Our Team

Rebecca Schneider, PhD, is an assistant professor and licensed psychologist at the Emory University School of Medicine and Director of the Child OCD Program at Emory (COPE). Dr. Schneider received her BA in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Colorado Boulder. Prior to joining the faculty at Emory, she completed her doctoral psychology internship at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford/Children’s Health Council and her postdoctoral fellowship at the Child and Adolescent OCD Institute (OCDI Jr.) at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Schneider specializes in providing evidence-based treatment for OCD, anxiety disorders and misophonia in youth, including exposure and response prevention (ERP) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). She is a board member of OCD Georgia, and co-founder of both the OCD Special Interest Group of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science and the ACT Special Interest Group of the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF). Her research focuses on mindfulness- and acceptance-based treatments for OCD and anxiety disorders, and how to improve the effectiveness and acceptability of exposure therapy.

Cara Waiswilos, MS, is a Clinical Assessment Specialist with the Emory Child and Adolescent Mood Program. She completed her Bachelor of Business Administration from Harding University and worked in healthcare administration for ten years before obtaining a Master of Science in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling from Mercer University in Atlanta, GA. Cara is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. She also volunteers as a Court Appointment Special Advocate with the foster care system in Fulton County.

Skyler VanMeter, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow at Emory University School of Medicine's Child OCD Program (COPE). He received his BA in psychology from the University of Louisville and his PhD in school psychology from the University of Cincinnati. Prior to beginning his fellowship at Emory, Skyler completed his doctoral internship at the Munroe-Meyer Institute/University of Nebraska Medical Center, where he provided comprehensive school-based clinical services to children and families. In his work, Skyler integrates treatment approaches such as exposure and response prevention (ERP), acceptance commitment therapy (ACT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). His graduate research focused on evaluating strategies for remotely supporting parents of children with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders and the use of group acceptance and commitment therapy for addressing challenging classroom behaviors.

Christopher King, EdM, MA, is a clinical psychology PhD candidate at Emory University and clinical intern at the Emory Child and Adolescent Mood Program. He received his BA from the University of Michigan, EdM from Harvard University and MA in Clinical Psychology from Emory. He has previously worked as a practicum therapist at the Grady Behavioral Health Outpatient Center and Emory Psychological Center. Chris is also a former teacher and enjoys working with children and adolescents of all backgrounds. His clinical approach incorporates aspects of Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and his research focuses on specifying genetic and environmental contributions to transdiagnostic mental health outcomes.

Olivia Westemeier, BS, is a third-year student in Georgia State University's Clinical-Community Psychology PhD program. She received her BS in psychology from The University of Iowa where she developed a passion for therapy while working with those with public speaking anxiety at Iowa's Speaking Center. Her research focuses on how emotional states (e.g., shame, anxiety) and social environments influence aggressive behaviors and how to build trauma-informed community responses to violence.

Elizabeth (Elly) Kushner is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Emory University. Elly received her BS in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and MA from Emory University. Currently, Elly conducts research at the Marcus Autism Center focused on identifying biomarkers and mechanisms of response to treatment in young children. She is broadly interested in family involvement in intervention and the prevention of internalizing and externalizing disorders in children. 

Sarah is a Clinical and Community Psychology doctoral student at Georgia State University. She received her BA in Psychology at Wake Forest University. Prior to her graduate studies, she was a program coordinator for the Telemental Health Outreach Program at the Medical University of South Carolina. Her research focuses on risk and protective factors in the development of internalizing disorders, including family related factors, such as parental/caregiver emotion socialization practices. Sarah's clinical interest focus on utilizing evidence-based cognitive and behavioral interventions to address mood and anxiety related concerns.

Jena Michel, MA, is a seventh-year doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology PhD program at Georgia State University. She received her BS (Psychology) and BA (Sociology) at the University of New Orleans and MA in Psychology at Georgia State University. Jena has completed clinical work across the lifespan and especially enjoys working with adolescents and young adults. Her recent research is focused on examining mediators and moderators of a photography-based positive psychology intervention in sample of college students. 

Emily Weiss, BS, is a third-year PhD student in Georgia State University’s clinical psychology program. She received her BS in psychology and human development and family studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Emily’s current research focuses on how people with social anxiety rely on their friends perceptions to form their own sense of self. 

Emily Tan, BA, is a third-year PhD student in the Clinical-Community Psychology program at Georgia State University. She received her BA in Psychology from Bates College. Before starting her graduate studies, Emily worked as a research coordinator at the Depression Clinical and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. Emily’s research focuses on developing and evaluating accessible, positive psychology-based interventions for youth.