By Judy Kuriansky

Dr. Judy Kuriansky

United Nations NGO representative; Advisor, UN Mission Group of Friends of Mental Health and Well-bring; professor, Columbia University Teachers College  

Dr. Judy Kuriansky is a noted international clinical psychologist on the faculty of Columbia University Teachers College and visiting professor at Peking Health Sciences Center. At the United Nations, she is a leader in the civil society community, serving on many NGO Committees and in negotiations about international instruments, and moderating, co-producing and serving as a speaker for innumerable side events sponsored by Member States on a variety of subjects and at many UN conferences, including the Commissions on the Status of Women and the Commission for Social Development, the World Day of Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, the International Day of Happiness, and WHO World Health Day. She is the main NGO Representative of the International Association of Applied Psychology and World Council of Psychotherapy for the past 16 years. As President of the Psychology Coalition of NGOs accredited to the UN, she partnered with  the Ambassador of Palau to the UN, Dr. Caleb Otto, in the successful intergovernmental campaign to include mental health and well-being in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and co-founded the Group of Friends of Mental Health and Well-being of UN Member States, now led by Canada, Belgium and Bahrain, for which she serves as advisor. A trustee of the United African Congress and board member of Voices of African Mothers, she was recently appointed to the Advisory board of the Ambassador of the Republic of Sierra Leone to the USA. She has hosted a U.S.-Africa Business Expo and served as a moderator and speaker at the Diaspora Investment Forum in September 2018.  Also having hosted the First Ladies of Africa Health Summit, she co-developed a Girls Empowerment Camp.  An expert in trauma recovery, she conducts post-disaster recovery trainings worldwide, including in China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Iran, and Sint Maarten, as well as during the SARS and Ebola outbreaks. She co-developed the Global Kids Connect Project that promotes resilience of children and communities around the world, and the Stand Up for Peace Project that does peace charity concerts, symposia, and memorials with original songs and workshops worldwide. Her many professional journal articles and books include “Ecospychology: The Intersection of Psychology and Enviromnetal Protection” “The Psychosocial Issues of a Deadly Epidemic: What Ebola has Taught us about Holistic Healing” “Beyond Bullets and Bombs: Grassroots Peacebuilding between Israelis and Palestinians” and a special journal issue on “Models of Mental Health and Human Rights in Celebration of The 60th Anniversary of The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights for All” as well as “The Complete Guide to A Healthy Relationship” and “31 Things to Raise a Child’s Self-Esteem.” An award-winning journalist, reporter and producer on TV and radio, and a print journalist, she has been a columnist for the Singapore Straits Times, the South China Morning Post and New York Newsday; hosted a top-rated radio advice sho; and hosted the "Money and Emotions" television show on CNBC-TV as well as done features on that financial news channel. She  appears as an expert on CNN and international news programs.Dr. Kuriansky is a member of the Committeeon Migration at the United Nations and participated in years-long negotiations regarding the United Nations Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, meeting with many government delegates and then invited to the final negotiations in Morocco in December 2018.  She has also organized symposia and presented about psychological challenges of refugees and migrants at international congresses around the world, including the European Congress of Psychology; has participated in missions to provide assistance to regufees, has consulted with programs offering assistance for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and has designed and conducted train-the-trainers workshops addressed particularly for psychosocial resilience for children, for Syrian refugees in Jordan. Her many awards include the Humanitarian Award for Lifetime Achievement in Global Peace and Tolerance.