About OTI

The Open Therapy Institute (OTI) is at the forefront of a burgeoning area of mental health care, developing innovative, evidence-based tools to help people, support professionals, and address social issues. Top scholars, researchers, and clinicians are applying a wide range of theoretical models to understand current challenges and disseminate this knowledge throughout the field and to the general public.

When people make connections to others and get support, they’re more likely to speak up. This can improve dialogue, understanding, and viewpoint diversity, as well as mental health. These positive changes can then ripple throughout the larger society. Whether you’re a mental health professional, a patient, the leader of an organization, or just a citizen looking for openness and dialogue, OTI is developing solutions to help make things better.

Meet Our Team

Andrew Hartz, Ph.D.

  • Andrew Hartz is a practicing clinical psychologist. He was formerly a professor in the clinical psychology doctoral program at Long Island University, where he also completed his Ph.D. He completed his clinical internship at Columbia University Medical Center, and he also completed training at Mount Sinai Hospital and the William Alanson White Institute. For several years, he’s written about political issues and mental health for outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, City Journal, Discourse, the Federalist, Real Clear Education, Heterodox Academy, and the New York Post.

Sally Satel, M.D.

  • Sally Satel is a practicing psychiatrist and lecturer at the Yale University School of Medicine. She examines mental health policy as well as political trends in medicine. Her publications include “PC, M.D.: How Political Correctness Is Corrupting Medicine,” “The Health Disparities Myth,” “When Altruism Isn’t Enough: The Case for Compensating Organ Donors,” and “One Nation Under Therapy” coauthored with Christina Hoff Sommers. Her recent book, “Brainwashed – The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience” with Scott Lilienfeld, was a 2014 finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Science.

Camilo Ortiz, Ph.D.

  • Camilo Ortiz is an associate professor and director of clinical training in the clinical psychology doctoral program at Long Island University-Post. He is also a fellow with the Flourishing in Action project at the Archbridge Institute’s Human Flourishing Lab. His scholarship focuses on child anxiety and disruptive behavior, parenting, and cognitive behavior therapy for child and adult psychiatric disorders. He is a licensed psychologist in New York State and maintains a private practice where he sees adults and children. He received a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a B.S. in Human Development from Cornell University.

Michael Strambler, Ph.D.

  • Michael Strambler is an Associate Professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, where he is the Director of Child Wellbeing and Education Research. He received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of California at Berkeley. He has received awards from the Ford Foundation, the American Psychological Foundation, and the W. T. Grant Foundation. He has served as an ad hoc reviewer for numerous publications and has written extensively on social-emotional learning and other topics.

Pamela Paresky, Ph.D.

  • Pamela Paresky holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in human development and psychology from the University of Chicago. She has taught at the University of Chicago, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and Johns Hopkins University. She’s the author of the guided journal “A Year of Kindness,” and was the primary researcher and in-house editor for the bestselling book “The Coddling of the American Mind.” Her current project is “Habits of a Free Mind: Psychology for Democracy and the Good Life.” An example of this work can be found here.

Larry Amsel, M.D., MPH

  • Larry Amsel serves as an Attending Psychiatrist and a Research Psychiatrist at Columbia University. Dr. Amsel studied mathematics at Columbia University before entering Yale University School of Medicine. After completing residency training, he joined the Columbia faculty completing two National Institute of Mental Health research fellowships and obtained a Masters in Public Health (MPH) specializing in mental health statistics and Child Psychiatry Research. As an expert in the effects of traumatic experiences, after 9/11, Dr. Amsel co-directed the Trauma Studies and Services Division at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Amsel serves as an expert witness in matters related to psychiatry and has expertise in complex legal issues in psychiatry.

Dean McKay, Ph.D., ABPP

  • Dean McKay is Professor of Psychology at Fordham University, Co-Director of Wellness Associates LLC, and Chief Clinical Science Officer for Better Living Center for Behavioral Health. He is Past President of the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology, and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. He has edited or co-edited 22 books and published over 350 journal articles and book chapters. Dr. McKay is a licensed psychologist in NY, CT, and MA and board certified from the American Board of Professional Psychology in both Cognitive-Behavioral and Clinical Psychology. His expertise is in anxiety disorders, OCD, and the role of disgust in psychopathology.

Douglas Novotny, Ph.D.

  • Doug Novotny is a practicing clinical psychologist, with 25 years clinical experience and 14 years teaching and supervising therapists. He completed an interdisciplinary psychology Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, and Internship at Harvard’s Cambridge Hospital. He recently founded Your Positive Sum LLC to offer constructive solutions to “culture war” problems — problems that undermine psychology, education, and more generally corrode the values and civil society institutions upon which the Western model of freedom and human flourishing is built. 

Paul Garcia-Ryan, LCSW

  • Paul Garcia-Ryan is a New York City based psychotherapist in private practice with a clinical focus on trauma, dissociation, and identity development. His expertise in gender dysphoria has afforded him the opportunity to regularly support therapists working in this area and to educate professionals in competent practice with gender non-conforming people, identity formation, and psychosocial approaches to managing gender dysphoria. He holds a Master of Social Work from Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work.

