Anthony Chambers, PhD, ABPP

Chief Academic Officer

Anthony Chambers, PhD, ABPP, is the Chief Academic Officer and a board certified couple and family psychologist on staff at The Family Institute at Northwestern University. Chambers is also the director of Northwestern University’s Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies and is a clinical professor in the Department of Psychology. Chambers is the former director of both the Couple Therapy Program and the Postdoctoral Fellowship at The Family Institute. He is also one of the few psychologists in the nation who is certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) to treat couples. Chambers has formerly served as president of the American Psychological Association’s Society for Couple and Family Psychology, the premiere national organization for couple and family psychologists. 

Chambers received his undergraduate degree in psychology from Hampton University and completed his MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Virginia. He completed his internship and post-doctoral clinical residency at Harvard Medical School & Massachusetts General Hospital (HMS/MGH), specializing in the treatment of couples. Chambers also completed a two-year postgraduate fellowship specializing in couple therapy at The Family Institute. His clinical interests also include premarital counseling. Chambers has completed training and is an approved provider in two of the most comprehensive and well-respected divorce-prevention/marriage enhancing programs in the world: the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) and PREPARE/ENRICH. Chambers has also completed training in and published with the creator of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (ECFT), one of the few empirically validated treatments for couple distress.

Chambers’s clinical, teaching, and scholarly interests all focus on strengthening the relationships of couples from all walks of life. He has been one of the faculty members teaching an exciting, innovative course at Northwestern University entitled Building Loving and Lasting Relationships: Marriage 101. This course is taught to undergraduates about partner selection and the intricacies of committed, romantic relationships, especially marriage, with the ultimate goal of enhancing relationships and preventing problems.

Chambers embraces the scientist-practitioner model of therapy by using research to inform clinical practice. Thus, in addition to maintaining a very large clinical practice of which couples comprise 90 percent, Chambers also engages in scholarly writing, teaching, and public speaking aimed at disseminating the latest knowledge about how to have a healthy relationship. He is the author of numerous book chapters, journal articles, and national presentations devoted to summarizing the science behind assessing and treating common couples’ problems, such as communication, trust, intimacy, parenting, and conflict resolution. He has also published and lectured extensively on additional topics including the transition to marriage, the transition to parenthood, African American couples, and interracial couples. While at HMS/MGH, Chambers was a part of the in vitro fertilization (IVF) program aimed at helping couples struggling with fertility issues. Chambers has also made multiple media appearances discussing topics such as “Surviving Infidelity” and “Avoiding Marriage’s No. 1 Pitfall: Money Troubles.”

Chambers’s professional accomplishments have resulted in becoming a fellow of the American Psychological Association and its Division of Couple and Family Psychology, a fellow of the American Academy of Couple and Family Psychology, and a diplomat of the American Board of Couple and Family Psychology. Chambers serves on the board of directors of several academic and professional organizations devoted to strengthening couples and families. He is also on the editorial board for the journal Family Process and is the associate editor for the flagship journal Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice.

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