Michelle Friedman-Yakoobian, PhD

Michelle Friedman-Yakoobian, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.  She is the Clinical Director of the Center for Early Detection, Assessment and Response to Risk (www.cedarclinic.org), the first program in MA that provides early intervention to youth who are at clinical high risk for psychotic disorders.  Dr. Friedman-Yakoobian’s career has been devoted to the development and implementation of effective psychosocial interventions for individuals experiencing psychosis (or signs of risk) and their families.  In addition to developing the CEDAR Clinic, she developed a family intervention aimed at teaching clients and families about strategies to adapt to cognitive deficits to improve functioning, as well as an adaptation of Cognitive Enhancement Therapy for youth at clinical high risk for psychosis.

Dr. Friedman-Yakoobian speaks regionally, nationally, and internationally on working with youth at risk for psychosis, cognitive remediation, and acceptance and commitment therapy.  She has trained dozens of graduate students, interns, residents, and professionals in evidence based treatments and assessments for youth experiencing early psychosis (or at clinical high risk) and their families.  She is an early psychosis trainer for SAMHSA’s New England Mental Health Technical Assistance Center and is leading an initiative, called Implementing Real-world, Evidence-Based Services for Early Psychosis and Clinical High Risk for Psychosis, which brings together  leaders, clinicians, administrators and constituents to discuss ways to increase feasibility and scalability of specialized early psychosis and clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P) treatment across the New England region.

Academic: Dr. Friedman-Yakoobian is an Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center Public Psychiatry Division of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Friedman-Yakoobian earned her undergraduate degree in Human Development and Family Studies at Cornell University and her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston.