Dr. Krystal M. Lewis received her Ph.D. from Virginia Tech, where she worked closely with Dr. Thomas Ollendick at the Child Study Center. She has experience providing one-session treatments to children with Specific Phobias and extensive experience assessing and treating pediatric populations with anxiety and depression. Dr. Lewis completed her pre-doctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and a two-year services fellowship at the Urban Youth Trauma Center at the University of Illinois Chicago. Her clinical interests include pediatric anxiety, stress, and mood disorders. Currently, Dr. Lewis is a licensed Clinical Psychologist with the Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience (SDAN) at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

She has a small private practice and also conducts psychoeducational testing with children and adolescents. SDAN seeks to understand how information processing in the brain differs among children, adolescents, and adults with anxiety and depression across the lifespan. Dr. Lewis specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and has interest in identifying the mechanisms of change in psychological treatment for pediatric anxiety, specifically CBT. Self-efficacy is an identified mechanism of therapeutic change and important target in CBT and Dr. Lewis has interest in further exploring the role of self-efficacy in exposure work with youth. In addition, she has a particular interest in minority mental health and is working towards increasing representation within research trials and clinical treatment by becoming more involved with diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at NIH. Dr. Lewis has conducted many media interviews and has given numerous community talks in an effort to highlight the important of mental health and share evidence-based practices.

Dr. Lewis has been a member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) for over 10 years. She has participated in the Career Development Leadership Program as an awardee, mentor, and now Co-Chair and is an ADAA Clinical Fellow. She received the Emerging Leader Award from ADAA in 2019 and initially joined the board as the early career professionals representative. She has held several leadership positions with ADAA and is invested in bridging research findings and clinical practice to improve diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of individuals with anxiety and depressive disorders. With her continued tenure on the board, Dr. Lewis will focus on developing the Diversity Membership Scholarship program and has plans to start the first podcast for ADAA focused on highlighting ADAA researchers and clinicians and disseminating scientific and clinical insights for the public.
 

At the end of this activity learners will be able to: 

1.      Explain the importance of self-care in maintaining mental wellness.

2.      Describe societal barriers to mental health equity.

3.      Identify strategies to help manage stress and anxiety.