Alexandra Werntz, PhD

Alexandra Werntz, Ph.D.

Alexandra Werntz received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Virginia. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the University of Virginia and was funded in-part by AIM Youth Mental Health. Her recent research has focused on understanding how mentors can provide supportive accountability to mentees engaging in digital mental health interventions. Dr. Werntz is also a licensed clinical psychologist practicing in Virginia, specializing in anxiety, depression, end-of-life issues, and trauma. She feels passionately that evidence-based mental health skills do not need to be taught by trained mental health providers, but instead can be taught by and practiced with trained paraprofessionals. With the CEBM team, she is excited to advance the science of training mentors to support their mentees in reaching their full mental health and wellbeing potential.

Publications

McQuillin, S. D., Hagler, M. A., Werntz, A., & Rhodes, J. E. (2021). Paraprofessional youth mentoring: A framework for integrating youth mentoring with helping institutions and professions. American Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12546 [PDF]

Werntz, A., Silverman, A. L., Behan, H., Patel, S. K., Beltzer, M., Boukhechba, M. O., Barnes, L., & Teachman, B. A.. (2022). Lessons learned: Providing supportive accountability in an online anxiety intervention. Behavior Therapy53(3), 492–507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2021.12.002

Howell, J. L., Sweeny, K., Hua, J., Werntz, A., Hussain, M., Hinojosa, B. M., Johnson, A. E., Lindgren, K. P., Meese, W., O’Shea, B. A., & Teachman, B. A. (2022, October 6). The Role of Uncertainty, Worry, and Control in Well-Being: Evidence From the COVID-19 Outbreak and Pandemic in U.S. and China. Emotion. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/emo0001163

Teachman, B. A., Silverman, A. L., & Werntz, A. (2022). Digital mental health services: Moving from promise to results. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 29, 97-104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2021.06.014

Silverman, A., Werntz, A., Ko, T., & Teachman, B. A. (2021). Implicit and explicit beliefs about the effectiveness of psychotherapy vs. medication: A large-scale examination and replication. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. doi:10.1097/NMD.0000000000001384

Werntz, A., & Holohan, D. R. (2021). Stakeholder concerns with the validation of the Enhanced EPPP (Part 2-Skills). Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 15(1), 33-36. https://doi.org/10.1037/tep0000358

Hsueh, L., Werntz, A., Hobaica, S., Owens, S. A., Lumley, M. A., Washburn, J.J. (2021). Clinical psychology PhD students’ admission experiences: Implications for recruiting racial/ethnic minority and LGBTQ students. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 77, 105-120. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23074

Steinman, S. A., Namaky, N., Toton, S. L., Meissel, E., St. John, A. T., Pham, N.-H., Werntz, A., Valladares, T. L., Gorlin, E. I., Arbus, S., Beltzer, M., Soroka, A., & Teachman, B. A. (2020). Which variations of a brief cognitive bias modification session for interpretations lead to the strongest effects? Cognitive Therapy and Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-020-10168-3

Werntz, A., Bufka, L., Adams, B., & Teachman, B. A. (2020). Improving the reach of clinical practice guidelines: An experimental investigation of headlines on website user engagement. Clinical Psychological Science, 8(5), 825-838. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702620920722

Teachman, B. A., Clerkin, E. M., Cunningham, W., Dreyer-Oren, S., & Werntz, A. (2019). Implicit cognition and psychopathology: Looking back and looking forward. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050718-095718.

Gorlin, E. I., Werntz, A. J., Fua, K. C., Lambert, A. E., Namaky, N., & Teachman, B. A., (2019). Remembering or knowing how we felt: Depression and anxiety symptoms predict retrieval strategy use during emotional self-report. Emotion, 19(3), 465-479. doi:10.1037/emo0000436

Werntz, A. J., Green, J. S., & Teachman, B. A. (2017). Implicit health associations across the adult lifespan. Psychology & Health, 32(12), 1429-1448. doi:10.1080/08870446.2017.1341514

Namaky, N., Beltzer, M. L., Werntz, A. J., Lambert, A. E., Isaacowitz, D. M., & Teachman, B. A. (2017). Moderators of age effects on attention bias toward threat and its association with anxiety. Journal of Affective Disorders, 216, 46-57. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.10.048

Glenn, J. J., Werntz, A. J., Steinman, S. A., Slama, S. J., Teachman, B. A., & Nock, M. K. (2017). Suicide and self-injury-related implicit cognition: a large-scale examination and replication. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 126(2), 199-211. doi:10.1037/abn0000230

Kulesza, M., Masuda, M., Ramirez, J. J., Werntz, A. J., Teachman, B. A., & Lindgren, K. P. (2016). Towards greater understanding of addiction stigma: Intersectionality with race/ethnicity and gender. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 169, 85-91. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.10.020

Lindgren, K. P., Gasser, M. L., Werntz, A. J., Namaky, N., Baldwin, S. A., & Teachman, B. A. (2016). Moderators of implicit and explicit drinking identity in a large US adult sample. Addictive Behaviors, 60, 177-183. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.04.022

Werntz, A. J., Steinman, S. A., Glenn, J., Nock, M., & Teachman, B. A. (2016). Characterizing implicit mental health evaluations across clinical domains. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 52, 17-28. doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2016.02.004

Kulesza, M., Teachman, B. A., Werntz, A. J., Gasser, M. L., & Lindgren, K. P. (2015). Correlates of public support toward federal funding for harm reduction strategies. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention and Policy, 10(25). doi:10.1186/s13011-015-0022-5

Clerkin, E. M., Werntz, A. J., Magee, J. C., Lindgren, K. P., & Teachman, B. A. (2014). Evaluating age differences in coping motives as a mediator of the link between social anxiety symptoms and alcohol problems. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 28(3), 880-886. doi:10.1037/a0036813

Lindgren, K. P., Kaysen, D., Werntz, A. J., Gasser, M. L., & Teachman, B.A. (2013). Wounds that can’t be seen: Implicit trauma associations predict posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 44, 368-375. doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2013.03.003

Werntz, A., Amado, S., Jasman, M., Ervin, A., Rhodes, J. E. (forthcoming/in press). Providing Human Support for Use of Digital Mental Health Interventions: A Systematic Meta-Review. Journal of Medical Internet Research. https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/42864/accepted

Werntz, A., Jasman, M., Simeon, K., Gunasekaran, H., Yowell, C., & Rhodes, J. (2023). Implementation of a technology-enhanced peer mentor referral system for first-year university students.,Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science.DOI: 10.1007/s41347-023-00303-8.

Werntz, A., Poon, C. Y. S., & Rhodes, J. E. (2023). Striking the balance: The relative benefits of goal- and youth-focused approaches to youth mentoring relationships. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01751-4

Alexandra Werntz, Megyn Jasman, Katherine Simeon, Harun Gunasekaran, Constance Yowell, Jean E. Rhodes. Implementation of a Technology‑Enhanced Peer Mentor Referral
System for First‑Year University Students. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-023-00303-8 [PDF]