Jonathan Abramowitz

Jonathan ("Jon") Stuart Abramowitz (born 1969, Baltimore MD) is an American psychologist and professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). He maintains an active research lab and serves as the Director of the UNC-CH Anxiety and Stress Disorders Clinic. Abramowitz is an internationally renowned authority on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety disorders. He approaches the understanding and treatment of psychological problems from a cognitive-behavioral perspective.

Academic Career

Abramowitz earned his B.A. in Psychology from Muhlenberg College in 1991, his M.A. in Psychology from Bucknell University in 1993, and his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Memphis in 1998. He completed both a predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University of Pennsylvania under the mentorship of Edna Foa. He was a staff psychologist and Associate Professor at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) from 2000 until 2006, when he moved to North Carolina.

His research interests focus on the development and evaluation of cognitive-behavioral treatments (CBT) for OCD and other anxiety-related disorders, and the nature and psychopathology of anxiety problems, especially OCD.

Abramowitz's research has been highly influential. He is considered an international expert on OCD and anxiety. His approximately 250 publications include over 10 books and more than 200 scientific articles and book chapters. He has lectured extensively and given clinical workshops around the world, is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, and has served as President of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (2014-2015).

In his clinical practice, Abramowitz specializes in the outpatient cognitive-behavioral assessment, consultation, and treatment of OCD and other anxiety-related problems.

Major Research Contributions

Treatment and Prevention of OCD and Anxiety

A major focus on Abramowitz’s research is the treatment of OCD and anxiety disorders using cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT—primarily exposure and response prevention (ERP). He has published extensively on this topic examining the effectiveness of this treatment as well as the factors that predict good and poor outcome. In collaboration with colleagues at Utah State University, Abramowitz has worked to develop a treatment protocol for augmenting ERP for OCD using techniques from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). He has also collaborated with Donald Baucom, an expert in the treatment of couples, to develop couple-based exposure-based treatments for OCD and Body Dysmorphic Disorder. Abramowitz has written about, and is currently conducting research to enhance the long-term outcome of ERP by optimizing extinction learning during exposure trials. This work is drawn from inhibitory learning models of exposure. He has also developed a treatment and prevention program for postpartum OCD.

Nature of OCD and Anxiety Disorders

Abramowitz has made important contributions to understanding and measuring the heterogeneity of OCD and has identified subtypes and dimensions of this disorder that respond differentially to treatment and involve different cognitive and behavioral phenomena. He developed the Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale to assess four types of OCD symptoms: contamination, responsibility for harm/mistakes, unacceptable thoughts, and incompleteness/symmetry. His work has also contributed to the re-conceptualization of hoarding as separate from OCD. Abramowitz has argued that OCD symptoms lie on a continuum with normal everyday experiences, and that one’s learning history (and to a lesser extent, biology) influence the frequency, intensity, and duration of OCD symptoms. He has also criticized the DSM-5’s re-classification of OCD as separate from the anxiety disorders and as overlapping with conditions such as Hair Pulling Disorder and Skin Picking Disorder. Abramowitz’s research on the nature of OCD and anxiety-related problems is primarily informed by cognitive-behavioral models. He studies cognitive biases such as anxiety sensitivity, thought-action fusion, and intolerance of uncertainty; as well as attentional biases that factor in the persistence of irrational fear. He has also conducted studies on neurobiological variables in hoarding and OCD. Abramowitz also conducts research on phobias, panic attacks, health anxiety, and the families of people with OCD and anxiety disorders.

Awards and Recognition

Abramowitz's contributions to the fields of OCD, anxiety disorders, and clinical psychology have been recognized through numerous honors and awards, including:

Appointed as a Fellow of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)
Elected as President of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) (2014-2015)
Muhlenberg College Alumni Achievement Award
Elected to the Board of Directors of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA)
Appointed as Associate Editor of Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy
Appointed as Associate Editor of Behaviour Research and Therapy
Elected to the Board of Directors of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)
David Shakow Early Career Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Science and Practice of Clinical Psychology, American Psychological Association (Division 12)
Outstanding Contributions to Research Award, Mayo Clinic Department of Psychiatry and Psychology
Excellence through Teamwork Award, Mayo Clinic
Individual National Research Service Award, National Institute of Mental Health
Carol C. Hutchinson Award for Outstanding Senior in Psychology, Muhlenberg College Department of Psychology
Psi Chi National Psychology Honors Society, Muhlenberg College

