Draft:Steven A. Safren

Steven A. Safren is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Miami (UM) and the Director of CHARM – The UM Center for HIV and Research in Mental Health. Dr. Safren's expertise is in health behavior change and he particularly focuses on the intersection of behavioral health and medical illness both domestically and globally. A substantial portion of his research portfolio is related HIV prevention and treatment, and with sexual and gender minority individuals. He is also an expert in affirmative-based treatments. Dr. Safren has also pioneered cognitive behavioral therapy for adult and adolescent ADHD.

Early Life
Safren was born in Boston, Massachusetts to first generation (Russian/Polish) parents, and grew up in Westwood, Massachusetts. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Psychology in 1991 from Brandeis University. After undergraduate, he worked for two years as a milieu mental health counselor in a group home for children. He then attended University at Albany, State University of New York for his PhD, where he examined quality of life in social phobia for his Master’s thesis, and risk and protective factors for depression, hopelessness, and suicide in sexual minority versus heterosexual adolescents for his dissertation, both under the supervision of Dr. Richard Heimberg. Working in Dr. Heimberg’s lab, Safren also first learned cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with a particular focus on social anxiety disorder. Safren did his predoctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at in the Harvard Medical School (HMS) system at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), under the supervision of Dr. Michael W. Otto in CBT. Safren stayed on there for 18 years gradually promoted academically and administratively, and, when he left, he was a Professor at HMS and founded and directed a new Behavioral Medicine Service, led behavioral science studies at the Fenway Institute at Fenway Health, and was the founding Director of the Harvard University’s Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Behavioral and Social Sciences Core. In 2015, Safren moved to the University of Miami, where he is currently a Professor of Psychology and Director of the UM Center for HIV and Research in Mental Health (CHARM) and the Health Promotion and Care (HPAC) lab. Some of his most notable contributions include studies that involve treating depression and increasing adherence to HIV medical treatment in the U.S. and globally, adherence interventions for HIV prevention and treatment , and treatment of adult and adolescent ADHD. Dr. Safren has been a Principal Investigator (PI) and Protocol Chair of 18 federally funded studies (via NIMH, NIDA, and NIAID) related to HIV prevention and treatment and cognitive behavioral therapy. In addition to his HIV and behavioral medicine work, he developed and tested one of the only evidenced-based psychosocial treatments for ADHD in adults, and extended that to adolescents (see Books). Dr. Safren now lives in Miami, Florida, along with his husband, 2 kids and 4 rescue dogs.

Research and career
In 2004, Steven Safren founded the Behavioral Medicine Education Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The Behavioral Medicine Program (BMED) at Massachusetts General Hospital provides specialized care at the intersection of psychology and health for patients impacted by both medical and psychiatric conditions through clinical work, professional training and research. The treatment programs and research conducted by the Behavioral Medicine Program have emphasized the use of validated, state-of-the art treatment interventions based on the latest research to help patients reach their best levels of mental and physical health.

In 2016, Dr. Safren moved to the University of Miami Psychology Department and started his research lab there, the Health Promotion and Care (HPAC) Lab. In this capacity he is PI, co-investigator, or collaborator on various externally and internally-funded studies. He also, in 2019, founded the Center for HIV and Research in Mental Health (CHARM) at the University of Miami.

Awards and Honors/Recognition

 * 2009 A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award from Harvard Medical School


 * 2010. Fellow, American Psychological Association (APA) Division 44, (Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity)


 * 2019 APA Division 44 (Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity) Distinguished Book Award


 * 2019 APA Division 44 Distinguished Book Award in Lesbian, Gay, and/or Bisexual Psychology


 * 2015 IAPAC Pioneer Award for Outstanding Contributions to HIV Adherence Science/Practice


 * 2018-2019 University of Miami Cooper Fellow


 * 2020 SAVE Champion of Equality – Hall of Champion Award


 * 2020 Fellow, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)


 * 2017 APA Division 12 (Society of Clinical Psychology) Fellow


 * CBT Pioneer featured on the website for the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)

o LGBT Special Interest Group (currently the Sexual and Gender Minorities Special Interest Group)’s Student Research Award for 1997 from the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (formerly, The Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy)

Selected works
Books and Monographs:

1. Martell C, Safren SA, Prince S. Cognitive behavioral therapy with gay, lesbian, and bisexual clients. New York: Guilford Press, 2003.

