Rate My Professor Emily Cooney

Dr. Emily Cooney is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychological Medicine (Wellington) at the University of Otago, part of the Faculty of Medicine within the Health Sciences Division. She holds a PhD, Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology (PGDipCIPs), and is a Member of the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists (MNZCCP). As a clinical psychologist, she possesses expertise in dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), and the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among individuals exhibiting high-risk behaviours. Her research centres on intervention outcomes for those facing addiction, suicidal behaviour, anger issues, and emotion dysregulation, with a focus on the dissemination of effective DBT and CBT approaches. She advises Oranga Tamariki on suicide risk management for at-risk children and youth (tamariki and rangatahi).

Dr. Cooney has extensive clinical experience across the United States, United Kingdom, and New Zealand, working with children and adults in inpatient and outpatient settings. She served as a research therapist on two DBT trials led by Dr. Marsha Linehan at the University of Washington and acted as Principal Investigator on two DBT feasibility trials in New Zealand—one assessing DBT skills for men with anger problems and the other evaluating DBT for suicidal adolescents and families, funded by Te Pou for the Ministry of Health. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Yale School of Medicine, co-directing DBT and DBT for Substance Use Disorder teams at Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital's Adult Intensive Outpatient Program, and collaborates on dissemination and treatment evaluation projects. Additionally, she delivers DBT training through Behavioral Tech Institute and provides adherence coding for the Linehan DBT Certification Board. Her key publications include 'The Invisible Connection: A Qualitative Analysis of the Experience of Support-Seeking Siblings of Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder Traits' (Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2025), 'Drug Harm Prevention Needs among Adolescents in Aotearoa New Zealand' (New Zealand Medical Journal, 2025), 'Systematic Review and Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis: Reducing Self-Harm in Adolescents' (Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2025), and 'Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Skills for Men With Anger Problems in Aotearoa' (New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 2024). She teaches advanced topics in CBT at the University of Otago.