About the Authors
Elizabeth McMahon, PhD
Elizabeth McMahon, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and recognized expert in virtual reality therapy (VRT) for anxiety. She has specialized in treating anxiety disorders for 40 years and has been using virtual reality (VR) technology with clients since 2010.
She received her PhD in clinical psychology from Case Western Reserve University and completed a predoctoral fellowship at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia and a postdoctoral residency at Sheppard-Pratt Psychiatric Hospital in Towson, Maryland.
Elizabeth McMahon
Before entering private practice, Dr. McMahon worked for Kaiser Permanente Medical Group in Fremont, California, for over 30 years. At Kaiser she specialized in anxiety disorders, helping create best practice guidelines, teaching, and supervising postdoctoral psychology residents.
Currently she trains therapists on anxiety treatment and using VR in continuing education courses organized by ADAA, APA, CPA, PESI, VR technology providers, and other organizations. For more information see her website: www.elizabeth-mcmahon.com.
Her client workbook Overcoming Anxiety and Panic Interactive Guide (2019) helps explain anxiety and its treatment and prepares clients to benefit from VR therapy.
Debra Boeldt, PhD
Debra Boeldt
Debra Boeldt, PhD, is deputy director of the National Mental Health Innovation Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Colorado Boulder and completed an internship at the University of California San Diego/Veterans Administration and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Scripps Research Translational Institute.
Dr. Boeldt is an advocate of the adoption of VR to improve mental health and behavioral health services. She has co-authored several peer-reviewed publications, is a frequent presenter at conferences, and supports the Tech Innovation Network, a network of diverse clinical and community partners that functions as a test bed through which new technological solutions can be rapidly developed, iterated, tested, and validated.