Dr. Vera Békés
Associate Professor
Member, AI Safety Studio, Mila Québec Artificial Intelligence Institute
Member, IVADO Research Regroupement 4, AI governance and implementation
Editorial Board Member, Psychotherapy Research, Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, and Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy
Associate Editor, Trauma Psychology News
Guest Editor, Journal of Psychotherapy Integration
Country Representative for Hungary, Society for Psychotherapy Research, European Chapter
- Artificial intelligence in mental health
- Teletherapy and digital mental health interventions
- Psychotherapy process and therapeutic relationship
- Historical and transgenerational trauma
Vera Békés, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at McGill University. She studied clinical psychology and philosophy at ELTE University in Budapest, and received her clinical psychologist training, as well as her PhD, at the University of Pécs, Hungary. She completed postdoctoral fellowships at McGill University and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Her research focuses on psychotherapy process and the therapeutic relationship in both in-person and teletherapy settings, as well as the role of digital technology and artificial intelligence in mental health interventions. She examines the safe and responsible use of AI in mental health, including overreliance on AI tools and young people's use of AI for emotional support. Dr. Békés also studies trauma, especially historical and transgenerational trauma transmission processes.
Dr. Békés has held associate professor and guest professor positions at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, New York; the University of Lausanne, Switzerland; and ELTE University in Budapest. She was trained in psychodynamic, humanistic, and cognitive-behavioral therapies and has worked at various psychiatric hospitals and clinics in both Canada and Europe. She is a licensed psychologist in Québec and maintains a private practice in Montréal.
Postdoctoral Fellowship, McGill University
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Université de Montréal
Ph.D., Psychology, Science University of Pécs, Hungary
M.A., Psychology (Clinical and Health Psychology), Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary
2026, Insight Development Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), Canada
2026, Interdisciplinary Research Development Award, McGill Collaborative for AI and Society (McCAIS), Canada
2026, Research Grant, IVADO, Canada
2026, Internal Social Sciences and Humanities Development Grant, McGill University, Canada
2026, John and Elaine Altmaier Depression Research Grant, North American Society for Psychotherapy Research (NASPR), USA
2025, Distinguished Guest Fellowship, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary
2024, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Research Exchanges Grant, Switzerland
2024, Invited Professorship, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Békés, V. & Aafjes-van Doorn, K. The Most Vulnerable Are Prone to Use AI Therapists: The Role of Attachment, Epistemic Trust, and Mental Health Symptoms in Acceptance of Digital Mental Health Interventions (2026). Psychotherapy Research, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2026.2615388
Békés, V. & Aafjes-van Doorn, K. (2026). Who wants to have an AI therapist? Acceptance of Artificial Intelligence for Mental Health Interventions Among Clinicians, Patients, and General Community. In press at Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/d7e54_v1
Békés, V. & Aafjes-van Doorn, K. (2026). Clinicians’ Attitudes Toward Using Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health Interventions. In press at Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science. Preprint: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/9jnbd_v1
Békés, V., Bothe, B., & Aafjes-van Doorn, K. (2025). Acceptance of Using Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technology for Mental Health Interventions: The Development and Initial Validation of the UTAUT-AI-DMHI. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 32(3), e70085. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.70085
Békés, V., Spina, D.J., Aafjes-van Doorn, K. (2024). The Development and Validation of an Observer-Rated Measure for the Real Relationship. Psychotherapy Research, 35(5), 807-817. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2024.2360459
Aafjes-van Doorn, Spina, DS., Horne, S., Békés, V. (2024). The Association Between Quality of Therapeutic Alliance and Treatment Outcomes in Teletherapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Clinical Psychology Review. 102430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2024.102430
Békés, V. & Starrs, C. (2024). Assessing Transgenerational Trauma Transmission: Development and psychometric properties of the Historical and Transgenerational Trauma Questionnaire (HITT-Q) European Journal of Psychotraumatology. 15(1), 2329510. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2024.2329510
Békés, V., Aafjes-van Doorn, K., & Bőethe, B. (2022). Assessing Patients’ Attitudes towards Telepsychotherapy: The Development of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology-Patient Version. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 29(6), 1918-1927. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2760
PsyD Counselling Psychology
PhD Counselling Psychology
Currently accepting graduate students for the upcoming application period.
