- Fellowship - University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
- Medical School - Baylor University: clinical psychology
- Undergraduate School - Baylor University (1976-1980), Psychology
- Graduate School - Baylor University (1980-1984)
- Internship - University of Texas southwestern Medical Center, Child Psychology (1983-1984)
- Other Post Graduate Training - Baylor University (1980-1984)
Betsy Kennard, Psy.D.
- Psychiatry
Biography
Betsy Kennard, Psy.D., is a Licensed Psychologist with the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists. Dr. Kennard has over 30 years of clinical experience with children and adolescents with a variety of psychiatric disorders. She has served as Program Director and Director of Outpatient Psychological Services at Children's Health, and assumed directorship of Psychological Services in 1992. During these years, she supervised numerous psychotherapists and staff in treating inpatient and outpatient youth with a variety of disorders. In 1996, she became the Associate Program Chair of the Psychology doctoral program, while continuing to participate in clinical research trials. In 2009, she became the Program Chair of the doctoral program. In addition to her role in the psychology program, Dr. Kennard is the Program Director of the Suicide Prevention and Resilience Program at Children's Health, an intensive outpatient treatment program for suicidal youth.
The focus of Dr. Kennard's research has been adolescent depression, and she has worked on several NIMH-funded trials evaluating the integration of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medication treatment. Specifically, she has been involved in the development of several treatment manuals for CBT for adolescents with moderate to severe depression, treatment resistant depression, and teens who have made a recent suicide attempt. She has developed cognitive behavioral treatments for the prevention of relapse in youth who are in remission for major depressive disorder. Recently she has collaborated with the University of Pittsburgh (Dr. David Brent) to develop and evaluate a brief inpatient intervention and suicide safety planning app to decrease suicidal behavior after discharge. This intervention and app will be further tested in a larger trial funded by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. In addition, she has received funding from the Texas Health and Human Services to disseminate suicide treatments to community mental health clinics.
License Information
TX License #23081; Expires 4/30/2021
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Education & Training
Professional Associations & Affiliations
- Academy of Cognitive Therapy
- American Psychological Association
- Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
- Dallas Psychological Association
- Texas Psychological Association (2000)
Honors & Awards
- Alfred M. Wellner, PhD, Lifetime Achievement Award 2018, The National Register of Health Service Psychologists
- Outstanding Contribution to Science 2016, Texas Psychological Association
- Fellow, Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 2015
- Outstanding Mentor 2008, Graduate Students in Clinical Psychology, UT Southwestern
- Distinguished Psychologist 2001, Dallas Psychological Association Award
- Mentor of the Year 1996, Texas Psychological Association, Div. of Students
- Mortar Board Woman of the Year 1996, Baylor University
- Outstanding Young Alumni 1996, Baylor University
Books & Publications
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Books
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CBT for Depression in Children and Adolescents: A Guide to Relapse Prevention
Betsy D. Kennard, Jennifer L. Hughes, Aleksandra A. Foxwell (2016), New York, London, The Guilford Press
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CBT for Depression in Children and Adolescents: A Guide to Relapse Prevention
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Publications
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Switching to another SSRI or to venlafaxine with or without cognitive behavioral therapy for adolescents with SSRI-resistant depression.
Brent, D., Emslie, G., Clarke, G., Wagner, K., Asarnow, J.A., Keller, M., Vitiello, B., Ritz, L., Iynegar, S., Abebe, K., Birmaher, B., Ryan, N., Kennard, B., Hughes, C., DeBar, L., McCracken, J., Strober, M., Suddath, R., Spirito, A., Leonard, H., Melhem, N., Porta, G., Onorato, M., & Zelazny, J. Journal of the American Medical Association 2008 299 901-913 -
Maternal depression in pediatric major depressive disorder: Relationship to acute treatment outcome
Kennard, B.D., Hughes, J.L., Stewart, S.M., Mayes, T.L., Nightingale-Teresi, J., Carmody, T., & Emslie, G.J. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2008 47 694-699 -
Effective Treatment of Depressive Disorders in Medical Clinics for Adolescents and Young Adults Living With HIV: A Controlled Trial.
Brown LK, Kennard BD, Emslie GJ, Mayes TL, Whiteley LB, Bethel J, Xu J, Thornton S, Tanney MR, Hawkins LA, Garvie PA, Subramaniam GA, Worrell CJ, Stoff LW Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) 2016 Jan 71 1 38-46 -
Fluoxetine, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and their combination for adolescents with depression: Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS) randomized controlled trial
Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS) Team JAMA 2004 292 807-820 -
As Safe as Possible (ASAP): A Brief App-Supported Inpatient Intervention to Prevent Postdischarge Suicidal Behavior in Hospitalized, Suicidal Adolescents.
