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Anxiety
Message from Division Lead, Randi McCabe
Members of the Division of Anxiety focus on anxiety and related disorders by conducting innovative research, providing training for students and health professionals, and delivering state-of-the-art care to individuals seeking assessment and treatment for these conditions.
The Anxiety Treatment and Research Clinic (ATRC) at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton serves as the main hub of division activity. The ATRC is a specialized outpatient program dedicated to clinical service, education, and research in the area of anxiety disorders. Located in a large community hospital affiliated with McMaster University, the ATRC receives over 3,000 referrals each year and provides comprehensive assessment and treatment services including an early intervention assessment stream for youth with obsessive compulsive disorder.
In addition to offering state-of-the-art assessments and treatments for anxiety disorders, the ATRC is one of Canada’s leading centres for training and research in the area of anxiety. Each year, 25 to 30 students from various disciplines (psychology, psychiatry, nursing, occupational therapy, and social work) complete clinical and research training at the clinic, making it an exciting hub of activity with numerous opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
The ATRC houses a network of established investigators with international collaborations researching various aspects of anxiety and related disorders. Research in the ATRC encompasses studies designed to further our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders as well as the development and evaluation of new assessment methods and treatment approaches including innovative cognitive behavioural interventions.
Overview
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health conditions with a high lifetime prevalence such that approximately one in three people will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their life (Bandelow & Michaelis, 2015). Despite the high prevalence of anxiety disorders, they are often underrecognized and undertreated. Thus, the research programs of members of the Division of Anxiety to advance our understanding of anxiety and related disorders including the development of new assessment and intervention methods is of critical importance.
Faculty Directory
Education
Members of the Division of Anxiety are actively involved in providing teaching, training, and supervision in assessment and management of anxiety and related disorders to a range of learners from various disciplines as well as health professionals.
Clinical
The Anxiety Treatment and Research Clinic (ATRC) is the hub of clinical activity in the Division of Anxiety. Referrals to the ATRC go through St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton’s central intake program.
Research
Research in the Division of Anxiety encompasses studies designed to further our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the etiology and maintenance of anxiety and related disorders as well as the development and evaluation of new assessment methods and treatment approaches.
There are many ongoing research initiatives in the Division of Anxiety. Here are a few examples:
- Members of the division are partnered with the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research and are engaged in research examining the relationship between cannabis use and anxiety disorders including understanding motives for use, relationship to anxiety symptoms, and impact on treatment.
- Members of the division are partnered with the Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research and are engaged in research examining neuromodulation using transcranial direct current stimulation (tCDS) for enhancing learning during exposure for OCD as well as the application of behavioural economics paradigms to further our understanding of anxiety and related disorders.
- Members of the division led development and evaluation of the Diagnostic Research and Assessment Tool (DART) for DSM-5, an open access semi-structured diagnostic interview for use in research and clinical settings. A Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) funded study examining the psychometric properties of the DART is underway. More information on the DART can be found here.
The Diagnostic Assessment Research Tool (DART)
The Diagnostic Assessment Research Tool (DART) is an open-access, semi-structured diagnostic interview for assessing DSM-5 mental disorders that developed by psychologists at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and who are affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University. Offering the DART as an open-access tool allows for greater access to a semi-structured psychodiagnostic tool that can be used in clinical and research settings with adult populations. In addition, the DART’s modular design offers interviewers the flexibility to administer the entire interview or individual disorder-specific modules, which can reduce the duration of the interview and make the interview less burdensome to interviewees. The DART can also be used in conjunction with the DART questionnaire, a self-report screening tool, that can guide interviewers to relevant modules to administer.
Contact Us
We invite you to learn more about the Division of Anxiety and the opportunities that are available at McMaster University. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
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