Dr. Susanna Fryer is an Assistant Professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and staff clinical research psychologist at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. She completed her undergraduate work at Stanford University where she first became excited about clinical neuroscience while participating in the departmental honors research program in Human Biology. She then earned her PhD from SDSU/UCSD's Joint Program in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in neuropsychology, after completing a clinical internship in psychology at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.
Dr. Fryer's research, funded by the NIH and the VA, applies neuroimaging and neuropsychological methods to study brain and behavior relationships in adolescent and young adult populations at risk for developing mental illness, with an emphasis on motivated behaviors and self-regulation. Her research focuses on i) improving our understanding of the cognitive features and brain alterations that underlie risk for, and conversion to, psychopathology, and ii) the brain-based mechanisms of how that risk might be ameliorated through psychotherapeutic intervention. She is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness-based techniques, and is particularly interested in how behavioral interventions can be applied to improve aspects of affect and attentional regulation across traditional diagnostic nosologies. She supervises psychology trainees and provides evidence-based mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapies in the San Francisco VA General Psychiatry Outpatient Service.
When not Bieegling or otherwise occupied, Susanna enjoys practicing yoga, and various cooking and crafting projects.