2. Safren SA, Perlman CA, Sprich S, Otto MW. '''Mastery of your adult ADHD. Client Workbook'''. Oxford University Press, 2005.

-Dutch translation: Bij Volwassenen Cliëntenwerkboek: Een Programma Voor Cognitieve Gedragstherapie. NZ: Uitgeverij Nieuwezijds, 2006.

-German translation: Kognitive Verhaltens-therapie der ADHS des Erwachsenenalters. Medizinisch Wissenchafliche Vertagsgesellschaft (2007).

-Portuguese translation: Dominando o TDAH adulto: Programa de tratmento andomize-comportamental. Brazil: Artmed (2008).

-Turkish translation: Ankara, Turkey: Hyb Publishing. (2011).

-Swedish translation– Cereb, SW. (2011)

-Korean translation: Hakjisa Publisher, Inc.; Seoul, Korea (2011).

-Japanese translation: Nippon Hyoron-sha Ltd. Japan. (2011)

-Polish translation : Gdanskie Wydawnictwo Psychologczne (2013)

3. Safren SA, Sprich S, Perlman CA, Otto MW. Mastery of your adult ADHD, Therapist Manual. Oxford University Press, 2005.

Also translated to and published in Dutch, German, Portuguese, Turkish, Swedish, Korean, and Japanese per above client workbook.

4. Safren SA, Gonzalez JS, Soroudi N. Coping with Chronic Illness: Cognitive behavioral therapy for adherence and depression in individuals with chronic illness, Client Workbook. 2007, Oxford University Press.

Japanese translation: Shindan To Chiryo Sha. (2017)

5. Safren SA, Gonzalez JS, Soroudi N. Coping with Chronic Illness: Cognitive behavioral therapy for adherence and depression in individuals with chronic illness, Therapist Guide. 2007, Oxford University Press.

Also translated to and published in Japanese per client workbook

6. Vranceanu AM, Greer JA, Safren SA (editors). The MGH Handbook of Behavioral Medicine. NY: Humana Press (Springer). 2017.

7. Safren SA, Sprich S, Perlman CA, Otto MW. Mastery of your adult ADHD, Client Workbook, 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, 2017.

8. Safren SA, Sprich S, Perlman CA, Otto MW. Mastery of your adult ADHD, Therapist Manual, 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, 2017.

9. Naar S & Safren SA. Motivational interviewing and CBT: Combining strategies for maximum effectiveness. NY: Guilford Press. 2017.

Korean translation: Hakjisa Publisher, Seoul Korea (2017)

Swedish translation: Natur och Kultur, Stockholm, Sweden (2018).

Polish translation: Jagiellonian University Press (under agreement/in press).

10. Pachankis, J, Safren SA. (Editors). Handbook of Evidenced Based Mental Health Practice with Sexual and Gender Minority Clients. NY: Oxford University Press. 2019.

11. Sprich SE & Safren SA. '''Overcoming ADHD in adolescence: A cognitive behavioral approach. Therapist Manual.''' NY: Oxford University Press. 2020.

12. Sprich SE & Safren SA. '''Overcoming ADHD in adolescence: A cognitive behavioral approach. Client Guide.''' NY Oxford University Press. 2020.

13. Pachankis JE, Harkness A, Jackson SD, Safren SA. Transdiagnostic LGBTQ-Affirmative Cognitive- Behavioral Therapy: Therapist Guide. NY: Oxford University Press. 2022

14. Pachankis JE, Jackson SD, Harkness A, Safren SA. Transdiagnostic LGBTQ-Affirmative Cognitive- Behavioral Therapy: Client Workbook. NY: Oxford University Press. 2022.

Articles/publications

NIH Citations

Google Scholar Citations