Understanding and Managing Chronic Pain & its Relationship with Mental Health

Risa has devoted her career to developing and scientifically testing scalable interventions for common behavioral health problems. Her mission is to expand the reach of high-quality, science-based behavioral health treatment.

She has over two decades of research, clinical, and leadership experience which she now brings to lead the clinical direction and research strategy of BehaVR.

Risa has a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the University at Albany. She completed a doctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University. She is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine and an Adjunct Professor of Family Medicine at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She is an expert in cognitive-behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapies. As a primary care psychologist, Risa has broad experience in treatment development and implementation for common behavioral health problems including anxiety, depression, chronic pain, substance use disorder, and adaptation to living with other chronic medical difficulties. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Veterans Administration, and numerous foundations. Risa is a member of the Scientific Council of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America and a Fellow and former Board Member of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.