Sarah Kopelovich, PhD is a forensically-trained clinical psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Dr. Kopelovich is an associate professor in the department and holds the first professorship in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis. In addition to her role as core faculty of the Center for Mental Health, Policy, and the Law, Dr. Kopelovich also serves as lead faculty for the SPIRIT Center, and the SAMHSA-funded Northwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center. Her professional mission is to enhance access to evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions wherever individuals with serious mental illness present. Her research is focused on training, implementation, and dissemination strategies for psychotherapeutic interventions for both first episode and multi-episode psychosis. She has served as the principal investigator or co-Investigator on grants and contracts with the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and several foundations. She directs the Northwest CBT for Psychosis Provider Network, through which she and her training team provide ongoing training and consultation to CBT for psychosis practitioners across the Northwest region of the United States. Dr. Kopelovich is a founding member and communications officer for the North America CBT for Psychosis Network, the mission of which is to advance the dissemination of high-quality CBTp across North America. She regularly conducts workshops, seminars, and professional consultation across the country for an array of mental health professionals, family members, and clinicians-in-training in CBT for psychosis; Individual Resiliency Training for First Episode Psychosis; Assertive Community Treatment; and diagnostic, suicide, and violence risk assessment.
Featured Projects
Establishing a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Care Pathway Across Levels of Care
Funder: Washington State Health Care Authority
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis in Forensic Settings
Funder: Washington State Health Care Authority
Scaling up Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis Using Simulated Patients and Spoken Language Technologies
Funder: National Institute of Mental Health
Select Publications
Kopelovich, S., Olson, J., Michaelsen, K., & Wasser, T. (2023). Effects of online distance learning on clinicians’ violence risk knowledge and competencies. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.
Kopelovich, S., Piel, J., Michaelsen, K., Cowley, D., & Reynolds, S. (2019). Forensic psychology postdoctoral training in the United States: How do programs meet national guidelines and standards? Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 14(3), 185–192.
Pratt, C., Yanos, P., Kopelovich, S., & Koerner, J. (2013). Predictors of criminal justice outcomes among Mental Health Court participants: The role of perceived coercion and subjective mental health recovery. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 12(2), 116-125.
Kopelovich, S., Yanos, P., Pratt, C., & Koerner, J. (2013). Procedural justice in Mental Health Courts: Judicial practices and participant perceptions. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 36(2), 113-120.
Tangney, J., Stuewig, J., Furukawa, E., Kopelovich, S., Meyer, P., & Cosby, B. (2012). Reliability, validity, and predictive utility of 25 item Criminogenic Cognitions Scale (CCS). Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39(10), 1340-1360.
Barber-Rioja, V., Dewey, L., Kopelovich, S., & Kucharski, L. T. (2012). The utility of the HCR-20 and PCL:SV in the prediction of diversion non-compliance and re-incarceration in diversion programs. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39(4), 475-492.