Amit Bernstein

POSITIONS

Professor, Clinical Psychology, School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa

Director, Observing Minds Lab

Visiting Professor, Center for Healthy Minds & Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH

Education & Positions. I completed a BA in psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Vermont, a pre-doctoral internship at the Palo Alto VA, and a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine and the Palo Alto VA Center for Health Care Evaluation. In 2008, I joined the School of Psychological Sciences (Clinical Psychology Program) at the University of Haifa, where I was granted tenure in 2010, promoted to Associate Professor in 2014 and to Full Professor in 2018. Currently, I am on sabbatical enjoying the privilege of serving as a Visiting Professor at the Center for Healthy Minds and the Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Research Program. Over my career, I have studied internally-directed cognition in mental health, exploring the (mal)adaptive ways that people process, relate to, and respond to their internal states (e.g. thought, sensation, emotion). This has also involved the development and study of approaches to therapeutically re-train internally-directed cognition to promote mental health and buffer the toxicity of adversity and trauma. I have done this work through two key programs of research – the Looking In Project and the Moments of Refuge Project. With students and colleagues, I have co-authored 160+ articles and book chapters, an edited book, and multiple special issues (h-index = 62, i10-index = 130, # citations = 12,068 (Google Scholar). Our empirical and theoretical work has been published in high-impact journals (e.g. Clinical Psychological Science, Perspective on Psychological Science, Current Directions, Psychological Bulletin, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Emotion, Psychological Inquiry, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, and Epidemiology & Psychiatric Sciences).

Research Funding. My group’s Looking In and Moments of Refuge projects have been possible due to 15+ years of continuous extramural grant funding from a range of (inter)national scientific funding agencies, private foundations, and philanthropy. These include the Israel Science Foundation, European Union FP-7 – People Programme, Israeli Council for Higher Education, Psychology Beyond Borders, European Commission – European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, Rothschild Caesarea Foundation, Mind & Life Institute, and European Mind & Life Institute, and institutional support.

Recognition. My work has been recognized by the National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award Fellowship, American Psychological Association's (Distinguished PhD Research award), Israel Council of Higher Education’s highest honor for early career scientists (Yigal Alon Fellowship), EU Horizons Marie Curie Reintegration award, Ben and Hilda Katz Foundation visiting scientist fellowship, Mind & Life Institute Research Fellowship, and Mind & Life Summer Research Institute Plenary Faculty appointments. In 2017, I was honored by an appointment to the most esteemed early career academic society in Israel – the Israel Young Academy of the Israel National Academy of Sciences and Humanities. My group’s research has also been featured in a range of popular media – ranging from a full-length documentary film (My Year of Living Mindfully), (inter)national radio (e.g. Australian Broadcasting - All in the Mind), to a front-page story in Israel’s equivalent of the weekend edition of the New York Times (Ha’aretz).

Teaching & Mentoring. I thrive on engaging with students (and colleagues!) around scholarship, science and ideas. My lab is a team-based learning environment characterized by intellectual curiosity and rigor. I aspire to inspire students to individually and collectively strive for excellence, innovation, inter-disciplinarity, and inter-cultural exchange and social inclusion. I have mentored dozens of BA students, 21 MA students, 16 PhD students, and 2 postdoctoral fellows. I have actively sought out opportunities to train and support students from diverse and under-represented populations (e.g. Arab Palestinians, first-generation students, socio-economic periphery) and am proud to have mentored refugees and asylum-seekers through my group’s community-embedded laboratory. Moreover, over the past 15 years, I have provided clinical training and supervision to dozens of clinical psychology graduate students. In recent years, my clinical training has focused on evidence-based process-focused interventions and their inter-cultural 'translation' to socio-culturally diverse and marginalized populations, such as refugees. I have also held multiple leadership positions focused on teaching and educational programming (e.g., as Director of Clinical Training, Chair of Department Strategic Development, Director of the International Perspectives on Psychological Science Honors Program in the University of Haifa School of International Studies).

Diversity & Belonging. I am committed to the values and practices of diversity, equity and inclusion in my research, teaching and social engagement within and beyond the university. First, it has been my lived experience that the most enriching environments, that facilitate creative innovation and discovery, emerge from a shared pursuit of knowledge among a diverse body of learners, thinkers and stake-holders. Second, my commitment to these values and practices is also aligned with my broader world-view that values inter-dependence in human flourishing, the restorative power of compassion and justice, and the significance of representative liberal democratic institutions. Third, my perspective and commitment is also grounded in my lived experience and respective social positionality, and specifically, my own inter-generational familial and communal legacy as a Jew. My mother’s family was displaced, persecuted and ultimately lost during the atrocities of WWII because of their ethnic and religious identity. Part of this legacy is an ethical obligation to stand strong for the empowerment of marginalized minority communities, for truth and justice, and for a collective future characterized by cooperation and caring.

Leadership & Service. I have also learned a great deal over the past 15 years through extensive service. I served as a member on the University of Haifa’s highest academic steering committee - the University Academic Senate, the University of Haifa Board of Governors, the University of Haifa Honorary Doctorate Committee, the Research Faculty/Fellows Appointments and Promotion Committee, University Office of Research Faculty Steering committee, and the Academic Faculty Union’s Early-Career Faculty Development committee. I have also chaired and been a member on a number of school, departmental and program committees, including Search Committees for a Department Chair, multiple Faculty Search committees, a Scientific Colloquium Series committee, BA, MA and PhD Programs committees, a Psychology Laboratories committee, a Junior Faculty Recruitment and Development committee (founding chair), a School Leadership Executive Steering committee, Departmental Strategic Planning committee, Departmental Fund-Raising committee, Council of Higher Education Academic Review Departmental Strategic Planning committee (chair), and multiple Clinical Psychology Program committees. Most recently, I was given the by the University President’s office to serve as a University of Haifa Ambassador, which involved a year-long intensive training program in academic leadership, fund-raising and communications.