Clinical Psychologist · Author · International Lecturer · Clinician Trainer · NYU Professor
Dr. Michael Abrams is a board-certified clinical psychologist, clinician-scholar, and international speaker whose work has focused extensively on couples therapy, sexuality, intimacy, cognitive-behavioral treatment, and evolutionary psychology. He holds a PhD in psychology, an MBA, and board certification from the American Board of Professional Psychology. He is a Fellow, Supervisor, and Diplomate of the Albert Ellis Institute, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Psychology.
Direct Training and Collaboration with Albert Ellis
Dr. Abrams trained and collaborated directly with Dr. Albert Ellis — founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy and one of the pioneers of modern sex and couples treatment — for more than fifteen years. That collaboration produced multiple co-authored books and a scholarly book chapter. Very few practicing clinicians today can claim a direct co-authorship relationship with Ellis. That lineage is not a peripheral credential — it is the intellectual foundation of Dr. Abrams’ clinical and scholarly work.
Dr. Abrams has authored multiple books and scholarly publications addressing couples therapy, sexuality, intimacy, emotional functioning, and cognitive-behavioral treatment. His work examines how cognition, emotional regulation, evolutionary drives, and relationship dynamics interact to shape intimacy and long-term relational functioning. He developed Informed Cognitive Therapy, integrating evolutionary psychology and behavioral genetics into cognitive-behavioral practice.
Academic and Teaching Career
Dr. Abrams serves as Adjunct Full Professor in the Master’s program in psychology at New York University, where he teaches cognitive-behavioral therapy and the psychology of sex and relationships. He holds one of only thirteen National Board Certifications in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in New Jersey, and serves as a board examiner for psychologists seeking certification.
Clinical Training and International Lecturing
Dr. Abrams has lectured internationally on cognitive-behavioral therapy, couples treatment, sexuality, and evolutionary psychology, and has trained clinicians in the integration of relationship science with cognitive therapy.
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST · AUTHOR · SENIOR CLINICAL SUPERVISOR · COUPLES AND FAMILY SPECIALIST
Dr. Lidia Abrams is a clinical psychologist with more than thirty years of experience evaluating and treating couples and families. Her career has centered on the most challenging relational presentations — high-conflict couples, emotionally disengaged partnerships, treatment-resistant relationship dysfunction, and intimacy disruption across its full clinical range.
Direct Training with Albert Ellis
Dr. Lidia studied under and collaborated directly with Dr. Albert Ellis for more than fifteen years. Through that direct training and her subsequent decades of clinical practice, she developed a treatment framework that combines the emotional depth required for genuine relational change with the structured cognitive-behavioral approach
Supervision and Clinician Training
For more than two decades, Dr. Lidia has supervised and trained licensed clinicians in assessment and treatment of individuals, couples and families. Over the course of her career, she has trained or supervised dozens of psychotherapists across multiple disciplines and treatment settings.
Clinical and Executive Leadership
For the past 26 years Dr. Lidia Abrams has served as Executive Director of Resolve Community Counseling Center, a state-licensed nonprofit community mental health agency in Scotch Plains, NJ. Dr. Lidia also served as Chair of the New Jersey Psychological Association’s Ethical Education and Resource Committee for three years, and as a member of the Association’s Board of Directors for a year. She has been recognized as Person of Special Value by the Mental Health Association of New Jersey for her contributions in the field.
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