Dr. Shamshy Schlager, Psy.D.
I made aliyah in 2018 from New York. Today, I live in Modi'in with my wife and two children. I am a licensed clinical psychologist, both in Israel and NY, and I specialize in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), which are the gold-standard, evidence-based approaches for treating a variety of clinical disorders and problems. I completed my bachelor’s degree in psychology at Queens College (summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) and my master’s and doctorate degrees (Psy.D.) in clinical psychology at Long Island University—Post.
In my career as a clinical psychologist, I have been committed to working with some of the most difficult to engage and emotionally dysregulated clients with energy, compassion, and enthusiasm.
While I have treated individuals and families struggling with common, everyday issues, such as anxiety, depression, and relationship problems, I am also accustomed to treating clients who have been assumed to be beyond the pale of help because of their experiences with extreme emotional distress and suffering, and their struggles with multiple diagnoses and complex problems, including suicidality and self-injurious behavior.
I specialize in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), exposure based treatment, and mindfulness based therapies, all of which are evidence-based treatment approaches that have been found to be extremely effective in treating individuals experiencing a variety of problems, including mood-related problems, substance use, eating disorders, family and relationship problems, anger, depression, and those whose difficulties include engaging in suicidal and self-injurious behavior.
Training Experience
Having been intensively trained by Dr. Jill Rathus, an internationally recognized expert, trainer, treatment developer responsible for adapting DBT to treat teenagers and their families, and master clinician in Cognitive and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (CBT & DBT) and couple's therapy, I was privileged to gain an unusually focused and in-depth training experience in using evidence-based treatments for both easy and difficult-to-treat cases.
I completed my internship/residency at the Bronx Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, where I received extensive training in working with military veterans and treating soldiers struggling with problems related to adjusting to life outside the military, mood-related problems, relationships, substance use, trauma, and health-related difficulties.
Following my internship/residency at the Bronx VA Medical Center, I was invited to return to Cognitive Behavioral Associates (CBA), where I had previously completed a year-long practicum as a graduate trainee, to complete a two-year postdoctoral fellowship under the mentorship of Dr. Jill Rathus. After completing my fellowship, I was asked to stay on as a full-time staff psychologist and supervisor at CBA until my family’s move to Israel.
In conjunction with my work at CBA, I served as a clinical supervisor, both at CBA, where I trained doctoral trainees to lead DBT skills groups, and at the Psychological Services Center, Long Island University’s clinical psychology practicum training site for their clinical psychology doctoral students. In addition to my work as a psychologist and clinical supervisor, I also worked as an adjunct professor at Long Island University, and, in that capacity, lectured at various high schools in Long Island, NY as part of the Long Island University High School Scholars Program. This program provides opportunities for academically talented high school students to take university-level courses. In addition, I have been invited to present at trainings and workshops on the topics of CBT, DBT, mindfulness, and emotion regulation, in Hebrew and English, in both Israel and the US.