Meet Dr. Alex Bettis, PhD (she/her)
I am a licensed clinical psychologist in Tennessee and authorized to provide telehealth psychotherapy services through PSYPACT. I am also a clinical scientist and faculty member in the Psychiatry Department at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where I study teen and family mental health using novel digital health approaches.
I currently live in Nashville, Tennessee with my dog Fitz, and I enjoy spending my free time getting outside, playing tennis, going to Nashville Soccer Club games, and volunteering with local organizations like the East Nashtivisits and Wags & Walks Nashville.
Background and Training
I am passionate about evidence-based intervention for mental health problems in children, teens, and young adults. I received my doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Vanderbilt University in 2018, where I trained in research methods and evidence-based assessment and therapy for a range of mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, trauma-related distress, and OCD. I completed a one-year clinical residency in child mental health at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. During this residency, I trained in inpatient psychiatry, partial hospitalization programs, and outpatient therapy settings. After receiving my degree, I was awarded a National Institute of Mental Health research training fellowship at Brown Medical School to study teen suicide and self-harm.
Following my fellowship, I joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where I serve as the Director of the Regulating Emotions and Stress in Teens Lab and lead multiple NIH-funded studies employing digital mental health approaches to study teen and family suicide prevention. I have published over 50 peer-reviewed articles in child and family mental health, presented at national and international conferences, and led trainings in the hospital and community setting focused on evidence-based practices for assessing and managing child mental health crises. I was selected as a 2019 NIMH Child Intervention, Prevention, and Services Fellow and a 2024 NIH mHealth Training Institute Scholar.