Joy D. Osofsky, Ph.D.
Dr. Osofsky is a psychologist and psychoanalyst and Professor of Pediatrics and
Psychiatry at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC). She is
Head of the Division of Pediatric Mental Health. She is also an adjunct professor of
Psychology at the University of New Orleans. Dr. Osofsky is Co-Director of the
Louisiana Rural Trauma Services Center, a center in the National Child Traumatic
Stress Network, and Director of the Harris Center for Infant Mental Health at
LSUHSC. She is editor of Children in a Violent Society (Guilford Press, 1997), two editions of the
Handbook of Infant Development (Wiley, 1979, 1987), and co-editor of the four-volume
WAIMH Handbook of Infant Mental Health, which received the Association of
American Publishers/Professional and Scholarly Publishing PROSE Award as the
best multivolume reference/science book in 2000. Dr. Osofsky’s edited book, Young
Children and Trauma: Intervention and Treatment (2004), includes contributions related
to mental health, child welfare, the judiciary, and law enforcement. Dr. Osofsky was
editor of the Infant Mental Health Journal from 1998 to 2009.
Dr. Osofsky is Past President of ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants,
Toddlers, and Families and Past President of the World Association for Infant Mental
Health. She served on the Pew Commission for Children in Foster Care. Dr. Osofsky
has conducted research, intervention, and clinical work with high psychosocial risk
infants, children, and families exposed to maltreatment and community and domestic
violence. For the past 18 years, she has been consulting and collaborating with juvenile
courts around the country, including the 11th Circuit Juvenile Court in
Miami/Dade County, related to the development and evaluation of programs to benefit
high-risk young children and families in court. In 2002, she published jointly with
two judges and two lawyers a technical assistance brief, Questions Every Judge and
Lawyer Should Ask About Infants and Toddlers in the Child Welfare System (see Appendix
A). In 1998, Dr. Osofsky was awarded the Badge of Honor by the New Orleans Police
and Justice Foundation for her work with children and families exposed to violence.
In 2002, she was awarded the Medal of Honor by the Mayor of New Orleans for her
work with the police and the community and the Nicholas Hobbs Award for contributions
to public policy by Division 37 of the American Psychological Association. In
2006, she was presented with the Child’s Heart Award by the Juvenile Court Judges
of the 11th Judicial Circuit in recognition of her contributions to enhancing the health
and well-being of children. Following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, Dr. Osofsky
was asked to serve as Clinical Director for Child and Adolescent Initiatives for
Louisiana Spirit for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of
Mental Health, and the Department of Education. On August 29, 2006, she was honored
with a proclamation from the New Orleans City Council recognizing her work
helping children and families in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In November
2007, she received the Sarah M. Haley Memorial Award for Clinical Excellence from
the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies for her work with trauma. In
September 2008, she received an award from LSUHSC for extraordinary effort and
commitment during Hurricane Gustav. In June 2009, for their work in schools following
Hurricane Katrina, the LSUHSC team from the Department of Psychiatry was
awarded a 2009 Distinguished Partners in Education Award by the Board of
Elementary and Secondary Education of the State Department of Education. In 2010,
Dr. Osofsky was honored with a Presidential Commendation from the American
Psychiatric Association for leadership in mental health recovery following Hurricane
Katrina and was awarded the distinction of Honorary President of the World
Association for Infant Mental Health.