The Department of Psychological Science is delighted to welcome Joanne Davis, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Tulsa, who will deliver a colloquium titled "Unlocking Sweet Dreams: The Development of an Evidence-Based Approach to Treating Nightmares" at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 29, in Graduate Education Building (GRAD) 343.

The colloquium will cover the development of and research supporting Exposure, Relaxation and Rescripting Therapy (ERRT) — a cognitive behavioral treatment for post-trauma nightmares.

Davis is a professor and director of clinical training in the clinical psychology doctoral program and chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Tulsa. She is also a founding co-director of the University of Tulsa Institute for Trauma, Adversity, and Injustice (TITAN); director of the Trauma Research, Assessment, Prevention, and Treatment Center (TRAPT); and a member of the University of Tulsa's Advocacy Alliance Executive Committee.

Davis' research interests focus on adults who have experienced potentially traumatic events. A primary focus of her research is on the assessment and treatment of chronic nightmares and other sleep disturbances in trauma-exposed persons. She developed a treatment for chronic post-trauma nightmares and her lab is currently running several clinical trials assessing the efficacy of this treatment. She serves as co-principal investigator on a Department of Defense grant to create a web based training for cognitive behavior therapy for nightmares [CBTn].

Davis' lecture is part of the Department of Psychological Science Graduate Psychology Education Colloquium Series. This program, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (PI: Ana Bridges, Ph.D.), is designed to increase the number of socially responsive, resilient clinical psychologists who provide evidence-based psychological care to culturally diverse, vulnerable and underserved populations in integrated interprofessional health care settings.