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University of Wyoming
Brett Deacon

Brett Deacon
Assistant Professor
Nature and treatment of anxiety disorders
Clinical Psychology

Ph.D., Northern Illinois University 2002

Predoctoral Intern, Minneapolis VA Medical Center 2001-2002

M.A., Northern Illinois University 1999

B.A., Truman State University 1996
bdeacon@uwyo.edu • (307) 766-3317 • Bio Sciences Bldg 128

 

Office Hours: T & R 9:30-11:00am, & by appointment

 

Academic Positions
2004 - present, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Wyoming
2002 - 2004, Postdoctoral Fellow in Medical Psychology, Mayo Clinic
 

Research Interests:
-Development, evaluation, and dissemination of cognitive-behavioral treatments for anxiety disorders
-Development and maintenance of anxiety disorders
-Measurement of anxiety
-Brain disease/chemical imbalance explanations of mental health problems
-Science and pseudoscience in mental health research and practice

 

Teaching:
PSYC 2340 - Abnormal Psychology
PSYC 4500 - Introduction to Clinical Psychology
PSYC 5380 - Theories and Techniques of Psychotherapy
PSYC 5450 - Clinical Practicum

Graduate Students
James Lickel - Interoceptive exposure; panic disorder; social phobia
Elizabeth Nelson - Cognitive processes and exposure therapy for social phobia
Jennifer Sy - Safety behaviors and exposure therapy
Laura Dixon - Anxiety sensitivity and panic disorder
Josh Kemp - Disgust, nature and treatment of anxiety

 

Publications:

Manuscripts Submitted for Publication (*denotes student co-author)

Olatunji, B. O., Etzel, E. O., Ciesielski, B. G., & Deacon, B. J. (2009). The effects of safety behaviors on health anxiety: An experimental investigation. Manuscript under review.

*Nelson, E. O., Deacon, B. J., Lickel, J. J., & Sy, J. T. (2009). Exposure to the probability versus cost of feared outcomes in public speaking anxiety. Manuscript under review.

*Deacon, B. J., Fawzy, T. I., Lickel, J. J., & Wolitzky-Taylor, K. B. (2009). Cognitive defusion versus cognitive restructuring in the treatment of body image concerns: An analog investigation of process and outcome. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Publications

Broman-Fulks, J. J., Deacon, B. J., Olatunji, B. O., Bondy, C. L., Abramowitz, J. S., & Tolin, D. (in press). Categorical or dimensional: A re-analysis of the anxiety sensitivity construct. Behavior Therapy.

*Deacon, B. J., Sy, J., Lickel, J. J., & Nelson, E. O. (in press). Does the judicious use of safety behaviors improve the efficacy and acceptability of exposure therapy for claustrophobic fear? Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry.

Abramowitz, J. S., Deacon, B. J., Olatunji, B., Wheaton, M. G., Berman, N., Timpano, K., Riemann, B., Adams, T., Storch, E., McGrath, P., Bjorgvinsson, T., & Hale, L. (in press). Assessment of obsessive-compulsive symptoms: Development and validation of the Dimensional obsessive-Compulsive Scale. Psychological Assessment.

Abramowitz, J. S., & Deacon, B. J. (in press). Anxiety and its disorders: Implications for pharmacotherapy. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice.

*Deacon, B. J., & Lickel, J. J. (2009). On the brain disease model of mental disorders. the Behavior Therapist, 32, 113-118.

*Nelson, E. A., Lickel, J. J., Sy, J. T., Dixon, L. J., & Deacon, B. J. (2009). Probability and cost biases in social phobia: Nature, specificity, and relationship to treatment outcome. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy.

*Deacon, B. J., & Baird, G. (2009). The chemical imbalance explanation of depression: Reducing blame at what cost? Journal of Clinical and Social Psychology, 28, 415-435.

Olatunji, B. O., Deacon, B. J., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2009). Is hypochondriasis an anxiety disorder? British Medical Journal, 194, 481-482.

 

Olatunji, B. O., Deacon, B. J., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2009). The cruelest cure? Ethical issues in the implementation of exposure-based treatments. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 16, 172-180.

Kirsch, I., Deacon, B. J., Huedo-Medina, T. B., Scoboria, A., Moore, T. J., & Johnson, B. T. (2008). Initial severity and antidepressant benefits: A meta-analysis of data submitted to the FDA. PLoS Medicine, 5, 0260-0268.

Deacon, B. J., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2008).  Is hypochondriasis related to OCD, panic disorder, or both? An empirical evaluation. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 22, 115-127.

*Deacon, B. J., & Maack, D. J. (2008). The effects of safety behaviors on the fear of contamination: An experimental investigation. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46, 537-547.

Broman-Fulks, J. J., Green, B. A., Olatunji, B. O., Berman, M. E., Arnau, R. C., Deacon, B. J., & Sawchuk, C. N. (2008). The latent structure of anxiety sensitivity - revisited. Assessment, 15, 188-203.

 

*Deacon, B. J., Lickel, J., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2008).  Medical utilization across the anxiety disorders.  Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 22, 344-350.

Olatunji, B. O., & Deacon, B. J. (2008).  Specificity of disgust sensitivity in the prediction of fear and disgust responding to a brief spider exposure.  Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 22, 328-336.

*Deacon, B. J., & Nelson, E. A. (2008).  On the nature and treatment of scrupulosity.  Pragmatic Case Studies in Psychotherapy, 4, 39-53.

*Lickel, J., Nelson, E., Hayes, A., & Deacon, B. (2008).  Interoceptive exposure exercises for evoking depersonalization and derealization: A pilot study.  Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 22, 321-330.

