Director of Research and Development
Michelle Friedman-Yakoobian, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and is the Director of Research and Development at the CEDAR Clinic. Dr. Friedman-Yakoobian co-founded the CEDAR Clinic in 2009. Currently, she supervises trainees in the clinic, and provides clinical consultations as well as individual and family therapy. She is also an early psychosis trainer for the New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (NE-MHTTC) and is the Chair of a National Early Psychosis Working Group for the Mental Health Technology Transfer Centers. In addition, Dr. Friedman-Yakoobian presents at schools and other community youth agencies to raise awareness about new advances in early detection and treatment of early signs of psychosis.
Clinical Interests: Dr. Friedman-Yakoobian is devoted to the development and implementation of effective psychosocial interventions for individuals experiencing psychosis (or signs of risk) and their families. She ran a pilot study evaluating a new family intervention designed to help clients and families learn strategies for overcoming cognitive deficits related to psychosis. She also adapted a cognitive enhancement treatment (CLUES- Cognition for Learning and for Understanding Everyday Social Situations) for youth at clinical high risk for psychosis. She authored Everything You Need to Know about Schizophrenia (The Rosen Publishing Group, 2000), a book for teenagers about schizophrenia.
Academic: Dr. Friedman-Yakoobian is an Assistant Professor 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.