Alan Ravitz, MD

Alan Ravitz, a leading child and adolescent psychiatrist, is one of the nation’s foremost experts in the diagnostic evaluation and treatment of children and teens with psychiatric disorders. He has extensive experience collaborating with families, helping them to determine when and how medication can safely and effectively be included in a child’s treatment. He has provided psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment to thousands of children, adolescents, and adults over the past 30 years

A widely respected forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Ravitz also has exceptional expertise working with families and the legal system to help ensure that divorce, custody disputes, and other kinds of family dysfunction don’t interfere with children’s ability to get the mental health care and support they need. As a child-trained forensic psychiatrist, he has conducted hundreds of custody evaluations. Dr. Ravitz’s wealth of experience working with the legal system has provided him with a unique perspective on the varying needs of children from different backgrounds.

Dr. Ravitz came to the Child Mind Institute in October 2010 after serving as the director of the psychiatry and law service at the NYU Child Study Center. During his tenure at the NYU Child Study Center, Dr. Ravitz also taught two very popular undergraduate courses at the NYU College of Arts and Sciences. One, called “Developmental Theory and Human Motivation,” focused on the use of film to understand developmental theory; and the other, “Divorce in America,” focused not only on the effects of divorce on both adults and children, but also on communication and conflict resolution in intimate relationships.

Prior to his work at NYU, Dr. Ravitz served in a number of roles over two decades at the University of Chicago Medical Center. He was director of Inpatient Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, director of training within the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, director of the Child Psychiatry Clinic, and medical director of the Parent-Infant Development Service. In addition, Dr. Ravitz was an associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Chicago. He has also held several hospital appointments, including clinical director of the Adolescent Program and medical director of Chicago Lakeshore Hospital, a 110-bed, freestanding psychiatric hospital affiliated with the University of Chicago.

Dr. Ravitz completed medical school and earned his master’s in pharmacology at Michigan State University. He completed an internship in general psychiatry and his residency in child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Chicago. He is a member of numerous professional societies, including the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the National Interdisciplinary Consortium on Custody Law. As a professor, he has taught courses on a wide range of topics including developmental theory, forensic psychiatry, inpatient psychiatry, and divorce, and he has been honored several times for his excellence in teaching.

Dr. Ravitz has published numerous academic articles, reviews, and book chapters, and he is co-author of two books, Legal and Mental Health Perspectives on Child Custody Law and Mental Health Aspects of Custody Law. He has been included in Best Doctors in America, a leading resource on expert medical care, and he has appeared as an expert in the media, including, most recently, on The Today Show.

www.childmind.org