Esme Shaller

Esme Shaller, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine and affiliated with the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. She serves as the Clinical Director of Outpatient Services for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Director of the Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) program within the Mood and Anxiety Clinic.

Dr. Shaller's educational background includes:

• PhD in Clinical Psychology from Stony Brook University (2006)
• BA in Psychology from University of California, Berkeley (2000)
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training from UCSF (2019)

Her research focuses on dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents and young adults, particularly examining the effectiveness of clinical programs, development of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) traits across adolescence, the role of DBT skills in treatment outcomes, and how young people experience urges and motivation to self-harm. She also conducts educational research on misconceptions in learning new information and the gap between research and practice in psychotherapy. Her work spans clinical psychology, adolescent mental health, and evidence-based behavioral treatments for complex psychological problems.

Dr. Shaller has received several teaching awards:

• UCSF Resident Award for Excellence in Didactic Teaching (2018)
• UCSF Teaching Scholar's Program Fellow (2016-2017)
• UCSF Resident Award for Excellence in Teaching (2012)
• Stony Brook University Department Award for Excellence in Teaching (2004)

As an educator, Dr. Shaller teaches and supervises psychology interns and post-docs, psychiatry residents, and child and adolescent psychiatry fellows. She develops curricula for didactic training programs and consults with community and county programs across the Bay Area to implement evidence-based psychotherapies. Her passion lies in disseminating empirically supported treatments for complex psychological problems in adolescence.

Dr. Shaller leads the Dialectical Behavior Therapy program, a specialty program for high acuity patients and their families. She also co-runs a study on DBT for patients ages 13-25, examining treatment effectiveness, BPD trait development, and self-harm mechanisms.