About the Misophonia Institute
The Misophonia Institute has a threefold mission:
1. Increase awareness
We provide trustworthy resources for individuals and families affected by misophonia. Our website explains what misophonia is, how it develops, and how it progresses. It also shares practical strategies to help both those with misophonia and their friends and families manage the condition.
2. Promote professional collaboration and training
Misophonia is still relatively unknown worldwide. We help clinicians and other professionals understand the condition and improve care through collaboration, training, and education.
3. Support and advance research
We promote research to develop and improve treatments. We respect diverse treatment approaches, as long as they are beneficial and follow the guiding principle: first, do no harm.
The Misophonia Institute is a virtual organization with collaborators worldwide. Founded in December 2015 with Tom Dozier as director, we began participating in formal research studies in 2016 and became an IRS-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that same year.
We hope our free resources are helpful. If you have feedback, please get in touch with us via the information in the website footer. To support our ongoing work, please consider donating.
About Our Directors
Tom Dozier, President Misophonia Institute
Tom Dozier, M.S., became interested in misophonia while working with families of children affected by the condition. Recognizing it as a conditioned reflex to trigger sounds, he developed Relaxation and Counterconditioning Therapy (RCT), which includes muscle-relaxation training and the Neural Repatterning Technique. Using real-life experiences or the Trigger Tamer app, RCT gradually reduces the misophonic reflex and alters its underlying neurology, often leading to a significant decrease—or complete elimination—of reactions.
After his first career as a manufacturing engineer, Tom saw the opportunity to help individuals suffering from a condition with no known cure or treatment. He began to pursue parent training following guidance from Dr. Glenn I. Latham. He earned a graduate certificate in applied behavior analysis in 2004, became a board-certified assistant behavior analyst in 2008, a board-certified behavior analyst in 2012, and was awarded the Behavior Analyst Mastery Certification: Behavioral Consultation and Clinical Behavior Therapy (BAMC:BCCBT) in 2017. His broader work focuses on parenting and family support. (See 3LParenting.com, guaranteedpt.com, or LDSParentCoach.com). He is the author of seven peer-reviewed journal articles on misophonia and the book Understanding and Overcoming Misophonia: A Conditioned Aversive Reflex Disorder, 2nd Edition.
Nate Mitchell, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Louisville, Kentucky, and the treasurer of Misophonia Institute. He developed CBT-M, combining RCT principles with cognitive behavioral therapy, and uses it to treat misophonia and related conditions such as OCD, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. He also provides psychological testing services. Patients can participate in weekly sessions or undergo an intensive one-week visit to his clinic.
Penny Baskin works to educate professionals across fields about misophonia. Drawing on her personal experience with misophonia, as well as her background as a paralegal, mother, and foster parent, she advocates for stronger support and understanding within the community. She lives in Arkansas and serves as the secretary of the Misophonia Institute.