Education and Formal Training
Dr. Hersh is a licensed clinical psychologist and holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a specialization in child and family clinical psychology. He is also a diplomate in Comprehensive Energy Psychology, certified through the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology. Dr. Hersh is also a certified Koru Mindfulness teacher with Harvard University’s Center for Wellness and Health Promotion and received training through the Center for Koru Mindfulness affiliated with Duke University. Prior to his current private practice in Arlington, Massachusetts, Dr. Hersh completed two specialized post-doctoral training experiences through Children’s Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School and Boston University’s Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders. He completed his clinical internship in Psychology at Children’s Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School. Most recently he has held an affiliation with Children’s Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School in Department of Psychiatry.
Approach to Therapy and Areas of Expertise
Dr. Hersh maintains several areas of expertise and approaches to therapy to suit the needs of the person seeking services. Dr. Hersh has been trained in cognitive-behavioral, insight-oriented, and mindfulness- and acceptance-based therapies and has special interests in integrating positive psychology, mindfulness-based, and self-compassion oriented approaches into more contemporary cognitive-behavioral practice. Dr. Hersh also incorporates more mind-body approaches into therapy, including breath work, guided imagery, and Energy Psychology. Dr. Hersh is certified in Comprehensive Energy Psychology (CEP), which involves harnessing different subtle energy systems of the body (ex., meridian system) to effect change in thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and other mind-body patterns.
Dr. Hersh specializes in child and family clinical psychology as well as young adult and adult psychotherapy. During his two-year fellowship at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Dr. Hersh further specialized his training through extensive work treating children, teens, and adults with a broad range of stress, anxiety, and mood disorders. He also gained particularly unique expertise treating children, teens, and adults in an intensive, short-term treatment format that can begin to help decrease symptoms and improve functioning in approximately one week.
Mindfulness & Meditation Experience
Dr. Hersh has trained for nearly 20 years in a personal practice of mindfulness meditation (in the Vipassana, or “insight meditation” tradition). Dr. Hersh has participated in mindfulness-based education through the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine as well as the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, attending classes and retreats, participating in workshops, and engaging in ongoing dialogue with mindfulness practitioners and researchers alike. This training helps to inform Dr. Hersh’s experiential and research-based knowledge about how to assist others in incorporating such mindfulness- and acceptance-based practices into their own lives. Dr. Hersh currently facilitates mindfulness and meditation groups to help enhance participants’ self-care, stress management, and mindful leadership, to name a few.
Research & Scholarly Writing
Dr. Hersh has been involved in a number of research endeavors that revolve around themes of how emotions are socialized in children, adolescents’ tendency to use substances to cope with difficult emotion, and therapeutic interventions that integrate cognitive-behavioral with mindfulness- and acceptance-based approaches for youth and adults. While at Children’s Hospital Boston, Dr. Hersh helped to develop an mindfulness-based parenting skills intervention for parents of children with behavior problems. Data are currently being collected to ascertain the feasibility and acceptability of this intervention. Dr. Hersh has also co-authored articles on ethics, self-care, and well-being for psychologists, an area of interest that reaches into consultation services, course offerings, and daily self-practice.
Memberships
Dr. Hersh is currently a member of the American Psychological Association and Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. He frequently updates his knowledge about the latest evidence-based practices through the scientific literature and attendance at specialized conferences in order to provide state-of-art psychotherapy to his clients.
