Shelley Avny, PhD

Shelley Avny, PhD is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Manhattan with expertise in assessing and treating anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. Before starting her own practice, Dr. Avny was the Director of the Selective Mutism Program at Kurtz Psychology, where she founded WeSpeak – an intensive behavioral group intervention for tweens/teens with SM. The WeSpeak program was featured in an episode of BBC World News as an illustration of the struggles faced by tweens/teens with SM and how WeSpeak addresses these difficulties. Dr. Avny is a frequent presenter at ABCT, ADAA, and the Selective Mutism Association (SMA), serves on the ABCT Website Editorial Board, and is on the ADAA and ABCT program committees. Dr. Avny is invested in optimizing treatment outcomes for children and adolescents with anxiety disorders, and uses the integration of theory, practice, and data to guide her in these efforts.