How I work: Dr. Rush is a Clinical Health Psychologist and specializes in interventions focused on helping individuals and dyads (patient and their care-partner together) cope with serious medical conditions, including acute neurological injury (e.g., stroke), and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Focus areas include:

• Adjustment to illness/ related changes in physical abilities

• Individuals & Care-Partner Dyads (e.g., Spouse, Caregiver, Parent)

Dr. Rush uses a person-centered, integrative approach, tailoring evidence-based interventions such Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Meaning Centered Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, mind-body and mindfulness-based approaches, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to meet her clients needs. She can be reached directly at christina@nchpsych.com.

About Me: Outside of her work at NCHP, Christina L. Rush, PhD, is a Clinical Health Psychologist at the Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research (CHOIR) in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. In addition to clinical care, Dr. Rush conducts research to develop evidence-based interventions for people diagnosed with ALS and their care-partners. Her work was recently supported with a research seed grant from The ALS Association and a Kornfeld Scholars Program Award from the National Palliative Care Research Center. She is now conducting research with support from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). Her research has been published in journals such as Translational Behavioral Medicine, Journal of Health Psychology, Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, and Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. She completed a pre-doctoral internship (health psychology track) at the VA Maryland Healthcare System/University of Maryland School of Medicine Consortium and doctoral training in clinical health psychology at the University of Colorado Denver.

In addition to this work, Dr. Rush loves hiking, yoga, travel, dark chocolate, and being with her family.

Licenses

Licensed Psychologist; Massachusetts

Education & Training

Post-Doctoral Fellowship: Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical Center

Doctor of Philosophy: University of Colorado, Denver

Master of Arts: American University

Bachelor of Arts: Ohio State University

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications

Rush CL, Lyons C, Gittle J, Seward M, Scalia J, Ho D, Babu S, Garret MA, Brizzi K, Berry JD, Fava M, Lindenberger E†, Vranceanu AM†; Sean M. Healey and AMG Center for ALS Resilient Together-ALS (RT-ALS) Team. Clinician Perspectives Highlight the Need for Early Dyadic Coping Skills for People Living With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2025 Mar;69(3):236-242.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2024.12.010. Epub 2024 Dec 18. PMID: 39706377. (†co-senior authors)

McDermott K, Presciutti AM, *Levey N, Brewer J, Rush CL, Giraldo-Santiago N, Pham TV, Pasinski R, Yousif N, Gholston M, Raju V. Using the Socioecological Model to Understand Medical Staff and Older Adult Patients’ Experience with Chronic Pain: A Qualitative Study in an Underserved Community Setting. Journal of Pain Research. 2024 Dec 31:3881-95.

Rush CL, Brewer JR, Levey N, Presciutti AM, McDermott K, Pasinski R, Yousif N, Gholston M, Raju V, Greenberg J, Ritchie CS†, Vranceanu AM†. "Pushed to Their Limits": Health Care Provider Perspectives on Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing a Mind-Body and Activity Program for Older Adults With Chronic Pain in a Community Clinic for the Underserved. Fam Community Health. 2024 Nov 6. doi: 10.1097/FCH.0000000000000416. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39503678. (†co-senior authors)

McDermott K, Rush CL, Pham T, Hooker J, Louis C, Rochon EA, Vranceanu AM. PTSD symptoms, pain catastrophizing, and pain outcomes after acute orthopedic injury. Pain Med. 2024 Jul 30:pnae068. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnae068. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39078722.

Shaffer JA, Matlock DD, Boylan JM, Vagnini KM, Rush CL, Martin R, Masters KS. Linking Cardiac Psychology and Cardiovascular Medicine via Self-Determination Theory and Shared Decision-Making. J Clin Psychol Med Settings. Published online April 27, 2024. doi:10.1007/s10880-024-10014-8

Rush CL, Lester EG, Manglani H, Woodworth E, Vitolo O, Fava M, Berry JD, Brizzi KT, Babu S, Lindenberger EC, Curtis JR, Vranceanu AM. Resilient Together-ALS: Leveraging the NDD Transdiagnostic Framework to develop an early dyadic intervention for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and their informal care-partners. (2023). Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener. Published online June 22, 2023. doi:10.1080/21678421.2023.2224400

Rush CL, Lester EG, Berry JD, Brizzi KT, Lindenberger EC, Curtis JR, Vranceanu AM. A roadmap for early psychosocial support in palliative care for people impacted by ALS-reducing suffering, building resiliency, and setting the stage for delivering timely transdiagnostic psychosocial care [published online ahead of print, 2023 Apr 12]. Transl Behav Med. 2023;ibad024. doi:10.1093/tbm/ibad024