PhD – Clinical Associate
Licensed Psychologist
Susan McCurry, PhD, is a licensed psychologist who specializes in working with midlife and older adults. She uses a contextual behavioral science approach to provide evidence-based treatment for enhancing quality of life in healthy aging adults, as well as in individuals experiencing age-related changes in physical, cognitive, or psychological function, disturbances in sleep, or residential care transitions and adjustments. She recognizes the broad and complex contextual factors that influence the aging process and welcomes interdisciplinary perspectives and collaboration.
Dr. McCurry earned a Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a PhD in Clinical Psychology (APA-accredited) at the University of Nevada, Reno. She completed an APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship at the VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System in Reno, and an NIMH-supported post-doctoral fellowship specializing in geropsychology at University of Washington. Dr. McCurry has been licensed as a psychologist in Washington State since 1992, and served as an attending psychologist at the UW Medical Center’s Geriatric and Family Services Clinic from 1991-2010.
In addition to working part-time in private practice at Seattle Psychology, Dr. McCurry is Research Professor in the University of Washington Department of Psychosocial and Community Health, and Adjunct Research Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She has authored two books designed to help family caregivers and health care professionals provide more effective and compassionate care to cognitively impaired individuals, and has been a principal investigator on several NIH-funded grants using cognitive behavioral strategies to improve sleep in midlife and older adults. She is a recognized speaker at local, national, and international conferences, and considers work with aging individuals (of whom she is one!) to be her professional passion and calling.
Dr. McCurry’s clinical orientation has been influenced by a variety of third-wave cognitive and behavioral therapies, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Relational Frame Theory, and Compassion Focused Therapy. Her areas of clinical specialty include:
- Assisting older adults with life transition issues impacting quality of life and adaptive aging
- Behavioral sleep medicine and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia
- Whole-person evaluation of mood and behavioral changes in individuals with cognitive decline
- Family and professional caregiver training for managing neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia
- Caregiver psychoeducation and support to facilitate resilience and proactive self-care
- Treatment of sleep disturbances in persons with age-related medical conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, chronic pain, and menopausal vasomotor symptoms
Dr. McCurry can be reached at (206) 769-6270 or at suemccurryphd@gmail.com.