Dina Hirshfeld-Becker is an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School. She is Co-Director of the Child Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), which provides psychological treatment for emotional disorders in youth ages 3-24 and offers opportunities for research and training. She also serves as Director of High Risk Studies and Anxiety Research in the Pediatric Psychopharmacology Program at the MGH.

Dr. Hirshfeld-Becker is an adult and child clinical psychologist, who did her undergraduate work at Harvard College, earned her doctorate in clinical psychology at Boston University, and completed post-doctoral clinical and research training at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Her research interests focus on identifying early temperamental, behavioral, and familial risk factors for childhood disorders, and on using this information to develop preventative interventions.

Dr. Hirshfeld-Becker has been funded by the NIMH to conduct longitudinal studies of children at risk for anxiety disorders, ADHD, major depression and bipolar disorder, as well as to develop and test an early cognitive-behavioral intervention for young (4-7-year-old) children with anxiety disorders. This intervention, the “Being Brave” program, teaches parents to foster adaptive coping and teaches children how to overcome fears, and has shown efficacy in a randomized controlled trial enrolling mainly typically developing chidlren. It is now being piloted for use with young anxious children with autism spectrum disorders as well.

Dr. Hirshfeld-Becker also collaborates on imaging studies to understand the underlying basis of temperamental approaches to novelty (behavioral inhibition and disinhibition) and their associations with risk for psychopathology. Clinically, Dr. Hirshfeld-Becker specializes in CBT with children, adolescents and young adults with anxiety and mood disorders, and has particular expertise in treating anxiety in preschool and early elementary school children.

She teaches and supervises child psychology graduate students and child psychiatry fellows in cognitive-behavioral therapy, and is the author of over 75 original articles, reviews, and chapters. Dr. Hirshfeld-Becker is also an experienced research mentor, who is also active on committees in the department, hospital and medical school that focus on faculty promotion and on the advancement and mentorship of women faculty.