Dr. Kathryn Hecht

I am a child and adolescent OCD and anxiety specialist, but also a mom, speaker, author, parent coach, rock climber, pizza lover, and bravery cheerleader. I received my doctorate from the University of Minnesota's joint Ph.D. program in developmental and clinical psychology at the Institute of Child Development. Advised by Dr. Dante Cicchetti, I started out my career doing research on how scary and stressful stuff impacts how kids develop. I published a few papers, but what I really learned from all that work was that kids can handle really hard things, and that all kids can be brave if they get the chance. I decided to spend my career trying to help kids be brave, and helping other grown–ups help kids too. I am a member of the International OCD Foundation’s training faculty for their Behavior Therapy Training Institute, and I present both locally and nationally on pediatric anxiety/OCD and exposure-based CBT. I’m also the author of the Be Brave Activity Book, a CBT-based anxiety workbook for kids, and DareDecks, a series of card decks for building bravery. You can find more about my clinical practice at drkathrynhecht.com.

PS: I can pretend to be a grown up for about 20 minutes before I revert to a goofy 9–year–old. You’ve been warned.