C. Virginia O’Hayer, PhD
Director, Jefferson Center City Clinic for Behavioral Medicine
Clinical Professor
Contact
C. Virginia O’Hayer, PhD
Director, Jefferson Center City Clinic for Behavioral Medicine
Clinical Professor
Education
Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Clinical Psychology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC - 2007
PhD, Clinical Psychology, Duke University, Durham, NC - 2006
Internship, Centre for Addictions and Mental Health - Toronto, Ontario, Canada - 2006
MA, Clinical Psychology, Duke University, Durham, NC - 2003
Publications
- Building a Life Worth Living During a Pandemic and Beyond: Adaptations of Comprehensive DBT to COVID-19
- ACT with CF: A telehealth and in-person feasibility study to address anxiety and depressive symptoms among people with cystic fibrosis
- The nomological network of cognitive fusion among people living with HIV: Associations with rumination, shame, and depressive symptoms
- Shame among people living with HIV: A literature review
- Development and psychometric properties of the Pulmonary-specific Quality-of-Life Scale in lung transplant patients
Board Certification
- Licensed Clinical Psychologist
- Health Service Provider
- DBT - Linehan Board of Certification: Certified DBT Clinician
- RO DBT Senior Clinician
Research & Clinical Interests
Research: Dr. O'Hayer's research line focuses primarily on the application of acceptance-based behavioral therapies to chronic and rare illnesses including HIV, Cystic Fibrosis, Pancreatic Cancer, Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder, and Thyroid Eye Disease. She specializes in the adaptation of evidence-based behavioral therapies to specific disease states, delivered via brief telehealth interventions, to patient and their caregiver/loved ones. Dr. O'Hayer conducts clinical trials of these adapted treatments, aimed at improving psychological flexibility and medication adherence, reducing anxiety and depression, and improving value-based living, for patients with rare disease and their loved ones.
Clinical: Dr. O’Hayer serves as the Director of the Jefferson Center City Clinic for Behavioral Medicine. She has expertise in various evidence-based behavioral therapies including Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Radically Open Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (RO DBT), and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). She specializes in the telehealth delivery of comprehensive ("full model") DBT to patients with marginalized identities, including folx who identify as trans/non-binary/gender-expansive.