Gewirtz Abigail, PhD, LP

Assistant Professor

Dr. Gewirtz, is Assistant Professor in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota.  She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University in 1997, and completed a clinical psychology internship at the VA Medical Center in West Haven, CT.  Dr. Gewirtz was on the faculty of the Yale Child Study Center from 1996-2000, where she also was Director of Operations for the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence at Yale.  Her primary interests are in trauma, resilience, and development, with two distinct but interrelated research foci:

(1) The impact of exposure to cumulative traumatic stressors (violence and homelessness) on parenting, child and family functioning.

(2) The development and implementation of evidence-based, family-focused interventions in community settings, using community-based participatory methods.

Dr. Gewirtz is Principal Investigator and Project Director of the Minnesota Child Response Center, a Community Treatment and Services Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (funded by SAMHSA), whose goal is to raise the standard of care, and to increase access to care by adapting and disseminating best practices for traumatized homeless and formerly homeless children and families.   She is also Co-Investigator on an NIMH-funded grant (Gerald August, Ph.D., PI) to assess the Early Risers intervention as a tailored, selective prevention delivery system for formerly homeless children in supportive housing.  

www.childresponse.org  - MN Child Response Center website