
o Prepared and presented lecture on emotion and psychopathology
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Vanderbilt University Psychology Department, Nashville, TN 01/2011 – 05/2011
Instructor: Bunmi Olatunji, Ph.D.
o Assisted in an undergraduate course: Abnormal Psychology
o Held weekly office hours and responded to student concerns
o Graded course exams and written assignments
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Vanderbilt University Psychology Department, Nashville, TN 08/2010 – 12/2010
Instructor: Leslie Smith, Ph.D.
o Assisted in an undergraduate course: Human Sexuality
o Held weekly office hours and responded to student concerns
o Assisted in the development of exam and written assignments
o Graded course exams and written assignments
Publications
- Journal Articles
Viar-Paxton, M. A., & Olatunji, B. O. (in preparation). Assessment of disgust sensitivity: A review.
Viar-Paxton, M. A., Armstrong, T., Kramer, L., & Olatunji, B. O. (in preparation). Evidence for threat modulated response slowing in blood-injection-injury phobia.
Viar-Paxton, M. A., Ebesutani, C., Kim, E. H., Ollendick, T. H., Young, J., & Olatunji. B. O. (in press). Development and initial validation of the Child Disgust Scale. Psychological Assessment.
Viar-Paxton, M. A., Tomarken, A. J., Pemble, M. K., & Olatunji, B. O. (2014). The role of domain-specific disgust propensity in behavioral avoidance and self-reported fainting symptoms in blood-injection-injury phobia. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 5, 123-133.
Viar-Paxton, M. A., & Olatunji, B. O. (2012). Context effects on habituation to disgust-relevant stimuli. Behavior Modification, 5, 705-722. PMID: 22619396
Olatunji, B. O., Ciesielski, B. G., Wolitzky-Taylor, K. B., Wentworth, B. J., & Viar, M. A. (2012). Effects of experienced disgust on habituation during repeated exposure to threat-relevant stimuli in blood-injection-injury phobia. Behavior Therapy, 43, 132-141. PMID: 22304885
Viar, M. A., Bilsky, S. A., Armstrong, T., & Olatunji, B. O. (2011). Obsessive beliefs and obsessive-compulsive disorder: An examination of specific associations. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 35, 108-117.
Viar, M. A., Etzel, E., Ciesielski, B. G., & Olatunji, B. O. (2010). Disgust, anxiety, and vasovagal syncope sensations: A comparison of injection fearful and nonfearful blood donors. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24, 941-945. PMID: 20667690
- Chapters
Viar-Paxton, M. A., & Olatunji, B. O. (in press). Disgust sensitivity. In R. McCabe & I. Milosevic (Eds.) Phobias: The Psychology of Irrational Fear, An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO
Wolitzky-Taylor, K. B., Viar-Paxton, M. A., & Olatunji, B. O. (2012). Ethical issues when considering exposure. In T. Davis, T. Ollendick, & L-G. Öst (Eds.) Intensive Treatment of Specific Phobias: One-Session Treatment (pp. 195 – 208). New York: Springer Press. PMID: 20161063
Presentations
- Symposium Presentations
Viar-Paxton, M.A., & Olatunji, B. O. (November, 2014). Effects of disgust exposure in multiple contexts on blood-injection-injury phobia. In M. G. Craske (Chair), New directions in human disgust conditioning research: Implications for the etiology and treatment of anxiety disorders. Symposium accepted for the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- Poster Presentations
Viar-Paxton, M.A., Meltzer, S., & Olatunji, B.O. (2014, November). The effect of disgust exposure in multiple contexts on distress renewal in blood-injection-injury phobia. Poster to be presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Viar-Paxton, M. A., Bilsky, S. A., Riemann, B., & Olatunji, B. O. (2013, November). Effects of exposure-based treatment on disgust sensitivity among youth with OCD. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Nashville, Tennessee.
Bilsky, S. A., Viar-Paxton, M. A., Riemann, B., & Olatunji, B. O. (2013, November). Disgust sensitivity and OCD symptom severity in a youth sample. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Nashville, Tennessee.
Viar-Paxton, M. A., Kramer, L., & Olatunji, B. O. (2012, November). Attentional bias for threat in blood-injection-injury phobia: Differentiating vigilance from difficulty disengaging attention. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, National Harbor, Maryland.
Viar-Paxton, M. A., Kim, E. H., Young. J., Ciesielski, B. G., & Olatunji, B. O. (2011, November). Development and initial validation of the Child Disgust Scale (CDS). Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Toronto, Canada.
Viar-Paxton, M. A., Tomarken, A. J., Koch, M. D., & Olatunji, B. O. (2011, November). The role of domain-specific disgust sensitivity in behavioral avoidance and self-reported fainting symptoms in blood-injection-injury phobia. Poster presented at the 45th Annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Toronto, Canada.
Viar, M. A., Bilsky, S. A., Armstrong, T., & Olatunji, B. O. (2011, March). An examination of specific associations between obsessive beliefs and dimensions of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Anxiety Disorder Association of American, New Orleans, LA.
Viar, M. A., Etzel, E., Ciesielski, B.G., David, B., & Olatunji, B. (2010, November). Disgust, anxiety, and vasovagal syncope sensations in injection-fearful and nonfearful blood donors. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, San Francisco, CA.
Viar, M. A., Cody, M. W., & Teachman, B. A. (2009, November). The effect of self-focused attention and evaluation on perceived performance in social anxiety. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
Cody, M. W., Viar, M. A., & Teachman, B. A. (2009, November). Calibration between memory for global and local evaluations of performance in social anxiety. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
Magee, J.C., Buck, N., Viar, M., Laughinghouse, T., & Teachman, B. A. (2009, November). Experiences with Intrusive Thoughts in Younger and Older Adults. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
Viar, M. A. (2009, April). Threat or challenge: The effect of self-focused attention and evaluation on perceived performance in social anxiety. Paper presented at the 3rd annual L. Sterling Undergraduate Psychology Conference, Charlottesville, VA.
Magee, J. C., Laughinghouse, T., Viar, M., Buck, N., & Teachman, B. A. (2009, February). Emotion Regulation after Intrusive Thoughts in Younger and Older Adults. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology meeting, Tampa, FL.
Cody, M. W., Huynh, C., Viar, M. A., Menatti, A. R., & Teachman, B. A. (2007, November). Negative self-relevant memory bias in social anxiety. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Orlando, FL.
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Journals:
- Journal of Anxiety Disorders
- Cognitive Therapy and Research
- Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
Professional Affiliations
Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
Role: Social Networking and Media Committee (Moderator)
American Psychological Association
Anxiety Disorders Association of America