Debra Hope, is on the faculty in the Department of Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She directs the Anxiety Disorders Clinic and the Rainbow Clinic, both specialty services of the Psychological Consultation Center, serving Lincoln and the surrounding communities. Her research and clinical work focus on two main areas. The first is anxiety disorders, especially social anxiety disorder. Deb has been involved in developing and disseminating effective psychosocial treatment for social anxiety disorder since it was first recognized in DSM in the 1980’s. Most recently, this work has focused on using technology to help make treatment more available, including using telehealth to reach individuals in underserved parts of Nebraska who need specialty anxiety treatment. The second, more recent, line of work is on the mental health impacts of stigma and discrimination for the LGBT community. One recent project is a partnership with the trans community to identify best practices in psychological services.
Much of Deb’s graduate teaching is focused on training in general psychotherapy and cognitive-behavior therapy, and she helps teach the core second-year practicum course in the clinical training program. She supervises the cases in the Anxiety Disorders Clinic and Rainbow Clinic. She also maintains a small private practice which helps keep her skills fresh and relevant for the clinical teaching.
Deb received her undergraduate degree from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon where a social psychology professor named Helena Carlson was a highly influential mentor and guided her into graduate school. Deb received her Ph.D. from State University of New York at Albany in 1990 and came to Lincoln directly after internship for her first job. There was a brief flirtation with a move to San Diego in the late 1990’s but the beautiful scenery and the chance to move back to the west coast could not compete with the great colleagues at UNL.
Deb is from a small town in the mountains of northeastern Oregon called Halfway, population 364. Her father’s official job title was cowboy and her mother was a stay-at-home parent. That is a long way from Lincoln where she lives with her partner of 14 years, 12 year old daughter, and 3 dogs. Deb’s primary involvement in NPA has been through the CE offerings. She and Dan Ullman have partnered with joint UNL-NPA CE offerings several times in recent years.
