Mary K. Alvord, PhD, is awarded an APA Presidential Citation for her lifelong dedication and passion for advancing the health and resilience of children, adolescents and their families through her innovative practice.
Alvord is a creative thinker and problem solver who has used her skills and energy to directly improve the lives of children with anxiety in myriad ways. Her thriving group psychotherapy practice promotes evidence based care, use of innovative technologies and evaluation of care in order to continually improve the services that are offered and to broaden the reach. She has co-authored two well-received books and two digital recordings to share her knowledge with other therapists and the public. She presents regularly to other professionals on the innovative and successful work of the practice and has partnered with academic researchers to systematically evaluate their work and refine it. She is sought after for her wisdom on the psychological health and concerns of children and adolescents and has been a featured expert in numerous national news publications and programs as well as leading efforts educate the public about mental health care and well being. Most recently, Alvord founded a non-profit charity, Resilience Across Borders, Inc, to promote mental health services to youth, particularly youth in under resourced settings. Not only has Alvord thrived as a practicing psychologist, she has mentored and developed scores of psychologists and other professionals who themselves are now providing high quality, evidence based care and continually evaluating their practices in order to improve their work. Alvord truly has integrated the science of psychology with its practice and has created effective models for others to do the same.