University of New Brunswick - Associate Professor, Psychology
I investigate ways to increase access to psychological interventions, with a focus on anxiety, post traumatic stress, and related disorders. I pursue these goals via three primary pathways. First, I work on the development and evaluation of distance-delivered psychological interventions. For instance, right now we are testing the efficacy of narrative exposure therapy for firefighters with posttraumatic stress delivered via videoconferencing by a paraprofessional coach. We are also looking at the efficacy of an internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) intervention for anxiety and depression adapted for parents’ needs during the COVID pandemic. Second, I explore the use of transdiagnostic interventions. Right now, we are finishing up a multisite randomized controlled trial comparing the efficacy of disorder-specific CBT to a transdiagnostic CBT targeted at anxiety sensitivity for treating people with anxiety and depression. Third, I also investigate the use of physical exercise in mental health treatment. We have investigated how a running group improves mental health and whether adding physical activity to CBT improves treatment outcomes among university students. I’m planning to extend this work to community mental health settings in the future. Finally, I also, unrelatedly, research psychosocial risk factors for alcohol use among adolescents and young adults.
Dr. Olthius is open to summer internships and/or co-op placements. It really depends on the students’ skills and experience, available funding, and if the students’ interests are a good fit with ongoing projects in my lab.
For further information on Dr. Olthuis
Contact Information
Location: Keirstead Hall, Fredericton NB
Phone: 506-447-3006
Email: j.olthuis@unb.ca
