Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics

Robin Gurwitch, PhD, is a Professor and Program Coordinator of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Marriage and Family Therapist. She received her doctorate in Clinical / Medical Psychology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She completed her internship in Pediatric Psychology at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago and did a fellowship in Child Psychology at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. She is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association. Dr. Gurwitch specializes in work with children, particularly those considered at-risk.

Since the bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995, Dr. Gurwitch has devoted much time to understanding the impact of trauma and disaster on children. She has served on State and national committees and task forces focusing on trauma, disaster, terrorism and violence. Most recently, she was appointed to the Human Services Recovery Subcommittee of the National Commission on Children and Disasters and the Planning Committee for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), on pediatric issues in emergency response.  Dr. Gurwitch has co-authored a treatment manual for use with young children after a trauma. As an active American Red Cross volunteer; she helped the American Red Cross develop materials related to terrorism and disaster for use in schools, for disaster mental health training, Psychological First Aid, and Psychological First Aid for Military Families coping with deployment. She and her colleagues have written book chapters and scientific journal articles on the topics of terrorism and disasters, preparedness, trauma, resilience, psychological first aid, and issues around children considered at-risk due to parental substance abuse, child maltreatment, and difficult behaviors. She and her colleagues developed Psychological First Aid materials for parents and for teachers that are posted on the US Homeland Security website (www.ready.gov).

Dr. Gurwitch has presented on these topics at state, national and international levels. She served on the American Psychological Association's task force on resilience and is a member of their Disaster Response Network. Since the events of September 11, 2001, and their aftermath, Dr. Gurwitch has been providing training and consultation services and developing materials on the impact of terrorism on children and families to agencies, schools and organizations, including federal organizations, across the country. She was actively involved in training with school personnel and mental health professionals following the series of hurricanes in Florida in 2004 and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Dr. Gurwitch is Chair of the American Psychological Association’s Presidential Task Force on Mental Health Needs for Military Families.

As Program Coordinator for the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, Dr. Gurwitch works to improve understanding and response to children by schools and other child-serving systems  in times of crisis and loss. She is a co-investigator with the Terrorism and Disaster Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and a member of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) cadre of experts on disaster mental health. Finally, Dr. Gurwitch is a member of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center training faculty in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy.