Courtney N. Forbes, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the GW School of Medicine & Health Sciences. She received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Toledo. She completed an APA-accredited predoctoral internship at the Emory University School of Medicine and a postdoctoral fellowship in Dr. Michelle Craske’s Anxiety and Depression Research Center at the University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Forbes is experienced in providing evidence-based treatments for a broad range of psychiatric conditions, with particular expertise in cognitive-behavioral and acceptance-based interventions for depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Dr. Forbes’ program of research is focused on identifying biobehavioral mechanisms underlying mood and anxiety disorders, as well as translating knowledge derived from basic science into evidence-based interventions. Her current research involves identifying clinically meaningful subtypes of depression and anxiety using data from human brain networks. Dr. Forbes also researches mechanisms of change in evidence-based treatments, particularly those targeting reward processes at multiple levels of analysis.
Dr. Forbes cares deeply about making behavioral healthcare more accessible to historically marginalized groups. She recently received grant funding for a project intended to increase engagement in follow-up care among individuals hospitalized for psychiatric crisis in an urban public safety-net hospital. Dr. Forbes is also active in the clinical research community and currently serves on the Associate Editorial Board and Clinical Translation Board for Behaviour Research and Therapy. Last but not least, Dr. Forbes is passionate about teaching, supervising, and mentoring individuals at all levels of training.