Val Thomas, DPsych, FHEA

  • Val Thomas is a UK-based psychotherapist, writer, and formerly a counsellor educator. Recently, she has focused on drawing attention to the encroachments of Critical Social Justice on the therapy field. She co-founded the online platform Critical Therapy Antidote and recently edited a book of essays, “Cynical Therapies: Perspectives on the Antitherapeutic nature of Critical Social Justice.” She has also published two other books “Using Mental Imagery in Counselling and Psychotherapy” and “Using Mental Imagery to Enhance Creative and Work-Related processes.”

Jon Mills, Psy.D., Ph.D., ABPP

  • Jon Mills is a Canadian philosopher, psychoanalyst, and retired clinical psychologist. He is Honorary Professor, Department of Psychosocial & Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, UK; Faculty in the Postgraduate Programs in Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy, Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology, Adelphi University, USA; Faculty & Supervising Analyst at the New School for Existential Psychoanalysis, USA; and is Emeritus Professor of Psychology & Psychoanalysis at Adler Graduate Professional School, Toronto, Canada where he taught for over 20 years. Recipient of numerous awards for his scholarship, he is the author and/or editor of over 35 books and 200 peer reviewed articles in philosophy, psychoanalysis, psychology, and cultural studies. Dr. Mills is an internationally recognized scholar, teacher, cultural critic, and award-winning author who maintains an active writing schedule, and lectures widely worldwide.

Daniel Burston, Ph.D.

  • Daniel Burston holds Ph.D.s in both Psychology and Social and Political Thought. He taught psychology at Duquesne University from 1992 to 2023, and chaired the department from 2006 to 2012. He's written numerous books, including "The Legacy of Erich Fromm,” "The Wing of Madness: The Life and Work of R.D. Laing,” "The Crucible of Experience: R.D. Laing and the Crisis of Psychotherapy," "Erik Erikson and the American Psyche: Ego, Ethics, and Evolution," "Psychoanalysis, Politics and the Postmodern University," and "Antisemitism and Analytical Psychology: Jung, Politics and Culture." He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Kesher: Journal of the Association of Jewish Psychologists.”

Joshua Aronson, Ph.D.

  • Joshua Aronson is associate Professor of Applied Psychology at New York University, where he directs the Mindful Education Lab, a group of psychologists and neuroscientists dedicated to using research to improve the environments and psychological functioning and learning of people confronted with stress. Internationally known for his pioneering research on topics like “Growth Mindset,” his work has been referenced in 4 Supreme Court cases and is widely cited in Law, Education, Psychology, and human development. Listed by Education Week as among the most influential education scholars in America, Joshua is co-author of “The Social Animal,” now in its 12th edition.

Bret Alderman, Ph.D.

  • Bret Alderman received his PhD in depth psychology in 2013 from the Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpinteria, California. He is a contributing author of "Cynical Therapies: Perspectives on the Anti-therapeutic Nature of Critical Social Justice." His first book, "Symptom, Symbol, and the Other of Language," explores postmodern conceptions of language from a depth psychological perspective. His most recent book, "Eternal Youth and the Myth of Deconstruction," addresses the philosophy of deconstruction as it appears in the works of Jacques Derrida and Judith Butler. His recent interests include ideological possession, deconstruction, gender, and the interface between psychology and philosophy.

Coral Harriman, Ph.D.

  • Coral Harriman is a practicing clinical psychologist, as well as past lecturer and community-based child advocate. She has training in both psychodynamic and systems-based approaches. She has worked with culturally diverse populations across the U.S. with both an individual and couples/family focus. Her interests include depth psychology, philosophical perspectives on cultural paradigms and the role of political ideology on human development.

Craig Frisby, Ph.D.

  • Craig Frisby recently retired from the School Psychology training program at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He has been an associate editor for the journals School Psychology Review and Psychological Assessment, and he is currently associate editor for the Journal of Open Inquiry in Behavioral Science. He serves on the American Institutes for Research (AIR) National Center on Intensive Intervention Academic Screening Technical Review Committee. He is co-editor for the “Comprehensive Handbook of Multicultural School Psychology,” “Cultural Competence in Applied Psychology,” and is author of “Meeting the Psychoeducational Needs of Minority Students.” He is the lead editor for an upcoming book to be published in 2022-23 entitled “Ideological and Political Bias in Psychology: Nature, Scope and Solutions.”

Richard Redding, J.D., Ph.D.

  • Richard Redding is a professor of Psychology and Education and Ronald D. Rotunda Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence, at Chapman University. He was previously a professor at Villanova University, Drexel University, and the University of Virginia. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Psychological Science. Among Dr. Redding's publications are "Sociopolitical Diversity in Psychology: The Case for Pluralism" (American Psychologist, 2023), "Sociopolitical Values: The Neglected Factor in Culturally-Competent Psychotherapy" (in Prejudice, Stigma, Privilege, and Oppression: A Behavioral Health Handbook, 2020), Ideological and Political Bias in Psychology: Nature, Scope, and Solutions" (Springer, 2023), and "Sociopolitical Values as the Deep Culture in Culturally-Competent Psychotherapy" (Clinical Psychological Science, 2023).

    *Richard is a researcher in clinical psychology, and not a practitioner. Please do not contact with therapy inquiries.

Melia Dunbar

  • Melia Dunbar coordinates the administrative activities for the Open Therapy Institute (OTI). Dunbar previously worked in communications and administrative support in higher education.