Phone: 212-543-5352
Email: comerj@childpsych.columbia.edu

Dr. Jonathan Comer is a Clinical Psychologist at the Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders, and also serves as Research Fellow in the Department of Child Psychiatry at Columbia University-New York State Psychiatric Institute.  Dr. Comer provides adult, child, and family therapy, as well as parent training services.

Dr. Comer received his B.A. from the University of Rochester, graduating magna cum laude in Psychology. He went on to receive his M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Temple University. Dr. Comer completed his clinical psychology internship training in the Child and Adolescent Track of the NYU-Bellevue Clinical Psychology Internship Program and the NYU Child Study Center. 

Broadly speaking, Dr. Comer’s program of research examines four areas of overlapping inquiry:  (1) The assessment, phenomenology, and course of child anxiety disorders; (2) the development and evaluation of evidence-based treatments for childhood psychopathology, with particular focus on the development of innovative methods to reduce systematic barriers to effective mental health care in the community; (3) the psychological impact of political violence on youth (including the effects of terrorism on youth and the impact of parental wartime military deployment on child development); and (4) psychosocial treatment options for mood and disruptive behavior problems presenting in early childhood.

Dr. Comer is also active in several professional associations, including the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT).  His work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, and his research has been funded by NIMH, the APA, and the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. Recently Dr. Comer received grant funding from the Mental Health Initiative (MINT) to support his work with Dr. Anthony Puliafico developing the CALM program-an extension of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for early childhood anxiety disorders. Dr. Comer is currently collaborating with Dr. Anne Marie Albano and Dr. Yuval Neria to develop programs to support military families navigating the unique stresses of post-deployment family re-integration.

PUBLICATIONS:

Comer, J.S., Furr, J.M., Beidas, R.S., Babyar, H., & Kendall, P.C. (2008). Media use and children’s perceptions of societal threat and personal vulnerability. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 37, 622-630.

Comer, J.S., & Kendall, P.C. (2004) A symptom-level examination of parent-child agreement in the diagnosis of anxious youths. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43, 878-886.

Comer, J.S., & Kendall, P.C. (2007). Terrorism: The psychological impact on youth. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 14, 179-212.

Comer, J.S., Kendall, P.C., Franklin, M.E., Hudson, J.L., & Pimentel, S.S. (2004). Obsessing/worrying about the overlap between obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder in youth. Clinical Psychology Review, 24, 663-683.

Kendall, P.C., Comer, J.S., Marker, C.D., Creed, T.A., Puliafico, A.C., Hughes, A.A., Martin, E., Suveg, C., & Hudson, J.L. (in press). In-session exposure tasks and therapeutic alliance across the treatment of childhood anxiety disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Comer, J.S., & Kendall, P.C. (2005). High-end specificity of the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) in a sample of anxiety-disordered youth. Depression and Anxiety, 22, 11-19.

Puliafico, A.C., Comer, J.S., & Kendall, P.C. (2007). Social phobia in youth: The diagnostic utility of feared social situations. Psychological Assessment, 19, 152-158.

Hudson, J., Comer, J.S., & Kendall, P.C. (2008). Parental responses to positive and negative emotions in anxious and non-anxious children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 37, 1-11.

Suveg, C., Sood, E., Comer, J.S., Kendall, P.C. (in press). Changes in emotion regulation following cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxious youth. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.

Gibb, B.E., Alloy, L.B., Walshaw, P.D., Comer, J.S., Shen, G.H.C., & Villari, A.G. (2006). Predictors of attributional style change in children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 425-439.

Suveg, C., Kendall, P.C., Comer, J.S., & Robin, J.A. (2006). Emotion-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxious youth: A multiple-baseline evaluation. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 36, 77-85.

Wu, P., Goodwin, R.D., Fuller, C., Liu, X., Comer, J.S., Cohen, P., & Hoven, C. (in press). The relationship between anxiety disorders and substance use among adolescents in the community: Specificity and gender differences. Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Suveg, C., Comer, J.S., Furr, J.M., & Kendall, P.C. (2006). Adapting manualized CBT for a cognitively delayed child with multiple anxiety disorders. Clinical Case Studies, 2006, 5, 488-510.

Comer, J.S. (in press). Terrorism. In I. Weiner & E. Craighead (Eds.), Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology (4th Edition). NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Kendall, P.C., & Comer, J.S. (in press). Research methods in clinical psychology. In D. Barlow (Ed.) Oxford Handbook of Clinical Psychology. NY: Oxford University Press.

Robin, J., Puliafico, A.C., Creed, T.A., Comer, J.S., Hofflich, S., Barmish, A., Suveg, C., & Kendall, P.C. (2005). Generalized anxiety disorder. In M. Hersen & J.C. Thomas (Eds.) Child Psychopathology. NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Kendall, P.C., & Comer, J.S. (2006). Trauma and emotional adjustment in children. Parenting information and advice. World Trade Center Family Center Report, March, pp 1-6. Available at: http://www.wtcfamilycenter.org/wtcfamilycenter_00002b.htm.

Pimentel, S.S., Robin, J., Comer, J.S., Regan, J., & Albano, A.M. (in press). From everyday worries to anxiety disorders in youth: A cognitive-behavioral approach for helping children cope with a scary world. Child and Family Journal.

Comer, J.S. (2006). Changing the field, one article at a time. The Behavior Therapist, 29, 174.

HONORS AND AWARDS:

2009                        Child Intervention, Prevention, & Services (CHIPS) Fellow
2008                        Mental Health Initiative (MINT) grant to fund work on early child anxiety
2006                        APA Div 53 (Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology) Dissertation Prize
2006                        Faculty Commendation for Excellence, Temple University
2001-2005               Presidential Fellowship, Temple University
2005                        Anxiety Disorders Association of America, Trainee Award
2005                        Faculty Commendation for Excellence, Temple University
2004                        Faculty Commendation for Excellence, Temple University
1999                        High Honors in Psychology, University of Rochester
1999                        Magna Cum Laude, University of Rochester
1999                        Phi Beta Kappa
1995-1999               Dean’s List, University of Rochester