Mission
The Institute for Mental Health Research’s Anxiety & Stress Clinic is dedicated to providing high quality and affordable individual and group therapy for a variety of anxiety and stress-related disorders to the Austin community. Our treatment services are designed to provide effective psychological care in a compassionate environment to members of the University of Texas at Austin (UT) campus and general public. Services are provided by faculty-supervised graduate students in UT’s highly ranked Clinical Psychology doctoral program, and on a limited basis by licensed psychologists.
The Clinic is a community-based training facility for the Ph.D. program in clinical psychology. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality training for our graduate students as they learn evidence based psychological treatments.
Jasper Smits, Ph.D., Director
Jasper Smits, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin and completed a fellowship at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital. A former Beck Institute Scholar at the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Jasper’s clinical practice focuses on CBT of anxiety disorders, depression and related problems. Jasper frequently gives workshops at national and international meetings and has published a number of books aiming to assist therapists and individuals in achieving success in behavior change.
Please contact Dr. Smits (jaspersmits@me.com) if you have any questions about his private practice and practice policies, which differ from those in the clinic.
Bridget Freihart, M.A., M.S.W.
Bridget received her Bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology from New York University and her Master’s degree in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Bridget’s clinical training is primarily in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with a particular focus on anxiety, depression, and trauma. Her main goal is to blend evidence-based practice with individualized needs in order to provide effective patient-centered care.
Bridget is not accepting new patients. Existing patients can contact Bridget using the Client Portal Scheduling button.
Molly McNamara, M.A.
Molly received her bachelor’s degree in Human Biology from Stanford University and is currently pursuing her PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Texas in Austin. Molly’s training is primarily in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, with a particular focus on mood disorders. In addition, she has experience working with obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorders, trauma, ADHD, and insomnia. She was also awarded a student scholarship to the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy’s training on Depression and Suicide. She utilizes evidence-based treatments in a personalized manner, and is passionate about helping clients apply and integrate what they learn in the therapy room into their daily lives.
Molly is not accepting new patients. Existing patients can contact Molly using the Client Portal Scheduling button.
Maria Dekhtyar, M.A.
Maria received her bachelor’s degree from Boston University in psychology and neuroscience and is pursuing her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at UT Austin. Maria’s training is in neuropsychological assessment as well as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for a variety of mood and anxiety disorders. Maria is passionate about providing multiculturally informed and evidence based therapy tailored to the individual needs of each patient.
Maria is not accepting new patients. Existing patients can contact Maria using the Client Portal Scheduling button.
Mackenzie Zisser, M.A.
Mackenzie graduated from the University of California- Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and is currently pursuing her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Mackenzie’s clinical training focuses on cognitive behavioral therapy for depression and anxiety disorders. She is passionate about tailoring evidence-based techniques to each patient. Her goal is to work collaboratively with patients to prioritize their values and well-being.
Mackenzie is not accepting new patients. Existing patients can contact Mackenzie using the Client Portal Scheduling button.
Christy Dutcher, M.A., M.Ed.
Christy graduated with a master’s degree in counseling from the University of Houston and is pursuing her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at UT Austin. Christy’s training is primarily in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and has previous experience assisting individuals overcome stress, anxiety, and mood-related problems. Christy’s clinical focus is on perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, birth trauma, infertility, and pregnancy and infant loss. She works closely with Dr. Jeffrey Newport and referrals from UT Health Austin’s Women’s Reproductive Mental Health Clinic. Christy’s main goal is to blend evidence-based practice with individualized needs in order to provide effective patient care and promote well-being and resilience.
Christy is not accepting new patients. Existing patients can contact Christy using the Client Portal Scheduling button.
Adam R. Cobb, Ph.D.
Adam obtained his Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology from Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, TX. Thereafter he became licensed as professional counselor in Texas (#65498), and provided services to a range of clientele, including children, adolescents, and adults in in-patient, partial-hospitalization, and outpatient settings, with a focus on anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders. Adam later earned his doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, where he strengthened his training and experience in assessing and treating the range of anxiety and stress-related disorders, with a focus in the areas of PTSD and OCD. He subsequently completed an APA-accredited internship and a T32 postdoctoral fellowship funded by the National Institute of Mental Health at the Medical University of South Carolina’s National Crime Victim’s Research and Treatment Center in Charleston, SC. There, he obtained extensive training and experience in delivering trauma-focused and other exposure-based treatments to children, adolescents, and adults in both civilian and military clinic settings. Adam’s research efforts are devoted to enhancing understanding of biological, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional risk and resilience factors for anxiety, fear, and stress-related disorders, and to develop innovative treatment enhancement strategies, including applications of brain stimulation, pharmacological agents, and cognitive and behavioral strategies.
Adam approaches treatment within a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) framework. He has extensive training and experience in delivering gold-standard interventions for PTSD, including Prolonged Exposure (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Trauma-focused CBT (TF-CBT), and Concurrent Treatment of PTSD and Substance Use Disorders Using Prolonged Exposure (COPE). He is also well-versed in delivering Exposure with Response Prevention (ExRP) for OCD. Adam also utilizes a broad range of behavioral and exposure-based techniques for targeting specific problems, such as interoceptive exposure techniques for treating panic, and in vivo exposure for overcoming specific fears. Dr. Cobb also often integrates other evidence-based practices, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Behavioral Activation (BA), and Motivational Interviewing (MI), which have been demonstrated to be effective for a range of presenting problems.
Adam is not accepting new patients at this time.
Andrew Levihn-Coon, M.A.
Andrew received his bachelor’s degree in psychology and philosophy from Claremont McKenna College and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Andrew's training is primarily in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, with a particular focus on depression and anxiety disorders. He utilizes evidence-based treatments in a personalized manner and has a keen interest in behavioral interventions such as exercise and sleep improvement. Andrew is passionate about working with patients who are new to therapy or who have had unsuccessful prior therapeutic experiences.
Andrew is accepting new patients starting in August 2022.
