Kate Wolitzky-Taylor – UCLA Department of Psychology

September 11, 2026

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Professor-in-Residence

Primary Area: Clinical Psychology
Email: kbtaylor@mednet.ucla.edu

Research and Teaching Interests

The overarching goal of my research program is to improve the treatment of anxiety and related disorders (particularly substance use disorders; SUD). My research addresses this problem using a variety of methodologies, including lines of research that aim to (1) understand the nature of anxiety disorders and comorbid conditions, with an emphasis on identifying underlying transdiagnostic processes implicated in the onset and maintenance of the comorbidity; (2) develop and evaluate treatments or treatment augmentation strategies for anxiety disorders, (3) understand the moderators of treatment outcome and the mechanisms of change during behavioral treatment for anxiety and related disorders, (4) increase access to evidence-based anxiety disorder treatment in a variety of real-world clinical settings; and (5) develop and evaluate interventions that address anxiety disorder and SUD comorbidity. With regard to interventions for comorbid anxiety and SUD, I have conducted a series of NIH-funded trials that aim to develop fully integrated, streamlined, transdiagnostic interventions targeting processes shared across anxiety and SUD (and that serve to maintain this comorbidity).

My teaching focuses primarily on clinical teaching – that is, training the next generation of clinical scientists to deliver high quality, tailored, evidence-based treatments for anxiety, depression, and SUD, with an understanding not only of how to deliver the treatments, maintaining a “flexibility within fidelity” approach, but to understand the principles guiding the components of treatment. I also enjoy teaching clinical research methods.

Biography

Dr. Wolitzky-Taylor is a clinical researcher and licensed clinical psychologist with extensive experience in the development, evaluation, and implementation of cognitive and behavioral therapies (CBT) for anxiety disorder and comorbid substance use disorders (SUD). Her research expertise was developed during her doctoral training in the Laboratory for the Study of Anxiety Disorders at the University of Texas at Austin where she was funded on an F31 focused on examining the efficacy of behavioral interventions for worry, clinical internship at the Medical University of South Carolina where she was funded on a T32 focusing on the research and treatment of trauma-related problems, and a 3-year postdoctoral research fellowship in the Anxiety and Depression Research Center at UCLA, in which she was Project Director of the Youth Emotion Project (YEP), a 10-year, multi-site, NIMH-funded longitudinal R01 examining common and specific risk factors for emotional disorders (PI: Dr. Michelle Craske). Dr. Wolitzky-Taylor then went on to receive a NIDA-funded K23 to develop expertise in comorbid anxiety and SUD and in effectiveness/implementation hybrid trials. Since then, she has received continuous funding for several NIDA- and NIAAA-funded R34s and R21s to develop and evaluate novel behavioral treatments for comorbid anxiety disorders and SUD. In addition to maintaining several active grants to continue this line of work, she is currently a PI and Center co-Director for a NIMH-funded ALACRITY Center (P50) that aims to optimize a digitally-focused, tiered model of care for anxiety and depression among community college students called STAND (Screening and Treatment of Anxiety and Depression). She also provides training, supervision, and oversight of several clinical training programs at UCLA with a focus on CBT for anxiety disorders.

Curriculum Vitae

Representative Publications

Wolitzky, K.B. & Telch, M.J. (2009). Augmenting in vivo exposure with fear antagonistic actions: A preliminary test. Behavior Therapy, 40, 57–71.

Wolitzky-Taylor, K.B., Arch, J.J., Rosenfield, D. & Craske, M.G. (2012). Moderators and non-specific predictors of treatment outcome for anxiety disorders: A comparison of cognitive behavioral therapy to acceptance and commitment therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80, 786–799.

Wolitzky-Taylor, K., Zimmermann, M., Arch, J.J., de Guzman, E., & Lagomasino, I. (2015). Has evidence-based psychosocial treatment for anxiety disorders permeated usual care in community mental health settings? Behaviour Research and Therapy, 72, 9–17.

Wolitzky-Taylor, K., Krull, J.L., Rawson, R., Roy-Byrne, P., Ries, R. & Craske, M.G. (2018). Randomized clinical trial evaluating the preliminary effectiveness of an integrated anxiety disorder treatment in substance use disorder specialty clinics. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 86, 81–88.

Wolitzky-Taylor, K., Drazdowski, T., Rawson, R. & Craske, M.G. (2018). Anxiety sensitivity and coping motives as putative mediators of outcome in an integrated treatment for comorbid anxiety and substance use disorders. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 107, 34–41.

Wolitzky-Taylor, K., Sewart, A., Karno, M., Ries, R. & Stimson, J. (2022). Development and initial evaluation of a fully integrated treatment for comorbid social anxiety disorder and alcohol use disorder in a community-based SUD clinic setting. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 148.

Wolitzky-Taylor, K., Glasner, S., Tanner, A., Ghahremani, D. & London, E. (2022). Targeting maladaptive reactivity to negative affect in emerging adults with cannabis use disorder: A preliminary test and proof of concept. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 150.

Wolitzky-Taylor, K., LeBeau, R., Arnaudova, I., Barnes-Horowitz, N., Fears, S., Heldt, J., Freimer, N., & Craske, M.G. (2023). A novel and integrated digitally-supported system of care for depression and anxiety: Protocol and findings from an open trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research: Mental Health, 10.

Wolitzky-Taylor, K. (2023). Integrated behavioral treatments for comorbid anxiety and substance use disorders: A model for understanding integrated treatment approaches and meta-analysis to evaluate their efficacy. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 253.

Wolitzky-Taylor, K., Otto, M., Metts, A., Hanano, M. & Mooney, L. (in press). A pilot randomized clinical trial evaluating the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a cognitive behavioral therapy adjunct to support benzodiazepine tapering among primary care patients co-prescribed benzodiazepines and opioids. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.