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Dr. James Hambrick

Instructor
Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute
3 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10003
 

Brief Biography:


James Hambrick, Ph.D., directs programs in group therapy and adolescents struggling with anxiety and mood disorders at the Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders.

Dr. Hambrick trained at Temple University under Dr. Richard Heimberg, specializing in empirically supported group and individual treatments for adults suffering from social anxiety disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. He completed his graduate training as an intern at Bellevue Hospital Center, where he worked with children, adolescents, and adults in individual, group, and family settings.  In addition to his training in these settings, Dr. Hambrick has also completed externships at Wilmington Hospital in Delaware and Haverford College, and has published numerous articles and chapters about anxiety disorders.

Dr. Hambrick has been with CUCARD since 2006. Since 2007, Dr. Hambrick has also taught undergraduate courses at Princeton University in clinical and developmental psychology. 

Currently, CUCARD offers group programs targeting many major anxiety disorders, including:

  • Social Anxiety Disorder (or Social Phobia)
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (or OCD)
  • Panic Disorder
  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Because of the focused nature of these groups, they are typically short-term (lasting 8 weeks or 16-20 weeks) and usually include a combination of education about the disorder, coping skills, and practice confronting anxiety in both clinic-based and real-world situations. Coping skills can include:

  • Changing negative thinking to take more realistic perspectives
  • Problem solving and goal setting
  • Social skills and assertiveness
  • Relaxation training to reduce physical symptoms of anxiety
  • Emotion regulation skills

Additional groups and topics are available as a function of public interest and therapist availability.

Under the best of circumstances, adolescence is a difficult time for both the teens attempting to negotiate their way toward adulthood, and the parents who try to support that move toward independence while still giving their children the help they need to thrive.  If the teen is coping with anxiety or depression at the same time, this already difficult task can feel impossible.

The Adolescent Program at CUCARD focuses on helping teenagers learn to cope with their negative feelings, using empirically supported interventions designed to help address their problems with anxiety and depression, and target ways of progressing toward adulthood through help with goal-setting and problem solving.  At the same time, we work with parents to help them learn the most effective ways to support their teenager’s development and transition to independent functioning.

 

Academic positions:


Instructor, Columbia University

Visiting Lecturer, Princeton University

Adjunct, Ferkauf Graduate School at Yeshiva University

 

Research interests:


Anxiety disorders, Developmental course of clinical disorders, ethnicity and race

 

What I think of the idea behind WebmedCentral:


Any program that seeks to promote the dissemination of quality empirically-based care more broadly within the community is a program worth getting behind.