Sabine Wilhelm, Ph.D., is the Donovan-Chien Family Endowed Professor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School, Chief, Division of Psychology at Mass General Brigham (MGB) Academic Medical Center (AMC), Director of the Center for Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders (CORD) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and Director of the Center for Digital Mental Health in Psychiatry at MGH.
Dr. Wilhelm is recognized as a leading psychotherapy researcher. To address the increasing rates of mental health concerns in the context of a global mental health service provider shortage, her recent work has focused on the development of scalable digital approaches to treatment. She has published over 370 papers, chapters, and nine books. She has also given around 300 lectures on advances in psychotherapy, including many invited international keynotes. Dr. Wilhelm has developed many digital psychotherapy training programs for mental health service providers and has led patient care outreach to support individuals locally, nationally, and internationally.
Her research uses cutting-edge technology to improve and personalize care for mental health concerns. Dr. Wilhelm has developed or is currently testing smartphone-based treatments for depression, suicidality, OCD, and body dysmorphic disorder. She is currently working on AI and other cutting-edge approaches to enhance the detection of high-risk behaviors and suicidality, machine learning algorithms to match patients to treatments, and generative AI to support more personalized and effective interventions. Her ultimate goal is to use technology-based interventions to increase global access to high-quality mental health interventions.
Dr. Wilhelm has been the principal investigator or site principal investigator of many NIMH- and foundation-funded clinical research grants investigating medication, cognitive-behavioral therapy, digital services, and other treatments for a range of psychiatric disorders in children and adults. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the distinguished Aaron T. Beck Award from the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. She was also awarded the Peter K. Ranney Innovation Award from the World Medical Innovation Forum, and she is the recipient of the 2023 NAMI Scientific Research Award.
Dr. Wilhelm holds or has held many national or international leadership positions in psychology and digital mental health, including past president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT); she is on the Scientific Advisory Board for One-Mind (PsyberGuide), Koa Health, Inc., Noom, Inc., and Jimini Health, chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International OCD Foundation, and founding board member for the new Society for Digital Mental Health (SDMH).
Dr. Wilhelm is known nationally and internationally as a researcher, educator, and clinician who has greatly enhanced the global understanding of and approaches for the development and testing of cognitive behavioral treatment for many psychiatric disorders.
Publications
Published Articles
Please click here to see a list of published articles by Dr. Sabine Wilhelm.
Published Books
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Cognitive Therapy for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Guide for Professionals by Sabine Wilhelm, Ph.D., and Gail Steketee, Ph.D. Published by New Harbinger Press (2006).
Body Dysmorphic Disorder
A Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Manual for Body Dysmorphic Disorder by Sabine Wilhelm, Ph.D., Katherine A. Phillips, M.D., and Gail Steketee, Ph.D. Published by Guilford Press (2013).
Feeling Good About the Way You Look: A Program for Overcoming Body Dysmorphic Disorder by Sabine Wilhelm, Ph.D. Published by Guilford Press (2006).
Tourette Syndrome
Managing Tourette Syndrome: A Behavioral Intervention Workbook by Douglas W. Woods, Ph.D, John Piacentini, Ph.D., Susanna Chang, Ph.D and Thilo Deckersbach, Ph.D. Published by Oxford University Press (2008).
This book comes in multiple editions: Parent Workbook, Adult Workbook, Children and Adults Therapist Guide. Each edition is specifically tailored to its audience and offers practical suggestions on how to manage Tourette Syndrome and Tic Disorders, including new and up-to-date behavioral interventions.
Disclosures
The following are relevant financial relationships with a commercial interest to disclose (last 3 years):
- Royalties from Guilford Publications, New Harbinger Publications, Oxford University Press, and Springer
- Speaking honoraria and travel reimbursement from various academic institutions and foundations, including the International OCD Foundation and the Tourette Association of America.
- Research Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness
- Professional liability program longevity reward from the American Insurance Trust
- Research support from Koa Health, Inc.
- Honoraria for serving in the Scientific Advisory Board Committees for One Mind (PsyberGuide), Koa Health, Inc., Noom, Inc., and Jimini Health
