Managing Your Holiday Stress

Member Since 2004

Karen Cassiday, PhD, ADAA Past President's areas of interest are anxiety disorders in children and teens, social anxiety disorder, treatment-refractory OCD, and working with children and teens who suffer from both developmental concerns and anxiety disorders. Her research has focused on information processing in posttraumatic stress disorder and cognitive-behavioral treatment of anxiety disorders in children, teens, and adults.

Dr. Karen Cassiday is a lively, sought-after speaker and commentator on national media such as Nightline, The Today Show, Animal Planet, The Joy Behar Show, Huffington Post, public radio and many more. She is a TEDx speaker who shared her personal experience as a mother overcoming her own anxious perfectionism in the middle of Walt Disney World! She is the host of the Moms Without Worry radio show. She served as the President of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America and is the founder of the Anxiety Treatment Center of Greater Chicago, the longest-running clinic to first use modern exposure-based treatment for anxiety disorders in the Chicago region. She won the Anxiety and Depression Association of America’s prestigious Clinician of Distinction Award and is a Clinical Fellow. She is also a Diplomate and Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, served as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Chicago OCD Foundation/Beyond OCD, and has been listed on numerous Who’s Who lists.  She has published numerous scientific articles and articles on parenting and managing anxiety. Dr. Cassiday is dedicated to helping mothers overcome the cultural pressure to be perfect and to raise perfect kids. She enjoys using her expertise from over thirty years in the field to help families overcome the dilemmas of parenting in a high-stress digital world. Her goal is to help all mothers embrace the messy hilarity of parenting with unshakable self-confidence so they can raise kids who thrive!

Dr. Cassiday and ADAA

"My graduate school advisor, Rich McNally, suggested ADAA would be a great place to join as a student so I could present my research and network with other like-minded people who were really interested in researching and treating anxiety disorders.”

“ADAA has given me many things I needed at different stages of my career that were either unavailable or hard to find.  Early in my career, I was often the only professional who knew about evidence-based therapies for anxiety and I needed a place to be with my own kind without having to explain myself and combat skepticism. Then I needed inspiration from the ideas of scientists and other clinicians so I could improve my clinical skills. ADAA also gave me a multi-disciplinary group that mirrored my daily work life and that felt great. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to share my knowledge by giving presentation. Lastly, ADAA has given me the opportunity to serve humankind in a bigger way by sharing my leadership skills on committees, the Board and as president.”

“I have depended on my ADAA colleagues throughout my career to give me inspiration, encouragement and mentoring for my clinical dilemmas and business dilemmas. The friendly non-competitive atmosphere has made it easy to call up anyone to get their advice. I don't believe that my patients and staff would have fared as well as they have had I not been very involved with ADAA."

Krystal M. Lewis, PhD is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Co-Director of Education with the Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Director of the Clinical Psychology Externship Program at the National Institutes of Health. Her group at NIMH (SDAN) studies how information processing in the brain may vary across youth with symptoms of anxiety and depression using neuroimaging and biobehavioral methodology.  Dr. Lewis completed her pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship training at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Lewis is passionate about the provision of clinical care, training, and mentorship and uses culturally informed, developmentally appropriate, and evidence-based treatment approaches. Her clinical and research interests are focused on identifying mechanisms of change in psychological treatment for pediatric anxiety and mood disorders. She has a small private practice where she provides assessment, treatment and supportive therapy to children, adolescents, and adults. 

Dr. Lewis is a Board member for the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, of which she has been a member for 15 years. She has participated in the Career Development Leadership Program as an awardee, mentor, and now program Co-Chair. She has chaired the Child and Adolescent Anxiety SIG as well as the Early Career Professionals and Students SIG. In 2019, Dr. Lewis received the Emerging Leader Award from ADAA. With her continued tenure on the board, Dr. Lewis will focus on developing the BIPOC Membership Scholarship program and will continue to disseminate scientific and clinical insights for professionals and the public. Dr. Lewis has conducted media interviews and has given numerous community talks in an effort to highlight the importance of mental health and share evidence-based practices.
 

Tynessa Franks, PhD, earned her doctorate in psychology at the University of Virginia and has worked at VA hospitals in Atlanta, GA and Orlando, FL. Most recently, she has pursued a passion for helping people who have problematic social anxiety with the creation of Bashful & Bright where she aims to make evidence-based treatment strategies for social anxiety more widely available through weekly YouTube videos, group therapy services, and an online program.