Education

Biography

Since her early education, Dr. Kathlene Tracy has been devoted to helping individuals recover from severe substance/psychiatric illnesses that have often been coupled by traumatic life events and homelessness. Throughout her career, she has worked in private, state, and federal positions within inpatient, outpatient, and community settings while holding both clinical and research positions simultaneously at major institutions such as Yale and New York University (NYU).  This has not only provided a deep understanding of the course of chronic psychiatric/substance conditions, but also an appreciation for treatment systems and their impact allowing for an unique advantage in developing treatments that not only result in good outcomes, but that also are easily integrated within treatment settings and have high patient acceptance. Dr. Tracy has been appointed to several national committees to develop psychosocial treatments, peer mentorship approaches, standardized measures, and training programs to be implemented nationally within National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and Veterans Administration (VA) funded projects. In addition, she has been appointed to local committees to safeguard the protection of subjects in research trials, ensure quality research methodology, and promote psychosocial rehabilitation services. Through her Community Research and Recovery Program (CRRP) that is based on the Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA) at NYU School of Medicine, she conducts studies and programs that focus on reducing patients' psychiatric and substance abuse symptoms by making changes in their daily environment to promote healthier lifestyles. Substance use and symptoms are seen as being maintained by the reinforcing properties of their subjective effects, social rewards, physical sensations, and dependence inducing qualities and are reduced if other competing reinforces are maximized such as satisfying work, increased valued community roles, improved social relationships, and improved socioeconomic status. Dr. Tracy has received funding, both current and past, for behavioral therapies development from multiple sources including the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) as well as has received funding from other federal and state agencies for behavioral treatment research. The long-term goal of her research is to promote the development of innovative approaches that challenge belief systems about limits on patients' capabilities to improve treatments, reduce associated stigma, and consequently provide environments where persons are more likely to adhere to treatments that match their particular goals in life.

Research Interest

• Recovery from Chronic Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders/Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA) with a Focus on Peer Mentorship Programs and Innovative Behavioral Treatment Development
• Behavioral Treatments for Trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Professional Activities:

Publications

1. Tracy, K., Wallace, S.  Benefits of Peer Support Groups in the Treatment of Addiction.  Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation, Invited/Submitted, 2016.
2. Tracy, K., Guzman, D., Burton, M.  Treatment Process and Participant Characteristic Predictors of Substance Use Outcome in Mentorship for Addiction Problems (MAP).  Journal of Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, 2(171), 1-5, 2014.
3. Bini, E., Kritz, S., Brown, L., Robinson, J., Calsyn, D., Alderson, D., Tracy, K., McAuliffe, P., Smith, C., Rotrosen, J.  Hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus services offered by substance abuse treatment programs in the United States.  Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment (JSAT), 42, 438-435, 2013.
4. Tracy, K., Burton, M., Miescher, A., Galanter, M., Babuscio, T., Frankforter, T, Nich, C., Rounsaville, B. Mentorship for Alcohol Problems (MAP): A peer to peer modular intervention for outpatients. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 47(1), 42-47, 2012.
5. Tracy, K, Burton, M., Rounsaville, B. Utilizing peer mentorship to engage high recidivism substance abusing patients in treatment. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 37(6), 525-531, 2011.
6. Tracy, K., Burton, Miescher, A., M., Trujillo, E, Galanter, M., Meyers, R., Babuscio, T., Nich, C., Rounsaville, B.  It takes two: Teamwork set to improve recovery from alcohol abuse.  International Innovation: Healthcare, 4, 94-96, 2010.
7. Tracy, K., Brown, L., Kritz, S., Alderson, D., Robinson, J., Bini, E, Levy, M., Calsyn, D., Rieckmann, T., Fuller, B., McAuliffe, P., & Rotrosen, J.  Substance abuse treatment clinician opinions and infectious disease service delivery.  Journal of Addictive Diseases, 28, 8-12, 2009.
8. Galanter, M., Glickman, L., Dermatis, H., Tracy, K., & McMahon, C.  Addressing Patients’ Spirituality in Medical Treatment.  Primary Psychiatry, 15(9), 32-40, 2008.
9. Tracy, K, Babuscio, T., Nich, C., Kiluk, B., Carroll, K., Petry, N., & Rounsaville, B.  Contingency management to reduce substance use in individuals who are homeless with co-occurring psychiatric disorders.  The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 33, 1-6, 2007.
10. Baer, J., Ball, S., Campbell, B.K., Miele, G., Schoener, E., & Tracy, K.  Training and fidelity monitoring of behavioral interventions in multi-site addictions research.  Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 87, 107-108, 2007.
11. Tracy, K., Weingarten, R., Mattison, E, Piselli, A, & Rounsaville, B.  Moving beyond illness to recovery: The Recovery is for Everyone Grants Program (RIFE).  Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 28(2), 129-135, 2004.
12. Edson, R., Lavori, P., Bloch, D., Tracy, K., Adler, L, Rotrosen, J., & the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study #394 Study Group.  Interrater reliability of the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) in a multi-center trial: Results from Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study #394.  International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 1999; 4, 157-164, 2000.
13. Adler, L., Rotrosen, J., Edson, R., Lavori, P., Lohr, Hitzemann, R., Raisch, R. & Tracy, K.  Effects of long term treatment with vitamin E on tardive dyskinesia: Results from VA Cooperative Study #394.  Archives of General Psychiatry, 1999; 56, 836-841.  
14. Tracy, K., Adler, L., Rotrosen, J., Edson, R. & Lavori, P.  Interrater reliability issues in multi-center trials part I: Theoretical concepts and operational procedures in VA Cooperative Study #394. Psychopharmacological Bulletin, 1997; 33(1), 53-57.
15. Edson, R., Lavori, P., Tracy, K., Adler, L. & Rotrosen, J.  Interrater reliability issues in multi-center trials part II: Statistical Procedures used in VA Cooperative Study #394.   Psychopharmacological Bulletin, 1997; 33(1), 59-67.
16. Caligiuri, M. P., Lohr, J.B., Rotrosen, J., Adler, L., Lavori, P., Edson, R. & Tracy, K.  Reliability of an instrumental assessment of tardive dyskinesia in a multicenter clinical trial.  Psychopharmacology; 1997, 132, 61-66.