Bio

Lata K. McGinn, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist. She is a Professor of Psychology at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University and Director of the Cognitive & Behavioral Therapies (CBT) Training Program for Anxiety Disorders, OCD, Trauma, and Depression.

Dr. McGinn’s clinical, training, and research expertise is in Cognitive and behavioral therapies (CBT) for the prevention and treatment of stress, trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety conditions (general anxiety, social anxiety, panic, phobias), depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). She has developed unified vulnerability models for how these conditions develop and get maintained and examines the effects of environmental, cognitive, and behavioral factors as contributors of vulnerability. Dr. McGinn has developed a CBT augmented Psychological First Aid (PFA Plus) intervention to prevent the development of PTSD and build resilience. She has also developed a depression prevention intervention and has tested the efficacy of this intervention in a NIH funded research study. She has also developed the Mind-Action-Mood (M&M) Program, a Universal (Tier 1) program, and implemented it in schools to prevent anxiety and depression, build resilience and improve academic and behavioral functioning.

Dr. McGinn’s extensive publications span peer-reviewed journal articles, chapters, and her co-authored books, "Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder" and "Treatment Plans and Interventions for Depression and Anxiety Disorders,” which has been translated into 14 languages. Dr. McGinn treats adults and adolescents in her practice, teaches and supervises doctoral trainees, conducts research, authors books and articles, presents her research worldwide, gives invited keynotes, lectures, master clinician seminars, and workshops, and provides consultation throughout the world to professionals, consumers, schools, agencies, and companies. Her expertise has been highlighted by various media outlets including NBC, CNN, the New York Times, The Huffington Post, AllYou, Bustle, Elite Daily, Parents, Shape, USA Today, Women’s Health, and Women’s World and more.

Dr. McGinn is the president of the World Confederation of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies (WCCBT) and in that capacity, works with local, national, and regional organizations across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australasia, and Africa as well as with Global organizations like the World Health Organization to promote evidence-based mental health practices. In 2019, she spearheaded the global initiative to found the World Confederation of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies (WCCBT). She is also a past president of the International Association of CBT (IACBT) and continues to serve on IACBT’s Board of Directors. She previously served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT as the program chair of the ABCT convention in 2009 and is currently the chair of ABCT’s International Associates Committee. She is also a founding fellow, certified Diplomate and Consultant-Trainer, and a Past-President of the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies (A-CBT). Dr. McGinn is a founding fellow of the New York CBT (NYC-CBT) association, helped found the Indian Association of CBT (IACBT) and is its honorary president.

Dr. McGinn is also the Vice-President of the Access Psychology Foundation (APF), which she co-founded in 2021. APF provides mental health funding for treatment and training in evidence-based mental health for underserved populations. From 2015-2020, she also served on the board of the Bogliasco Foundation, which provides funding for the arts and humanities. Dr. McGinn served on the advisory board of PsyInnovations/WayForward, a digital evidence-based mental health company, from its launch in 2015 until it was acquired by DarioHealth Corp in 2021.

Dr. McGinn serves on the editorial board of peer-reviewed journals such as Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, International Journal of Cognitive Therapy and Cognitive and Behavior Practice, on the advisory boards of the Journal of Cognitive Behavior Psychotherapy and served as the associate editor of the peer-reviewed journal Cognitive Therapy and Research. She also served on Division 12, APA’s task force on Evidence-Based Doctoral Training.

In recognition of her achievements in the field, Dr. McGinn has earned the title of Beck Scholar by the Beck Institute and was appointed a Fellow of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapies (ABCT). She received a Certificate of Appreciation by ABCT in recognition of her professional contributions on trauma prevention interventions on a Trauma Taskforce following September 11, 2001. Dr. McGinn was awarded ABCT’s Outstanding Service to CBT award in 2020, and was designated as a Global Thought Leader in 2022. She was recognized as a distinguished psychology alumnus by Montefiore Medical Center-Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2024 and received Westfair’s Innovator award in September 2025. In November 2025, Dr. McGinn was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies for outstanding and enduring global impact in pioneering and advancing scientific research, training, and access to evidence‑based mental health care, and leadership in local, regional, and global dissemination and mental‑health capacity building.