Katie Witkiewitz

Katie Witkiewitz is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of New Mexico (UNM), serving as Director of the Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions (CASAA) and Area Head for Quantitative/Methodology. She holds a PhD from the University of Washington (2005). Her research focuses on mindfulness-based interventions for substance use disorders, harm reduction strategies, and quantitative methods in behavioral change research. She teaches advanced courses in latent variable modeling, structural equation modeling, and applied data analysis.

Her work emphasizes understanding diverse recovery pathways, particularly in alcohol use disorder, and has led to over 150 peer-reviewed publications. Notable contributions include exploring the role of purpose in life for recovery outcomes and developing statistical frameworks to analyze longitudinal treatment data. She collaborates on NIH-funded projects and mentors graduate students in quantitative and clinical psychology.

Dr. Witkiewitz’s lab develops digital interventions (e.g., Mindful Journey app) and examines mechanisms of behavior change. She advocates for evidence-based policies and precision medicine approaches in addiction treatment. Current projects include integrated behavioral treatments for co-occurring chronic pain and opioid use disorder.