Josh Cisler, Ph.D.

Josh Cisler, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist in UT Health Austin’s Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences. He specializes in the treatment of PTSD and other traumatic stress-related symptoms in adults, primarily using treatment modalities of exposure therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Additionally, Cisler is an associate professor in both the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Dell Medical School and the Department of Psychology’s clinical psychology graduate program at The University of Texas at Austin.

Cisler earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where his research focused on emotional and cognitive mechanisms that mediate anxiety disorders. He also earned his master’s in clinical psychology from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and his bachelor’s in psychology from Saint Louis University. He completed a clinical internship in the treatment of traumatic stress-related mental health disorders at the National Crime Victim Research and Treatment Center/Medical University of South Carolina, where his research focused on understanding risk factors for psychopathology following assaultive events (e.g., physical and sexual assault). He also completed a fellowship in fMRI methodology and computational and network approaches to imaging analysis at the Brain Imaging Research Center/University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Cisler previously served on the faculty of the Brain Imaging Research Center as well as the University of Wisconsin Madison Department of Psychiatry. His current research interests involve neuroimaging, computational modeling, exercise, pharmacology and clinical trials methodology to understand core psychopathology mechanisms among individuals experiencing traumatic stress-related symptoms and to identify and enhance core mechanisms of treatment for traumatic stress-related symptoms.