Katharine Phillips MD

Katharine A. Phillips, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry, DeWitt Wallace Senior Scholar, and Psychiatry Residency Research Director at Weill Cornell Medical College. She is also Attending Psychiatrist at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City.

Dr. Phillips is internationally recognized for her expertise in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and related disorders, such as olfactory reference syndrome (ORS) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). She also has expertise in other obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, anxiety disorders, and other conditions. For the past 30 years, Dr. Phillips has been providing expert evaluation and treatment for people with these and other conditions.

In addition to caring for patients, Dr. Phillips has conducted pioneering research studies on BDD, a common and often severe disorder. Many of her research studies were funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. People with BDD perceive themselves as looking abnormal, ugly, or unattractive, to the point where it causes emotional distress or interferes with their functioning and quality of life. Her research studies have identified BDD's symptoms, how it affects people's lives, and other key characteristics. Her studies have also developed and tested effective treatments for BDD -- both medication and cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Dr. Phillips has written a number of landmark books on BDD. Based on her pioneering scientific studies and clinical experience, in 1996 she published the first book ever written about BDD, The Broken Mirror: Understanding and Treating Body Dysmorphic Disorder (updated and revised in 2005). In 2009 she published Understanding Body Dysmorphic Disorder: An Essential Guide. Her most recent book, Body Dysmorphic Disorder: Advances in Research and Clinical Practice, published in 2017, is the first edited volume on BDD. All three books were published by Oxford University Press.

Because body image concerns in men and boys are often overlooked, she co-authored The Adonis Complex: How to Identify, Treat, and Prevent Body Obsession in Men and Boys. And to guide therapists when treating BDD, she co-authored Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A Treatment Manual.

Dr. Phillips is also a co-author or editor of Disorders of Body Image, Handbook on Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, and other books. To visit her Amazon author page and see her books, please visit https://www.amazon.com/Katharine-A.-Phillips/e/B000AQ6NHI/ref=sr_tc_img_2_0?qid=1513628158&sr=1-2-acs

Additional contributions:

• More than 360 publications in scientific journals and books
• More than 600 international, national, and local presentations for professionals, most on BDD
• Interviews with hundreds of media outlets on BDD - for example, the New York Times, London Times, Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Boston Globe, US News and World Report, Time Magazine, Newsweek, CNN, the BBC, National Public Radio, the Oprah Winfrey Show, 20/20, Dateline NBC, the Today Show, and Good Morning America
• To see a transcript of Dr. Phillips on the Oprah Winfrey show click here.
• To read Dr. Phillips' more recent Op-Ed article on body image in men that was published in the New York Times click here. And here are links to some of Dr. Phillips' interviews with the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Good Morning America, and to a recent interview with Dr. David Puder.

Dr. Phillips has repeatedly been included in Best Doctors in America, Castle Connolly's America's Top Doctors, Castle Connolly's Exceptional Women in Medicine, Who's Who in America, and Who's Who in the World. She has also been included in Marquis Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, and Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare. She has been awarded a Special Presidential Commendation from the American Psychiatric Association and the Outstanding Career Achievement Award from the International OCD Foundation for her research studies on body dysmorphic disorder.

Dr. Phillips is on the scientific advisory boards of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, and the International OCD Foundation. She is on the Board of Directors of The Canadian Institute for Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (an international organization). She also serves on many editorial boards. She is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, a member of the American College of Psychiatrists, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

Dr. Phillips graduated with honors from Dartmouth College and Dartmouth Medical School. She then did her psychiatry residency at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. For 23 years she was on the faculty of Brown University, where she was Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She is now in New York City, where she is Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University. She practices at the Weill Cornell Psychiatry Specialty Center at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

To see Dr. Phillips' curriculum vitae, please click here.