Milanak, Melissa E.

Dr. Milanak is a licensed clinical psychologist and an assistant professor in the Sleep and Anxiety Treatment and Research Program (SATRP) in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Dr. Milanak specializes in providing evidence-based treatments (e.g., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) for sleep disorders including insomnia and anxiety disorders and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She also has significant clinical experience providing treatment for anger management and other emotional processing/regulation issues.

She is also the Associate Director for Continuing Education and the Director of Community and Alumni Relations in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at MUSC. She received her doctorate in Clinical & Community Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, completed her internship through the Charleston Consortium at MUSC, and completed a two-year NIMH research postdoctoral fellowship at the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center (NCVC) at MUSC. Her current work focuses on the nature of, etiology, and treatment of PTSD and comorbid sleep disorders as well as examining how sleep can play a role in the onset, maintenance, and/or prevention of PTSD. She also has conducted significant research examining the relationship between PTSD symptoms factors and the processing of emotional information, both in the USA as well as in Northern Ireland.