Psychotherapy Laboratory

Psychiatrist talking to patient.
Psychiatrist William Breitbart directs the Psychotherapy Laboratory at MSK.

William Breitbart, MD, Director

This group will mount a series of trials of individual, group, couple, and family therapy, as well as a group of studies involving microdissection of the aspects of therapy that prove therapeutic. A dedicated laboratory has been established with video-recording capacity in two individual psychotherapy rooms and two group and family therapy rooms. This enables the fidelity of any intervention to be studied to be certain that a model under study is properly and faithfully applied.

Current studies of meaning-centered psychotherapy led by Dr. Breitbart and trials of family therapy led by Dr. Kissane are well underway. Other studies include cognitive-behavioral treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in bone marrow transplant survivors, maternal coping with bone marrow transplantation, and the development and evaluation of family problem-solving and multiple family groups.

William S. Breitbart, MD
Attending Psychiatrist; Jimmie C. Holland Chair
Yesne Alici, MD
Vice Chair, Clinical Operations, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Clinical Director; Associate Attending Psychiatrist; Medical Director, Biobehavioral Health Clinic
Matthew Doolittle
Assistant Attending Psychiatrist; Director, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Training Program
Memorial Sloan Kettering psychiatrist Julia Kearney
Associate Attending Psychiatrist; Clinical Director, Pediatric Psycho-Oncology Program
MSK psychologist Christian Nelson
Chief, Psychiatry Service; Attending Psychologist; Co-Director, Psycho-Oncology of Cancer and Aging Program
Memorial Sloan Kettering child psychologist Stephen Sands
Attending Psychologist; Director, Pediatric Neuropsychology Program; Director, Pediatric Neuropsychology Fellowship Program
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center psychologist Talia I. Zaider
Acting Director, Caregivers Clinic; Assistant Attending Psychologist; Director of Psychotherapy Services; Director, Family Therapy Clinic; Acting Director, Bereavement Clinic
Tim A. Ahles, PhD
Attending Clinical Psychologist