About Joan Kavanaugh

Dr. Kavanaugh is a psychotherapist and ordained minister (UCC) who founded the Counseling Center at New York City's Riverside Church in 1978. She served as Director of the Counseling Center and as clergy at Riverside through 2011. She holds a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary; Certificates in Pastoral Psychotherapy and Marriage and Family Therapy from Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute; and a Doctor of Ministry in Psychology and Clinical Studies from Andover-Newton Theological School. She received a "Distinguished Alumna" Award from BGPI for her leadership in the field. She is currently in private practice in New York City.

Dr. Kavanaugh is a clinical member of the Association of Marriage and Family Therapists and a Diplomate in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. She is licensed to practice in New York State.

As Director of the Riverside Counseling Center, she provided leadership in psychotherapy, spirituality, worship, teaching and consulting. She consults widely in the area of grief, loss and trauma.

A collection of Dr. Kavanaugh’s public pastoral prayers, For the Living of These Days: Prayers for a Troubled World, has been published by Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers.