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.

Jensi Gise, PhD is a postdoctoral fellow at Emory University School of Medicine's Child OCD Program (COPE). She received her BA in applied psychology from Georgia Institute of Technology and her PhD in clinical psychology from Georgia State University. Prior to beginning her fellowship at Emory, Jensi completed her doctoral internship at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University and the Children's Health Council. Jensi integrates treatment approaches such as Exposure Response Prevention, Acceptance Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Emotion Focused Therapy in her clinical work with youth and their families. Her graduate research was focused on resilience in youth with pediatric medical conditions.

Rebecca Lipschutz, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow at Emory School of Medicine with the Grady Trauma Project. Dr. Lipschutz completed her BS and MS in Neuroscience at Tulane University and her PhD in Clinical Psychology at University of Houston. She completed her pre-doctoral clinical internship at Tulane University in 2023 in child clinical psychology with a focus on infant mental health.

Rebecca focuses clinically on providing evidence-based interventions to children and families using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and parent management techniques. She also has experience working with anxiety, mood disorders, trauma and eating disorders. Her research examines biological and behavioral mechanisms of stress and trauma in children.

Victoria Lawlor, MA, is a PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology at Emory and a clinical intern at Emory in the Child and Adolescent Mood Program. Victoria received her BA from Northeastern University and her MA from Emory University. She has previously worked as a practicum therapist at the adult OCD IOP program at Emory, Grady adult outpatient services, Rogers children & adolescent partial hospitalization program and the Emory Psychological Center. She enjoys working with individuals of all ages and backgrounds and has experience with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP) and self-compassion-based interventions. Her research uses computer science methods (natural language processing) to identify how psychotherapy dialogue affects the therapeutic alliance and leads to symptom change.

Erin McDonald, MA, is a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the Clinical Psychology PhD program at Georgia State University. She received her BA in psychology from Barnard College of Columbia University and her MA in psychology from Georgia State University. Erin enjoys working with children and adolescents, and her research focuses on empathy, anxiety and depression.

Brennah Ross, MA is a fourth-year PhD student in Georgia State University’s joint Clinical-Community Psychology program. She received her BS in economics from The College of New Jersey and later completed a psychology post-baccalaureate at Villanova University. Prior to graduate school, Brennah worked in anxiety research at Temple University where she coordinated a clinical trial evaluating an exposure-based intervention for dental phobia. Currently, Brennah’s research focuses on intolerance of uncertainty and avoidance coping in individuals with interpersonal trauma histories. 

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.

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 a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. She also volunteers as a Court Appointment Special Advocate with the foster care system in Fulton County.