Alissa Ellis, PhD

DIRECTOR and CLINICAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGIST –
PSY CA 26157 | PSY NY 025011

Dr. Alissa Ellis is the founder and director of Ellis Effect psychological group. She is a clinical neuropsychologist with expertise in psychodiagnostics and treatment for children, adolescents and adults with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and ADHD. She offers a unique and empirically supported perspective to develop individualized treatment plans tailored to the client and the family. Dr. Ellis is the founder of the thinkSMART® program, a novel treatment for weaknesses in executive functioning.

She is currently a Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry in the Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA. Dr. Ellis is a prolific researcher in the area of mood disorders. She has received a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health examining the neurophysiological profile of reward and frustration in adolescents with mood difficulties. She hopes to use this research to aid in the development of novel, brain-based interventions.

The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.

Isak Dinesen

Training

Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2012-2014): T32 Research Fellow, Child and Adolescent Mood Disorders, Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA
Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2012-2015): Clinical Neuropsychology, Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA
Pre-Doctoral Internship (2011-2012): Pediatric Neuropsychology Track, Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA

Education

PhD (2012): Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology track), University of Texas at Austin
MA (2007): Clinical Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
BA (2004): University of Southern California

Publications

Ellis, AJ, Sturm, A., Rozenman, M., Smith, E., & Olabinjo, I (in press). thinkSMART®: A pilot study of a transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral treatment for adolescents with executive functioning weaknesses. Journal of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy.
Loo, SK, Salgari, GC, Ellis, AJ, Cowen, J, Dillon, A, McGough, JJ. Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Cognitive and Electroencephalographic Predictors of Treatment Response, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2020, ISSN 0890-8567, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2020.09.021.
O’Donnell, L.A., Weintraub, M.J., Ellis, A.J., Axelson, D.A., Kowatch, R.A., Schneck, C.D., Miklowitz, D.J. (2020). A Randomized Trial Comparing the Effects of Two Psychosocial Interventions on Family Functioning in Adolescents with Bipolar Disorder. Family Process. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12521
Ellis, AJ., Salgari, G., Miklowitz, DM, Loo, SK (2019). The role of avoidance motivation in the relationship between reward sensitivity and depression symptoms in adolescents: an ERP study. Psychiatry Research. 279, 345-349.
O’Donnell, Ellis, A.J., Van de Loo, M.M., Stange, J.P., Axelson, D.A., Kowatch, R.A., Schneck, C.D., & Miklowitz, D.M. (2018). Mood Instability as a Predictor of Clinical and Functional Outcomes in Adolescents with Bipolar I and Bipolar II Disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders. (15) 236, 199-206. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2018.04.021
Ellis, A.J., Salgari, G.C., Miklowitz, D.M., Loo, S.K. (2018) Is distress tolerance an approach behavior? An examination of frontal alpha asymmetry and distress tolerance in adolescents. Psychiatry Research. 267, 210-214.
Ellis, A.J,, Kinzel C., Salgari, G., & Loo, S.K. (2017) Frontal alpha asymmetry predicts inhibitory processing in youth with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Nueropsychologia. https://doi.org/10/1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.06.003
Ellis, A.J., Schumake, J., Beevers, C.G. (2016). The effects of respiratory sinus arrhythmia on anger reactivity and persistence in major depression. Psychophysiology. Beevers, C. G., Wells, T. T., Ellis, A. J., & Fischer, K. (2009). Interpretation of emotionally ambiguous interpersonal stimuli among dysphoric and nondysphoric individuals. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 33, 283-290.
Wells, T. T., Judah, M., Ellis, A. J., McGeary, J. E., Beevers, C. G. (2016). Inhibition of Attention for Affective Material: Contributions by HOMER1 Gene Variation. Psychology & Neuroscience.
Ellis, A. J., Portnoff, L. C., Axelson, D. A., Kowatch, R. A., Walshaw, P., & Miklowitz, D. J. (2014). Parental expressed emotion and suicidal ideation in adolescents with bipolar disorder. Psychiatry Research, 216 (2), 213-216.
Disner, S. G., McGeary, J. E., Wells, T. T., Ellis, A. J. & Beevers, C. G. (2014). 5-HTTLPF, HTR1A, and HTR2A cumulative cumulative genetic score interacts with mood reactivity to predict mood-congruent gaze bias. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 14 (4),1259-1270.
Ellis, A. J., Wells, T. T., Vanderlind, W. M., & Beevers, C. G. (2014). The role of controlled attention on recall in major depression. Cognition and Emotion, 28 (3),520-529.
Wells, T. T., Clerkin, E. M., Ellis, A. J., Beevers, C. G. (2014). Effects of antidepressant medication use on emotional information processing in major depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 171 (2), 195-200.
Ellis, A. J., Vanderlind, M., & Beevers, C. G. (2013). Enhanced anger reactivity and reduced distress tolerance in Major Depressive Disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 37 (3), 498-509.
Clasen, P. C., Wells, T. T., Ellis, A. J., & Beevers, C. G. (2013). Attentional biases and the persistence of sad mood in major depressive disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 122 (1), 74-85.
Ellis, A. J., Beevers, C. G., Hixon, J. G. & McGeary, J. E. (2011). Serotonin transporter promoter region (5-HTTLPR) polymorphism predicts resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Psychophysiology, 48 (7), 923-926.
Ellis, A. J., Beevers, C. G. & Wells, T. T., (2011). Attention allocation and incidental recognition of emotional information in dysphoria. Cognitive Therapy and Research. 35 (5), 425-433.
Beevers, C. G., Ellis, A. J., & Reid, R. M. (2011). Heart rate variability predicts cognitive reactivity to a sad mood provocation. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 35(5), 395-403.
Beevers, C. G., Lee, H., Wells, T. T., Ellis, A. J. & Telch, M. J. (2011). Eye gaze bias for emotion stimuli prospectively predicts PTSD, depression, and anxiety symptoms among soldiers deployed in Iraq. American Journal of Psychiatry, 168 (7), 735-741.
Ellis, A. J., Fischer, K. M., & Beevers, C. G. (2010). Is dysphoria about being red and blue? Potentiation of anger and reduced distress tolerance among dysphoric individuals. Cognition and Emotion, 24, (4)596-608.
Wells, T. T., Beevers, C. G. Cherny, A. E., and Ellis, A. J. (2010). Gaze behavior predicts memory bias for angry facial expressions in stable dysphoria. Emotion, 10 (6), 894-902.
Beevers, C. G., Ellis, A. J., Wells, T. T., and McGeary, J. E. (2010). Serotonin transporter gene and the selective processing of emotional cues. Biological Psychology, 83, 260-265.
Ellis, A. J., Beevers, C. G. & Wells, T. T., (2009). Emotion dysregulation in depression—Support for emotion context insensitivity in response to performance based feedback. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 40, 443-454.
Beevers, C. G., Wells, T. T., Ellis, A. J., McGeary, J. E. (2009). Association of the serotonin transporter gene promoter region (5-HTTLPR) polymorphism with biased attention for emotional stimuli. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118, 670-681.
Beevers, C. G., Wells, T. T., Ellis, A. J., & Fischer, K. (2009). Interpretation of emotionally ambiguous interpersonal stimuli among dysphoric and nondysphoric individuals. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 33, 283-290.
Kellough, J. L., Beevers, C. G., Ellis, A. J., & Wells, T. T. (2008). Sustained selective attention in clinically depressed young adults: An eye tracking study. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46, 1238-1243.