Selected Works and Publications

Books

Abramowitz, J. S. & Houts, A. C. (Eds.) (2005). Concepts and controversies in obsessive-compulsive disorder. New York, NY: Springer.
Abramowitz, J. S. (2006). Understanding and treating obsessive-compulsive disorder: A cognitive-behavioral approach. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Abramowitz, J. S. (2006). Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Advances in psychotherapy—evidence based practice. Cambridge, MA: Hogrefe & Huber.
Abramowitz, J. S. & Braddock, A. E. (2008). Psychological treatment of hypochondriasis and health anxiety: A biopsychosocial approach. Cambridge, MA: Hogrefe & Huber.
Abramowitz, J. S., Taylor, S., & McKay, D. (Eds.) (2008). Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Subtypes and spectrum conditions. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Abramowitz, J. S., Taylor, S., & McKay, D. (Eds.) (2008). Clinical handbook of obsessive-compulsive disorder and related problems. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press
McKay, D. Abramowitz, J. S., Taylor, S., & Asmundson, G. (Eds.) (2009) Current perspectives on the anxiety disorders: Implications for DSM-V and beyond. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
McKay, D., Abramowitz, J., S., & Taylor, S. (Eds.) (2009). Cognitive-Behavioral therapy for refractory cases: Turning failure into success. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Abramowitz, J. S. (2009). Getting over OCD: A 10-step workbook for taking back your life. New York: Guilford Press.
Abramowitz, J. S. & Braddock, A. E. (2010). Hypochondriasis and health anxiety Advances in psychotherapy—evidence based practice. Cambridge, MA: Hogrefe & Huber.
Abramowitz, J. S., Deacon, B. J. & Whiteside, S. P. (2011). Exposure therapy for anxiety: Principles and practice. New York: Guilford Press.
Abramowitz, J. S. (2012). The stress less workbook: Simple strategies to relieve pressure, manage commitments, and minimize conflicts. New York: Guilford Press.
Abramowitz, J. S. & Jacoby, R. J. (2015). Obsessive-compulsive disorder in adults: Advances in Psychotherapy—Evidence-based practice. Boston: Hogrefe Publishing.

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

Abramowitz, J.S. (1996). Variants of exposure and response prevention in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder: A meta-analysis. Behavior Therapy, 27, 583-600. doi:10.1016/S0005-7894(96)80045-1
Abramowitz, J.S. (1997). Effectiveness of psychological and pharmacological treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder: A quantitative review of the controlled treatment literature. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65, 44-52. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.65.1.44
Franklin, M.E., Abramowitz, J.S., Kozak, M.J., Levine, J., & Foa, E.B. (2000). Effectiveness of exposure and ritual prevention for obsessive-compulsive disorder: A comparison of randomized and clinic patients. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 594-602. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.68.4.594
Abramowitz, J.S., Tolin, D.F., & Street, G.P. (2001) Paradoxical effects of thought suppression: A meta-analysis of controlled studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 21, 683-703. doi:10.1016/S0272-7358(00)00057-X
Abramowitz, J. S., Franklin, M. E., Schwartz, S. A., & Furr, J. M. (2003). Symptom presentation and outcome of cognitive-behavior therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71, 1049-1057. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.71.6.1049
McKay, D., Abramowitz, J., Calamari, J., Kyrios, M., Radomsky, A., Sookman, D., Taylor, S., & Wilhelm, S. (2004). A critical evaluation of obsessive-compulsive disorder subtypes: symptoms versus mechanisms. Clinical Psychology Review, 24, 283-313. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2004.04.003
Whiteside, S. P., Port, J. D., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2004). A meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 132, 69-79. doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2004.07.001
Deacon, B. J. & Abramowitz, J. S. (2004). Cognitive and behavioral treatment for anxiety disorders: A review of meta-analytic findings. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60, 429-441. doi:10.1002/jclp.10255
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. doi:10.1016/S0005-7894(05)80054-1
Taylor, S., Zvolensky, M., Cox, B., Deacon, B., Heimberg, R., Ledley, D. R., Abramowitz, J. S., Holoway, R., Sandin, B., Stewart, S., Coles, M., Eng, W., Daly, E., Arrindell, W., Bouvard, M., & Cardenas, S. (2007). Robust dimensions of anxiety sensitivity: Development and initial validation of the anxiety sensitivity index-3 (ASI-3). Psychological Assessment, 19, 176-188. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.19.2.176
Olatunji, B., Williams, N., Tolin, D., Sawchuck, C., Abramowitz, J. S., Lohr, J., & Elwood, L. (2007). The Disgust Scale: Item Analysis, Factor Structure, and Suggestions for Refinement. Psychological Assessment, 19, 281-297. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.19.3.281
Abramowitz, J. S., Taylor, S., & McKay, D. (2009). Obsessive-compulsive disorder. The Lancet, 374, 491-499. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60240-3

References