Keri Johns, Ph.D.

Dr. Keri Johns is a Senior Staff Psychologist and the Director of Health and Wellness at Cognitive Behavior Therapy Associates of Denver. Dr. Johns specializes in evidence-based psychotherapies for general mental health (generalized anxiety, depression, and life stressors), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as physical health-related concerns.  She has expert training and experience helping individuals with insomnia, chronic pain, tinnitus, health anxiety, and chronic illness.  Dr. Johns is also trained in sports psychology and enjoys working with athletes.  

Dr. Johns has expertise in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) including Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), as well as Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  Dr. Johns works collaboratively with clients to create individualized interventions to meet their needs and goals, often integrating different approaches.  She helps clients learn tools and skills to help them to move beyond their problems and into healthy and meaningful lives. She has a warm and engaging approach and believes in helping clients work toward acceptance and self-compassion. Dr. Johns enjoys working with adult and adolescent clients, as well as developing and running therapy groups and psychology focused presentations.

Dr. Johns earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee and her master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Colorado Denver.  She earned her doctorate in Combined-Integrated Clinical and Counseling Psychology from the University of South Alabama and completed her predoctoral internship at the Nebraska-Western Iowa VA. Dr. Johns completed her postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Health Psychology at the Memphis VA Medical Center. As a fellow, she worked in a variety of health psychology and behavioral medicine settings integrated into healthcare teams.

Dr. Johns currently directs the CBTDenver Externship program where doctoral students receive training in evidence-based psychotherapies for common mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and insomnia, as well as health psychology. Dr. Johns is a member of the Colorado Psychological Association. She has served as an Adjunct Instructor at the University of Colorado Denver and Community College of Aurora. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, hiking, skiing, and enjoying nature.

In the Media

• Dr. Keri Johns in theSkimm’ : “We Were Born to Hate Exercise”

• Dr. Keri Johns Center on YouTube for the Center for Strength : “Handling Unhelpful Thinking”

• Dr. Keri Johns on Channel 7 : “The return of alcohol service up in the air for some as airlines see spike in unruly passengers Some airlines are postponing bringing back alcohol”

Selected publications and presentations

• Johns, K.N. & Caspari, J.  (February 2023). CBT for Tinnitus.  Inservice presented to Sound Relief Audiologists.

• Johns, K.N. (February 2023). Handling Unhelpful Thinking.  Presented to the STEM Center for Strength community including teachers, parents, and students.

• Johns, K.N. (September 2021). Evidence-Based Skills Groups.  Presented to social work students enrolled the Social Work Practice with Groups class at Florida Atlantic University.

• Johns, K.N. (February 2021 & September 2021). Surfing Stress: Managing the Stress Response with CBT Skills.  Presented to the STEM Center for Strength community including teachers, parents, and students.

• Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., Selwyn, C.N., Jackson, S., Johns, K., Wornell, C., Finnegan, H., & Smith-West, M.B. (2017). The prevalence of mental and physical health correlates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms in vulnerable and under-resourced primary care patients referred to a behavioral health provider. Journal of Public Health Management & Practice, 23(6), 32-39. 

• Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., Strosahl, K.D., Robinson, P.J., Ehrensaft, M., Friend, J., Johns, K., Hamberger, K. (November 2016). The Future is Integrated Care: Mental and Behavioral Health Service Delivery in Primary Care Settings. Panel Discussion presented at the 50th Annual Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Convention. New York, NY.

• Johns, K.N (2015). Mindfulness for Healthcare Workers. A brief mindfulness introduction and exercise for healthcare employees at the Grand Island VA Medical Center in Grand Island, NE.

• Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., Wornell, C., Johns, K., Selwyn, C., & Friend, J. (2015). The nuts and bolts of developing integrated healthcare in under-resourced primary care settings: Challenges and lessons learned. In William Scott Craig (Ed.), Integrated Psychological Services in Primary Care, 67-88. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.

• Johns, K.N., & Smith, P.N. (June 2013). Motivational Interviewing in a Cardiac Rehabilitation Center. Workshop presented to exercise physiologists in the Operation Bounce-Back Cardiac Rehabilitation program at Infirmary Health, Mobile, AL.