Massachusetts General Hospital | Psychiatry

Biography

Dr. Steven Safren is the Director of Behavioral Medicine, and is a Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Safren is also the Director of the Behavioral Medicine Track of the MGH clinical psychology internship. Dr. Safren received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Albany (State University of New York) in 1998, and did his internship and post-doctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Safren is board certified in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy from the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP).

Dr. Safren's focus is on cognitive behavioral intervention development, particularly in the areas of HIV and other chronic illnesses, as well as adult ADHD. Dr. Safren has over 150 professional publications inclusive of data-driven papers, reviews, chapters, commentaries, and books; and has been the PI or protocol chair of 8 NIH-funded grants in these areas. HIs work in HIV has been extended nationally and internationally, and he has regularly served as a reviewer for the National Institutes of Health's study sections that review grants related to behavioral aspects of HIV/AIDS. He has published treatment manuals for therapists working with adults with ADHD and working with individuals with depression that co-occurs with a chronic medical illness.

ResearchPlease see http://www2.massgeneral.org/bmed/safren.htm and http://www2.massgeneral.org/bmed/research.htm

Publications

View my most recent publications at PubMed

Safren SA, Perlman CA, Sprich S, Otto MW. Mastery of your adult ADHD. OUP, 2005.

Safren SA, Gonzalez JS, Soroudi N. Coping with Chronic Illness: Cognitive behavioral therapy for adherence and depression in individuals with chronic illness. 2007, OUP.

Safren SA, O'Cleirigh CO, Tan JY, et al. A randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioral therapy for adherence and depression (CBT-AD) in HIV-infected individuals. Health Psychology: 2009, 28, 1-10.

Safren SA, Otto MW, Sprich S, et al. Cognitive behavioral therapy for ADHD in medication-treated adults with continued symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 2005; 43: 831-842.

Depression and diabetes

For many patients the two go hand in hand.

In General Awards and Honors

MGH Hotline 4.2.10

Cognitive behavior therapy improves symptom control in adult ADHD

Adding cognitive behavioral therapy – an approach that teaches skills for handling life challenges and revising negative thought patterns – to pharmaceutical treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder significantly improved symptom control in adult patients.