Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D., ABPP currently serves as the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of psychology and neuroscience, and the assistant dean for Honors Carolina at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served as the director of clinical psychology at Yale University before being recruited to UNC to serve in that same position for more than a dozen years. He is board certified (ABPP) in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.
Mitch’s research examines interpersonal models of internalizing symptoms and health risk behaviors among adolescents, with a specific focus on the unique role of peer relationships in the developmental psychopathology of depression and self-injury. He has served as president of the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology and president of the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. He also served as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, associate editor of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, and on the executive boards of the American Psychological Association, the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology, the Coalition for the Advancement and Application of Psychological Science and the publication board of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.
Mitch has been recognized for his contributions to research (American Psychological Association Society of Clinical Psychology Theodore Blau Early Career Award, Columbia University/Brickell Award for research on suicidality), classroom instruction (e.g., the UNC Chapel Hill Tanner Award for Undergraduate Teaching, the Psi Chi Professor of the Year Award, the Psychology Club Department Research Mentor Award), for professional development training (APAGS Raymond D. Fowler Award), as a mentor (e.g., ABCT Outstanding Mentor Award, SSCP Lawrence H. Cohen Outstanding Mentor Award), and for his national contributions to education and training at the local, state, and national level (CUDCP Beverly Thorn Award for Outstanding DCT Service). He also is the author of Popular: Finding Happiness and Success in a World That Cares Too Much About the Wrong Kinds of Relationships, translated into seven languages and sold in more than 150 countries. Mitch and his work have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Time, Forbes, CNN, The Atlantic and many other outlets.