Deacon, B. J., & Olatunji, B. O. (2007).  Specificity of disgust sensitivity in the prediction of behavioral avoidance in contamination fear.  Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 2110-2120.

*Deacon, B. J., & Fawzy, T. (2007). The contribution of David Barlow to the understanding and treatment of panic disorder. In D. David (Ed.), Annual review of psychotherapy and applied mental health. New York: Nova Science.

Taylor, S., Zvolensky, M. J., Cox, B. J., Deacon, B. J., Heimberg, R. G., Ledley, D. R., Abramowitz, J. S., Holaway, R. M., Sandin, B., Stewart, S. H., Coles, M., Eng, W., Daly, E. S., Arrindell, W. A., Bouvard, M., & Jurado, S. (2007).  Robust dimensions of anxiety sensitivity: Development and initial validation of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3). Psychological Assessment, 19, 176-188.

Deacon, B. J. (2007). The effect of pharmacotherapy on the effectiveness of exposure therapy. In Richard, D. C., S., & Lauterbach, D. (Eds), Comprehensive handbook of the exposure therapies (pp. 311-333). New York: Academic Press.

Abramowitz, J. S., Olatunji, B. O., & Deacon, B. J. (2007). Health anxiety, hypochondriasis, and the anxiety disorders. Behavior Therapy, 38, 86-94.

Brown, A., Deacon, B. J., Abramowitz, J. S., & Whiteside, S. P. (2007). Parents' perceptions of pharmacological and cognitive-behavioral treatments for childhood anxiety disorders. Behaviour Research and Therapy.  

Abramowitz, J. S., & Deacon, B. J. (2006). Psychometric properties and construct validity of the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R): Replication and extension with a clinical sample. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 20, 1016-1035.

Whiteside, S. P., Port, J., Deacon, B. J., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2006). A magnetic resonance spectroscopy investigation of OCD and anxiety. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 146, 137-147.

Deacon, B. J., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2006). Anxiety sensitivity and its dimensions across the anxiety disorders. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 20, 837-857.

Olatunji, B. O., Deacon, B. J., Abramowitz, J. S., Woods, C. M., & Tolin, D. F. (2006). Dimensionality of somatic complaints: Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 20,543-561

Deacon, B. J., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2006). Fear of needles and vasovagal reactions among phlebotomy patients. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 20, 946-960.

Deacon, B. J., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2006). A pilot study of two-day cognitive-behavioral therapy for panic disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 807-817.

Abramowitz, J. S., Khandker, M., Nelson, C. A., Deacon, B. J., & Rygwall, R. (2006). The role of cognitive factors in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive symptoms: A prospective study. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 1361-1374

Nelson, L., Abramowitz, J. S., Whiteside, S. P., & Deacon, B. J. (2006). Scrupulosity in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: Relationship to clinical and cognitive phenomena. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 20, 1071-1086.

Abramowitz, J. S., & Deacon, B. J. (2005). Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Essential phenomenology and overlap with other anxiety disorders. In J. S. Abramowitz & A. C. Houts (Eds), Concepts and controversies in obsessive-compulsive disorder (pp. 119-135). New York: Springer.

Olatunji, B. O., Sawchuk, C. N., Deacon, B. J., Tolin, D. F., Lilienfeld, S. O., Williams, N. L., Meunier, S. A., Lohr, J. M., & Connolly, K. M. (2005). The Anxiety Sensitivity Profile revisited: Factor structure and psychometric properties in two nonclinical samples. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 19, 603-625.

Abramowitz, J. S., & Deacon, B. J. (2005). The OCD spectrum: A closer look at the arguments and the data. In J. S. Abramowitz & A. C. Houts (Eds), Concepts and controversies in obsessive-compulsive disorder (pp. 141-149). New York: Springer.

Deacon, B. J., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2005). Patients' perceptions of pharmacological and cognitive-behavioral treatments for anxiety disorders. Behavior Therapy, 36, 139-145.

Abramowitz, J. S., Whiteside, S. P., & Deacon, B. J. (2005). The effectiveness of treatment for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder: A meta-analysis. Behavior Therapy, 36, 55-63.

Deacon, B. J., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2005). The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale: Factor analysis, construct validity, and suggestions for refinement. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 19, 573-585.

Valentiner, D. P., Mounts, N. S., & Deacon, B. J. (2004). Panic attacks, depression and anxiety symptoms, and substance use behaviors during late adolescence. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 18, 573-585.

Abramowitz, J. S., & Deacon, B. J. (2004). Severe health anxiety: Why it persists and how to treat it. Comprehensive Therapy, 30, 44-49.

Abramowitz, J. S., Deacon, B. J., Woods, C. M., & Tolin, D. F. (2004). Association between Protestant religiosity and obsessive-compulsive symptoms and cognitions. Depression and Anxiety, 20, 70-76.

Deacon, B. J., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2004). Cognitive and behavioral treatments for anxiety disorders: A review of meta-analytic findings. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60, 429-441.

Deacon, B. J., Abramowitz, J. S., Woods, C. M., & Tolin, D. F. (2003). The Anxiety Sensitivity Index - Revised: Psychometric properties and factor structure in a nonclinical sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 1427-1449.

Deacon, B. J., Valentiner, D. P., Gutierrez, P., & Blacker, Dr. (2002). The Anxiety Sensitivity Index for Children: Factor structure and relation to panic symptoms in an adolescent sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40, 839-852.

Deacon, B. J., & Valentiner, D. P. (2001). Dimensions of anxiety sensitivity and their relationship to nonclinical panic. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 23, 25-33.

Deacon, B. J., & Valentiner, D. P. (2000). Substance use and nonclinical panic attacks in a young adult sample. Journal of Substance Abuse, 11, 7-15.

 

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