Kennard BD, Goldstein T, Foxwell AA, McMakin DL, Wolfe K, Biernesser C, Moorehead A, Douaihy A, Zullo L, Wentroble E, Owen V, Zelazny J, Iyengar S, Porta G, Brent D The American journal of psychiatry 2018 Jul appiajp201817101151 -
Continued Effectiveness of Relapse Prevention Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Following Fluoxetine Treatment in Youth With Major Depressive Disorder.
Emslie GJ, Kennard BD, Mayes TL, Nakonezny PA, Moore J, Jones JM, Foxwell AA, King J Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2015 Dec 54 12 991-8 -
Effective components of TORDIA cognitive behavioral therapy for adolescent depression
Kennard, B.D., Clarke, G.N., Weersing, V.R., Asarnow, J.R., Shamseddeen, W., Porta, G., Berk, M., Hughes, J.L., Spirito, A., Emslie, G.J., Wagner, K.D., Keller, M.B., & Brent, D. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology Winter 2009 77 1033-1041 -
Cognitive-behavioral therapy to prevent relapse in pediatric responders to pharmacotherapy for major depressive disorder.
Kennard BD, Emslie GJ, Mayes TL, Nightingale-Teresi J, Nakonezny PA, Hughes JL, Jones JM, Tao R, Stewart SM, Jarrett RB Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2008 Dec 47 12 1395-404 -
Developing a Targeted Intervention for Suicide Prevention: A Qualitative Report
Kennard, B., Biernesser, C., Wolfe, K., Foxwell, A., Rial, K., Patel, S., Cheng, C., Goldstein, T., McMakin, D., Blastos, B., Douaihy, A., Zelazny, J. & Brent, D. Journal of Technology in Human Services 2015 33 4 345-357 -
Assessment of safety and long-term outcomes of initial treatment with placebo in TADS
Kennard, B.D., Silva, S., Mayes, T.L., Rohde, P., Hughes, J.L., Vitiello, B., Kratochvil, C.J., Curry, J.F., Emslie, G.J., Reinecke, M., & March, J. American Journal of Psychiatry 2009 -
Developing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Prevent Depressive Relapse in Youth
Beth D. Kennard, Sunita M. Stewart, Jennifer L. Hughes, Robin B. Jarrett, Graham J. Emslie Cognitive and Behavioral Practice 2008 15 387-399 -
Remission and recovery in the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS): Acute and long-term outcomes
Kennard, B.D., Silva, S.G., Tonev, S., Rohde, P., Hughes, J.L., Vitiello, B., Kratochvil, C.J., Curry, J.F., Emslie, G.J., Reinecke, M., & March, J. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 2009 -
Fluoxetine vs. placebo in preventing relapse of major depression in children and adolescents
Emslie, G.J., Kennard, B.D., Mayes, T.L., Nightingale-Teresi, J., Carmody, T., Hughes, C.W., Rush, A.J., Tao, R., & Rintelmann, J.W. American Journal of Psychiatry 2008 165 459-467 -
Development and Implementation of Health and Wellness CBT for Individuals with Depression and HIV.
Kennard B, Brown L, Hawkins L, Risi A, Radcliffe J, Emslie G, Mayes T, King J, Foxwell A, Buyukdura J, Bethel J, Naar-King S, Xu J, Lee S, Garvie P, London C, Tanney M, Thornton S Cognitive and behavioral practice 2014 May 21 2 237-246 -
Predictors and moderators of relapse in children and adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder
Kennard, B., Mayes, TL, Chahal, Z., Nakonezny, P.A., Moorehead, A., Emslie, GJ. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 2018 -
The Development and Feasibility Outcomes of a Youth Suicide Prevention Intensive Outpatient Program.
Kennard B, Mayes T, King J, Moorehead A, Wolfe K, Hughes J, Castillo B, Smith M, Matney J, Oscarson B, Stewart S, Nakonezny P, Foxwell A, Emslie G The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine 2018 Nov -
Sequential Treatment With Fluoxetine and Relapse-Prevention CBT to Improve Outcomes in Pediatric Depression.
Kennard BD, Emslie GJ, Mayes TL, Nakonezny PA, Jones JM, Foxwell AA, King J The American journal of psychiatry 2014 Jun -
Protecting adolescents from self-harm: a critical review of intervention studies.
Brent DA, McMakin DL, Kennard BD, Goldstein TR, Mayes TL, Douaihy AB Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2013 Dec 52 12 1260-71 -
Nonadherence in adolescent oncology patients: Preliminary data on psychological risk factors and relationships to outcome
Kennard BD, Stewart SM, Olvera R, Bawdon RE, O hAilin A, Lewis CP, Winick N Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings 2004 11 30-39
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Switching to another SSRI or to venlafaxine with or without cognitive behavioral therapy for adolescents with SSRI-resistant depression.
Research
- Child and adolescent depression
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for youth
- Suicidal behavior in teens
