The CBT Center was founded by Drs. Jill Compton and Prue Cuper, psychologists who met at Duke University Medical Center and share a commitment to providing compassionate and effective treatment to clients with anxiety, mood, and personality disorders. As graduates of universities with strong research programs, we believe that the best way to do this through the use of empirically supported treatments.
The mission of the CBT Center is twofold: to provide excellent treatment to our clients and to enhance our own and others’ clinical skills through training, supervision, and consultation. We enjoy collaborating with our colleagues at Durham DBT and other Triangle-area CBT and DBT therapists.
About Empirically Supported Treatments
Put simply, empirically supported treatments for psychological disorders are those treatments that have been shown to be effective in research studies. Research standards that a treatment must meet are explained in a 1998 article by psychologists Dianne Chambless and Steve Hollon. *
Many empirically supported treatments use cognitive and/or behavioral strategies. Cognitive behavioral treatments are time-limited, present-focused treatments that help you to better understand your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors and how they interact. By understanding and accepting or modifying these aspects of your experience, you can feel less “stuck” with symptoms and more empowered to act in accordance with your values and to move toward goals that you have for yourself.
Examples of empirically supported, cognitive behavioral treatments include:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for depression
- Exposure and Response Prevention for obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Prolonged Exposure for post-traumatic stress disorder
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy for borderline personality disorder
- Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy for relationship distress
These are just a few examples of empirically supported treatments. During the treatment planning process, we will work with you to identify the treatment or strategies that will be most helpful to you.
About Dr. Compton and Dr. Cuper
Jill S. Compton, Ph.D., received her bachelor's degree from Michigan State University in 1989 and her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1998. She completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral training at Duke University Medical Center and served as a full-time faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at Duke from 1998-2012. Dr. Compton developed and directed the Behavioral Interventions Program at Duke, a clinical research and training program to provide services, conduct clinical trials, and train professionals in empirically supported treatments for marital distress, depression, anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In addition, she has extensive experience with Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for adolescents and adults with emotion dysregulation, suicidal behavior, and borderline personality disorder (BPD). She has been the recipient of several federal and privately funded research grants and has served as a therapist and clinical supervisor on numerous clinical trials.
Currently, Dr. Compton has a full-time clinical practice at the CBT Center of the Triangle. She continues to have a commitment to teaching empirically supported interventions, and provides seminars, training, mentoring and supervision to agencies, mental health professionals, and psychologists in training. Additionally, she continues to serve as a consulting faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at Duke where she supervises in the Family Studies Program and Clinic.
Prudence Cuper, Ph.D., received her bachelor's degree from James Madison University in 1993 and her doctorate from Duke University in 2011. She completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. Prior to graduate school, Dr. Cuper worked at Behavioral Tech, LLC, where she was introduced to evidence-based treatments including dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).
Dr. Cuper enjoys working with adults and adolescents who are seeking treatment for mood and anxiety disorders, including depression and bipolar disorders, OCD, PTSD, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. Dr. Cuper has also received training in the treatment of eating disorders, and she provides DBT treatment for individuals who experience difficulties with emotion dysregulation.
In addition to providing individual therapy, Dr. Cuper leads the CBT Center's adolescent DBT group.
* Chambless, D. L., & Hollon, S. D. (1998). Defining empirically supported therapies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 7-18.
