David A. Verhaagen (born June 21, 1964) is an American psychologist and the author or co-author of nine books, including Therapy with Young Men, Assessing and Managing Violence Risk in Juveniles, Sexually Aggressive Youth, and Parenting the Millennial Generation. As a licensed psychologist who earned his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Verhaagen previously served as clinical director for three mental health agencies. He is a founding partner of Southeast Psych, a large psychology practice in Charlotte, NC and Nashville, TN. He is board-certified in Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology and is a Fellow of both The American Board of Clinical Psychology and The American Board of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. He has been cited several times in USA Today[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] and Newsweek.[7] He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University with the Ph.D. Clinical Psychology program.
As an author, Verhaagen has written on a range of topics, including parenting, violence risk, and therapeutic processes. His writings are unified by a focus on the positive, resiliency-based aspects of psychology. Verhaagen has individually authored two books. Published in 2010,Therapy with Young Men: 16-24 Year Olds in Treatment (Routledge) provides a model of therapy for working with young men in their late teens and early twenties. The book draws from the influences of Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, and Positive Psychology.[8] His book, Parenting the Millennial Generation: Guiding Our Children Born Between 1982 and 2000 (2005, Greenwood Publishing), offers research-based parenting strategies for building resilience in children. As with most of his writing, the book focuses on how to build on each individual's unique strengths.[9] His most recent book, "How White Evangelicals Think: The Psychology of White Conservative Christians," offers insights about evangelicals from the perspective of both psychological research and as an evangelical insider.[10]
Verhaagen has co-authored six books, including Assessing and Managing Violence Risk in Juveniles with Dr. Randy Borum, (2006, Guilford Press).[11] He also co-authored Sexually Aggressive Youth: A Guide to Comprehensive Residential Treatment (2001, Praeger Press) with Tim Lemmond, M.A.[12] With Lemmond, he also co-wrote the chapter, “Successful Transitions of Sexually Aggressive Youth from Secure Residential Settings to Less Secure Community Settings,” published in On Transitions from Group Care: Homeward Bound in 2003.[13]
Verhaagen contributed the opening chapter entitled, “Seven Keys to Developing Your Dream Non-Managed Care Practice” to Earning a Living Outside of Managed Mental Health Care (2010, APA Books).[14] He also contributed a chapter to Breaking Barriers in Counseling Men: Insights and Innovations (2013, Routledge) [15] He has also written chapters for The Walking Dead Psychology[16] and Game of Thrones Psychology,[17] both edited by Dr. Travis Langley.