Judy Reaven, Ph.D.
Judy Reaven, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and has worked in the field of autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) as a clinician, researcher, and educator since 1985. She is Associate Director and Director of Research at JFK Partners, the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities in Colorado. Clinical and research interests include identifying and treating mental health symptoms in autism, with a particular interest in the implementation of evidence- based interventions in school settings for individuals with autism and anxiety. Along with her colleagues, she developed the clinic- based Facing Your Fears program (Facing Your Fears: Group Therapy for Managing Anxiety in Children With High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders; Reaven et al., 2011), a cognitive- behavioral therapy (CBT) group intervention. She has been Principal Investigator on foundation (Organization for Autism Research [OAR], Cure Autism Now, Autism Speaks) and federal (National Institutes of Mental Health [NIMH], Health Research Services Administration [HRSA]) and Patient-Centered Outcome Research Institute [PCORI] grants. She has co- authored numerous peer- reviewed publications and book chapters, many related to the co- occurrence of anxiety in autism.