Cheryl Best, PhD

Cheryl Best, PhD, is a psychologist in the Mood Disorders Center at the Child Mind Institute. Dr. Best specializes in evidence-based assessment and treatment of youth from early childhood through young adulthood. She specializes in treating effects of trauma across the lifespan, suicidality and self-injury, depression, anxiety, and behavioral concerns. Her theoretical orientation draws from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and her work with children and families is guided by a relational and attachment-based approach. Dr. Best has received extensive training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT and DBT-C), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). She regularly implements Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in her work with children and families and has received training in Trauma and Grief Component Therapy for Adolescents (TGCTA) and Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE). She is certified through the trauma-informed UC Davis model of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), an evidence-based family intervention for behavioral problems in preschool-aged children.

Dr. Best is passionate about providing high-quality psychological services to high-risk, diagnostically complex youth and their families. She is committed to reducing barriers to quality mental health care through prevention services, family and community interventions, and public education initiatives that are culturally sensitive and focused on the particular needs of the individual and/or family system. She is particularly interested in how culture shapes psychological wellbeing and helping parents navigate the unique challenges of cycle-breaking from intergenerational trauma.

• Post-doctoral Fellow in Child Clinical Psychology, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA
• Pre-doctoral Psychology Intern in Child Clinical Psychology, CAARE (Child and Adolescent Abuse Resource and Evaluation) Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA
• Practicum Student, U.S. Veterans Affairs, Boston, MA
• Practicum Student, CapitalCare Developmental Pediatrics, Latham, NY
• Practicum Student, Rensselaer County Mental Health, Troy, NY
• Mental Health Specialist, McLean Hospital OCD Institute for Children, Belmont, MA

• PhD, Clinical Psychology, State University of New York at Albany
• MA, Clinical Psychology, State University of New York at Albany
• BA, Psychology, Harvard University