Steven Kurtz, PhD, ABPP

Kurtz Psychology Consulting PC

Steven Kurtz, PhD, ABPP is an internationally recognized and leading clinician in the treatment of children’s behavioral problems and disorders. He is a renowned mentor and teacher of innovative and empirically-supported treatments for children with disruptive disorders such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder and has been a cutting-edge pioneer in the development and dissemination of evidence-based treatments for internalizing disorders including the social anxiety disorder Selective Mutism (SM). He is a widely respected clinical researcher and child psychologist, one of only 20 Certified Global Trainers in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy endorsed by PCIT International. Dr. Kurtz is a tireless advocate for children with special needs.

Dr. Kurtz is the developer of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy Adapted for Selective Mutism (PCIT-SM) and the camp model for SM. PCIT-SM is a research-supported treatment.

As an assistant professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine, Dr. Kurtz served for 10 years as the inaugural clinical director of the NYU Child Study Center’s Institute for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity and Behavior Disorders. He was also the founding co-director of the NYU Child Study Center’s Selective Mutism Program.

Dr. Kurtz was pivotal in the development of the Child Mind Institute where he served from 2010-2014 as the inaugural Senior Director of the ADHD Center and Director of the Selective Mutism Program. During his tenure at NYU and CMI, he created the Brave Buddies Program, a weeklong intensive day treatment program for children with SM. The Brave Buddies model pairs counselors with children, one-on-one, in a simulated, analog school classroom where brave talking is shaped, nurtured, and reinforced while social anxieties are lessened. Our csmp model for treating SM happens twice each year and has been adopted at the NYU Child Study Center, the Child Mind Institute, Boston University, Florida International University, and at Adventure Camp in the Chicago area, along with many other places around the world.

As a PCIT Global Trainer, Dr. Kurtz actively trains clinicians worldwide in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy ~ a gold-standard treatment for young children with disruptive behaviors. PCIT is an amazingly innovative and effective treatment model where parents are coached live, via bug-in-ear technology, by the therapist standing behind a one-way mirror while the parent and child practice playing and calm, effective discipline strategies. Dr. Kurtz also pioneered and published on PCIT adapted for young children with anxiety disorders, including SM, separation anxiety, generalized anxiety and other conditions. Dr. Kurtz also specializes in the assessment and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Dr. Kurtz earned his PhD in 1985 from Washington University in St. Louis and is Board Certified as a Diplomate in Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology, for which he also serves as a volunteer examiner. He was Chair of the Treatment Adaptations Task Force on the Advisory Board of PCIT International and a board member of the Selective Mutism Association (SMA), the nation’s leading advocacy group for SM. He is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), the New York State Psychological Association (NYSPA), the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) and the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) and a fellow in the American Academy of Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology.

Dr. Kurtz’s team has also pioneered efforts to bring the teacher equivalent of PCIT to schools in a model called Teacher-Child Interaction Therapy (TCIT). TCIT is a school-based, live coaching model to help teachers with preventive discipline strategies.

Dr. Kurtz has published numerous scholarly papers and lectured widely; his research has been featured at national, regional, and city conferences. Over the course of his career he has also mentored hundreds of psychology undergraduates, graduate students, and psychiatry residents. In 2005, students and faculty at the NYU Langone School of Medicine nominated him for the prestigious Distinguished Teaching Award. In 2006, he was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award by the graduate students of the NYU Child Study Center.

Dr. Kurtz continues to be a significant public voice, dispelling myths about childhood psychiatric disorders and advocating for comprehensive, individualized care for all children struggling with behavioral or other mental health issues. An expert commentator, he has appeared on numerous programs addressing child mental health, including NBC’s Today, CBS’s The Early Show, and PBS’s Keeping Kids Healthy. Dr. Kurtz’s signature Brave Buddies treatment was highlighted on ABC’s Nightline.

Licensed in NY, CT and VA, with ability to treat in other jurisdictions as well. Please check with us at sm@kurtzpsychology.com to see if we can work with you in your state.