Dr. Naomi Koerner C.Psych.

Biography

Dr. Naomi Koerner is a Professor of Psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is a clinical psychologist, and a researcher in the areas of worry, generalized anxiety disorder and their treatment via cognitive and behavioural interventions. Her interests include: psychological responses to uncertainty, particularly, intolerance of uncertainty; the psychological experience of safety; and mechanisms of chronic worrying. Dr. Koerner is the co-author of a treatment protocol for generalized anxiety disorder (Robichaud, M., Koerner, N., Dugas, M.J. (2019). Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: From Science to Practice (2nd edition) (external link, opens in new window) . Dr. Koerner’s research has received highly competitive funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. She is currently Associate Editor of the international journal Anxiety, Stress, and Coping.

Dr. Koerner has collaborated on the design and evaluation of a cognitive-behavioural wellbeing program for vulnerable young adults in Colombia. She has also advised community-based psychosocial wellbeing programs in Ecuador and Panamá on program evaluation.

Dr. Koerner has previously held positions on the Boards of the Sociedad Interamericana de Psicología and the International Council of Psychologists, and is currently a member of the International Relations Committee of the Canadian Psychological Association.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/naomikoerner (external link, opens in new window) 

Selected Publications

Dugas, M.J., Koerner, N., & Freeston, M.H. (2026). State of the science: Intolerance of uncertainty. Behavior Therapy, 57(1), 17-36, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2025.08.009

Koerner, N.*, McCunn, L. J.*, & Tan, J. C. H.* (2025). The vital role of psychological science in the implementation of the United Nations sustainable development goals. Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne, 66(4), 281–284. https://doi.org/10.1037/cap0000454 *co-first authors.

Schaffer, J., Stewart, K., Ovanessian, M., Zheng, S., & Koerner, N. (2025). Shame aversion contributes to worry above aversion to other emotions in generalized anxiety disorder. International Journal of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41811-025-00234-7

Vieira, J., Malivoire, B.L., Koerner, N., & Sumantry, D. (2024). An examination of worry and self-distancing as coping strategies for anxiety-provoking experiences in individuals high in worry. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 37(4), 515–528. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2023.2270417

Zheng, S., Cupid, J., Deska, J.C., & Koerner, N. (2023). An investigation of the relations of possible selves and self-concept clarity to generalized anxiety disorder. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 16, 390–415. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41811-023-00168-y

Malivoire, B.L., Marcotte-Beaumier, G., Sumantry, D., & Koerner, N. (2022). Correlates of dampening and savoring in generalized anxiety disorder. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, https://doi.org/10.1007/s41811-022-00145-x

Koerner, N.*, & Morales-Cruz, J.* (2021). Psychological distress and the COVID-19 pandemic: The important role of uncertainty / Angustia psicológica y la pandemia del COVID-19:El papel importante de la incertidumbre. Revista Puertorriqueña de Psicología / Puerto Rican Journal of Psychology, 32(1), 120 – 130. *co-first authors https://www.repsasppr.net/index.php/reps/article/view/712

Cupid, J., Stewart, K.E., Sumantry, D., & Koerner, N. (2021). Feeling safe: Judgements of safety and anxiety as a function of worry and intolerance of uncertainty. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 147, 103973, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2021.103973

Pawluk, E. J., Koerner, N., Kuo, J. R., & Antony, M. M. (2021). An experience sampling investigation of emotion and worry in people with generalized anxiety disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 84, 102478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2021.102478

Stewart, K. E., Antony, M. M., & Koerner, N. (2021). A randomized experimental analysis of the attention training technique: Effects on worry and relevant processes in individuals with probable generalized anxiety disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 141, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2021.103863

Koerner, N., & Blackwell, S.E. (2020). Mental imagery in chronic worry and generalized anxiety disorder: Shining a spotlight on a key research and clinical target. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 137, DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2020.103785

Tallon, K., Ovanessian, M., Koerner, N., & Dugas, M.J. (2020). Mental imagery in generalized anxiety disorder: A comparison with healthy control participants. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 127, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2020.103571