Natalia Skritskaya, PhD is an associate research scientist and founding member of Columbia University Center for Prolonged Grief with almost 20 years of clinical research experience. Her clinical psychology background emphasizes the cognitive-behavioral approach and evidence-based treatments. She had major roles in most of the research projects at the Center including as the overall coordinator and study therapist in two of the three efficacy trials for Prolonged Grief Therapy (PGT). Dr. Skritskaya was a co-investigator, trainer and supervisor of independent evaluators on a government funded study, Stepping Forward in Grief, which developed a mobile app and web intervention to promote adaptation to loss in a geographically-dispersed community of bereaved military families. She was a co-investigator and main research lead for the Columbia site of the CDC-funded study on grief and related quality of life in World Trade Center Survivors. In her own research she has been focused on developing and testing instruments for effectively measuring grief-related cognitions and behavioral avoidance. Dr. Skritskaya also serves as a PGT trainer and supervisor, especially for international trainees and visiting researchers at the Center for Prolonged Grief. She completed her undergraduate studies in psychology at St. Petersburg State University in Russia. She also holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Eastern Kentucky University and a doctoral degree in clinical and school psychology from Hofstra University. Dr. Skritskaya is a licensed psychologist applying prolonged grief therapy in her clinical practice.
