Name: Abby Candelari
Title: Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Credentials: Ph.D.
drabbycandelari@copingresourcecenter.com
Experience
Abby Candelari, Ph.D. grew up in Austin, Texas. Dr. Candelari obtained her bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, where she worked in two labs, including the Adolescent Development Research Group, graduating with University Honors and Departmental Honors. At the University of Texas, Dr. Candelari received over five scholarships, including an Unrestricted Presidential Endowed Scholarship, which is among the most prestigious awards the University has to offer. After graduation, Dr. Candelari pursued her masters and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology at the University of Houston, where she was heavily involved in both research and clinical training. She was a graduate student researcher in the Child Temperament, Thoughts, and Emotions Lab (CTTE) from 2016-2020. She received several financial awards as a graduate student including Teaching and Teaching Assistant Fellowships, and two College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) travel awards. She also received a Texas Psychological Foundation Research Proposal Award to fund her dissertation, which piloted a new intervention for mothers of anxious children. Throughout her training, Dr. Candelari obtained clinical experience in a variety of settings including a children’s hospital, private practice, and federally qualified/community health centers. Dr. Candelari also served as the Chief Clinic Assistant at the University of Houston Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), where she supervised trainees and managed the services provided by psychology trainees at UH.
Dr. Candelari has extensive training in exposure and response prevention (ERP) for OCD. Dr. Candelari completed her clinical internship at the OCD Clinic at Baylor College of Medicine, where she treated adults, adolescents, and children with obsessive-compulsive disorder and related anxiety disorders. After obtaining her doctoral degree, she stayed on with the OCD Clinic at Baylor to pursue her postdoctoral fellowship. As a postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Candelari continued to treat individuals with obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, and provided supervision for two research studies providing treatment to parents of children with autism and anxiety disorders. She continues to supervise trainees at the OCD Clinic.
Currently, Dr. Candelari is an Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine. She is committed to treating mothers struggling with mental health during pregnancy and the postpartum period. She currently serves as the Program Director for the Maternal Perinatal Addiction Treatment (MPAT) Clinic at Ben Taub Hospital, where she treats pregnant and postpartum women with anxiety, depression, serious mental illness (SMI), and substance use disorders on a multidisciplinary team.
Dr. Candelari has co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles, and has co-authored five book chapters. Dr. Candelari’s research interests lie in developmental psychopathology, and specifically focus on interventions for parents of anxious children, temperamental and parental risk/resilience factors, and how these traits influence psychopathology throughout development. She values continuing education. Dr. Candelari completed the Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) training workshop, which is an efficacious parent-based treatment for child and adolescent anxiety disorders and OCD, in 2021. She has presented at, and frequently attends, national and local conferences including the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) and the Association for Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies (ABCT).