Laura Dixon

Laura Dixon is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Mississippi, affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and the Department of Psychology. She directs the Health and Anxiety Research and Treatment (HART) Lab, where she trains graduate students in research, clinical assessment, and professional development. Her work focuses on clinical psychology, particularly anxiety disorders, misophonia, and related conditions.

• BA in Psychology (University of Arkansas)
• PhD in Clinical Psychology (University of Wyoming, 2014)
• Predoctoral Internship (University of Mississippi Medical Center & G.V. Montgomery VA Consortium)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship (University of Mississippi Medical Center)

Dixon’s research interests span misophonia, anxiety disorders, OCD, PTSD, and transdiagnostic processes such as emotion dysregulation and anxiety sensitivity. She investigates comorbidities with health conditions or substance use and evaluates brief interventions like exposure therapy. Her methodological approach integrates cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and psychophysiological analyses to identify modifiable factors for psychological treatments.

The trends in her publications highlight misophonia characterization across populations (2024), emotion regulation mechanisms in anxiety (2024), comorbid anxiety and respiratory disease (2024), and consensus-driven advancements in diagnostic frameworks (2022). She has also explored anxiety in dermatological patients and developed tools like the Therapist Beliefs about Exposure Scale (2013).

• Dr. Mike L. Edmonds New Scholar Award (2021)
• Graduate Mentor Award (2020)
• W. Stewart Argras Grand Rounds Speakership Award (2015)
• ADAA Career Development Travel Award (2014)

Dixon supervises graduate students in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Training Program and has secured grants such as the Misophonia Research Fund (2020). She serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Anxiety Disorders and contributes to professional development through training strategies for exposure therapy.

The HART Lab, under her leadership, focuses on transdiagnostic processes in anxiety disorders and misophonia. Her work bridges clinical practice with empirical research to enhance treatment outcomes.