The American Institute for Cognitive Therapy

Dr. Robert Leahy

Robert L. Leahy (B.A., M.S., Ph.D., Yale University), Director, completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Medical School under the direction of Dr. Aaron Beck, the founder of cognitive therapy. Dr. Leahy is the Past-President of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Past-President of the International Association of Cognitive Psychotherapy, Past-President of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, Director of the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy (NYC), and Clinical Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at Weill-Cornell University Medical School. Dr. Leahy is the Honorary Life-time President, New York City Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Association and a Distinguished Founding Fellow, Diplomate, of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. He has received the Aaron T. Beck award for outstanding contributions in cognitive therapy.

He was Associate Editor of The Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy (serving as Editor 1998-2003). Dr. Leahy is now Associate Editor of The International Journal of Cognitive Therapy. He has served on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill. Dr. Leahy serves on a number of scientific committees for international conferences on cognitive behavioral therapy and is a frequent keynote speaker and workshop leader at conferences and universities throughout the world. For a listing of professional presentations click here.

He is author and editor of 26 books, including Treatment Plans and Interventions for Depression and Anxiety Disorders (with Holland), Overcoming Resistance in Cognitive Therapy, Bipolar Disorder: A Cognitive Therapy Approach (with Newman, Beck, Reilly-Harrington, & Gyulai), Cognitive Therapy Techniques, Roadblocks in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Psychological Treatments of Bipolar Disorder (ed. with Johnson), Contemporary Cognitive Therapy, The Therapeutic Relationship in the Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapies (ed. with Gilbert) and The Worry Cure which received critical praise from the New York Times and has been selected by Self Magazine as one of the top eight self-help books of all time. His book The Worry Curehas been translated into nine languages and was a selection of the Book of the Month Club, Literary Guild and numerous other book clubs. Eleven of his clinical books have been book club selections. His two recent popular audience books are Anxiety-Free: Unravel Your Fears before They Unravel You, Beat the Blues Before They Beat You: How to Overcome Depression, and Keeping Your Head after Losing Your Job. His new self-help book, The Jealousy Cure: Learn to Trust, Overcome Possessiveness, and Save Your Relationship will be published in January 2018.

Dr. Leahy's recent clinical books include Emotion Regulation in Psychotherapy: A Practitioner's Guide (with Tirch and Napolitano), Treatment Plans and Interventions for Depression and Anxiety Disorders, Second Edition (with Holland and McGinn), and Treatment Plans and Interventions for Bulimia and Binge-Eating Disorder (with Zweig), Cognitive Therapy Techniques, Second Edition, and Emotional Schema Therapy. He is completing an edited book--Science and Practice in Cognitive Therapy- in honor of Aaron T. Beck, the founder of cognitive therapy, to be published by Guilford in January 2018. Dr. Leahy is currently working on a book to be published by Routledge, Emotional Schema Therapy: Distinctive Features.

He is the general editor of a series of books published by Guilford Press--Treatment Plans and Interventions for Evidence-Based Psychotherapy, which include books on depression, anxiety, OCD, insomnia, couples therapy, and child and adolescent therapy. His books have been translated into 21 languages and are used throughout the world in training cognitive behavioral therapists.

He has been featured in The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Forbes, Fortune, Newsweek, Psychology Today, Washington Post, WSJ, Redbook, Shape, Women's Health, Self Magazine, USA Today Magazine and many other magazines and newspapers worldwide and he has appeared on national and local radio and on television (BBC, NPR, 20/20, Good Morning America, and The Early Show).

For information on media coverage of Dr. Leahy's work please click here. To hear a podcast by Dr. Leahy on worry, click here. To read Dr. Leahy's Anxiety Blog on Psychology Today, click here. You can also read Dr. Leahy's blog on Huffington Post here. He is currently working on books for clinicians on emotional processing.