Faculty

Sandy Capaldi, Psy.D.

Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
Associate Director | Outpatient Clinic Director |
Director of Implementation
Psy.D., 2011
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
sandraca@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Sandy Capaldi, Psy.D. is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and the Associate Director, Outpatient Clinical Director, & Director of Implementation at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety (CTSA). Dr. Capaldi completed her undergraduate degree in psychology at Temple University and received a master of arts degree in clinical psychology at MCP Hahnemann University. She went on to receive a master of science degree and to complete her doctoral studies in clinical psychology at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Beginning her career as a counselor at Philadelphia's rape crisis center in 2001, Dr. Capaldi was initially trained as a study therapist to provide Prolonged Exposure Therapy for PTSD (PE). Since 2007, she has worked clinically and in research with trauma, PTSD, and other anxiety and related disorders at the CTSA, with a focus on dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices. Dr. Capaldi currently directs the PE Initiative, an implementation project in collaboration with Community Behavioral Health (CBH) and the Evidence-Based Practice and Innovation Center (EPIC), whose goal is to support training, dissemination, and implementation of Prolonged Exposure therapy for PTSD in Philadelphia’s community mental health centers. She also directs the Prolonged Exposure to Address Community Violence (PEACE) Project, a Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) grant overseen by the School Safety and Security Committee (SSSC) and funded through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD). The PEACE Project is creating a sustainable coalition of mental health providers in Philadelphia to provide mental health treatment services to individuals who have experienced or witnessed community or gun violence.

In her various roles, Dr. Capaldi has designed, implemented, and evaluated trauma-focused and anxiety disorder training to providers in various community mental health centers, employee assistance programs for first responders, correctional services, rape crisis centers, and domestic violence agencies. She was also the first recipient of the Evidence-Based Practice and Innovation Center's (EPIC) Innovation Award in 2024 to recognize her willingness to take risks, think outside the box, and solve problems in new ways.

Dr. Capaldi is a licensed clinical psychologist who has a variety of clinical experiences with patient populations ranging from children to older adults and is certified by the CTSA as a PE Therapist, Consultant, and Trainer and as an Exposure and Response Prevention for OCD (Ex/RP) Therapist, Consultant, and Trainer. Dr. Capaldi also specializes in cognitive-behavioral treatment for trichotillomania, excoriation disorder, social anxiety, panic disorder, agoraphobia, specific phobias, generalized anxiety, and somatic symptom and related disorders. Her work has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, among others.