Dr. Leslie Greenberg is a psychologist with nearly five decades of experience. He earned his Ph.D. in psychology from York University in 1975. His first academic position was at the University of British Columbia in counseling psychology. In 1981, he undertook an externship at the Mental Research Institute in California. Initially, he received training in client-centered therapy. Later, he expanded his training to include Gestalt therapy and gained exposure to numerous other approaches over the years, including systemic-interactional, psychodynamic, and cognitive therapy. In 1986, he returned to York University in Toronto as a professor of psychology, and is now Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of Psychology. Dr. Greenberg is the primary developer of Emotion-Focused Therapy. He has published numerous articles and authored several pioneering books on Emotion-Focused Therapy, addressing topics such as the dynamics of emotion, love and power, therapeutic presence, generalized anxiety, forgiveness, and emotional change.
Dr. Greenberg is a founding member of the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and a past president of the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR), where he was honored with the Distinguished Research Career Award in 2004. The Canadian Psychological Association awarded him the Professional Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology as a Profession. Furthermore, the American Psychological Association recognized him with both the APA Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research and the Carl Rogers Award. He has also been on the editorial board of many psychotherapy journals. Currently, he trains individuals worldwide in emotion-focused approaches.