Tracy Steen is a clinical psychologist with a private practice in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia. Licensed in New York and Pennsylvania, she is also authorized through the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT) to offer virtual sessions in most states. You can schedule an initial appointment with her by calling (215) 458-2213 or by using her scheduling calendar.

As a therapist, Dr. Steen specializes in positive psychology, helping individuals, couples, and families to use their strengths to improve their lives. In addition, Dr. Steen is certified in EMDR to help people heal from trauma and psychological injuries. She is trained in how to use IFS-informed EMDR to help people to better understand their personalities.

Dr. Steen also specializes in addiction treatment. She is trained in DeTUR, a method for overcoming urges to engage in unwanted behaviors, and she is a certified CRAFT clinician (Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training). CRAFT is an evidence-based therapy approach that involves working with family members to address complicated substance abuse issues.

Along with psychotherapy, Dr. Steen provides writing and business consulting advice. Her content and design business, TNT Content & Design, provides image consulting, articles, editing, websites, videos, photography, social media support, and other online and print materials for professionals.

Dr. Steen obtained a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan, where she was mentored by Dr. Christopher Peterson. While at Michigan she was drawn to the emerging field of positive psychology—the scientific study of positive emotions, character traits, and institutions. Rather than focusing exclusively on treating psychopathology and disease, a positive psychology approach aims to optimize psychological health and help people flourish.

In 2003 Dr. Steen moved to Philadelphia to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship in positive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania with Dr. Martin Seligman. During her postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Steen was nominated to serve on the Annenberg Mental Health Commission for Positive Youth Development. As a commission member she developed practical recommendations for how to encourage the development of strengths such as creativity, kindness, courage, integrity, social intelligence, and perseverance.

Collaborating with Dr. Seligman, Dr. Steen developed and tested a series of interventions designed to help people increase the amount of joy, engagement, and meaning in their lives. She also developed the Steen Happiness Index, a sensitive measure that can detect week-by-week changes in happiness following happiness interventions.

The video series "The Science of Happiness" features happiness interventions based on Dr. Steen's work.

In 2005 Dr. Steen helped establish the Charles O’Brien Center for Addiction Treatment at the University of Pennsylvania. She served as its Clinical Director and then Director until 2013. She also assisted with the research trials for the newly published update to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Dr. Steen has been a licensed clinical psychologist in Philadelphia for over 15 years.

From 2005 to 2012 Dr. Steen was the editor of the All-But-Dissertation Survival Guide, a monthly newsletter designed to help academic writers find flow in the process of completing their dissertations.

Along with Tom Lincoln, Dr. Steen received a Social Media Leadership Award in 2012 from the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania's school of business. Knowledge@Wharton recognized the art project Monument as an example of how to use social media to promote a more unified world.

Publications and Presentations:

Peterson, C. and Steen, T. A. (2019). Optimistic Explanatory Style. In C.R. Snyder, Shane J. Lopez, Lisa M. Edwards, & Susana C. Marques (Eds.), Handbook of Positive Psychology, 3d. Ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Steen, T. (2017). Low-Tech Lie Detection: Ethics and Risk Management. Presentation for Forensic Psychiatry Seminar, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Burling, Stacy (June 22, 2016). When the loss is confusing, so is the grief. Philadelphia Inquirer. Article about Dr. Steen’s presentation to Philadelphia's Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services.

Steen, T. (2016). Ambiguous Loss: Living Without Closure. Presentation for the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, City of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Steen, T. (2016). Mindfulness Explained. Presentation for the Dispute Resolution Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Steen, T. (2016). Ambiguous Loss: Living Without Closure. Presentation for Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds, Friends Hospital, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Steen, T. (2015). Ambiguous Loss: Living Without Closure. Presentation for Forensic Psychiatry Seminar, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Steen, T. (2015). Deception in Addiction Treatment. Presentation for Caron Treatment Centers, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Steen, T. (2012). Low Tech Lie Detection. Presentation for Forensic Psychiatry Seminar, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Steen, T. (2011). What to Do About a Bad Review. Presentation for Forensic Psychiatry Seminar, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Steen, T. & Dackis, C. (2008). Treatment of cocaine dependence. In H. Smith and S. Passik (Eds.), Pain and Chemical Dependency. New York: Oxford University Press.

Steen, T. (July 2006). Positive psychology and addiction treatment. Paper presented at the 68th Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, Scottsdale, Arizona.

Seligman, M.E.P, Steen, T.A., Park, N., & Peterson, C.P. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist 60 (10), 410-421.

Duckworth, A., Steen, T.A., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2005). Positive psychology in clinical practice. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 1, pp. 629-651.

Seligman, M. E. P., Berkowitz, M. W., Catalano, R. F., Damon, W., Eccles, J. S., Gilham, J. E., Moore, K. A., Nicholson, H. J., Park, N., Penn, D. L., Peterson, C., Shih, M., Steen, T. A., Sternberg, R. J., Tierney, J. P., Weissberg, R. P., & Zaff, J. F. (2005). The positive perspective on youth development. In D. L. Evans, E. Foa, R. Gur, H. Hendrin, C. O'Brien, M. E. P. Seligman, & B. T. Walsh (Eds), Treating and preventing adolescent mental health disorders: What we know and what we don’t know (pp. 499-529). New York: Oxford University Press, The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, and The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

Steen, T. A. and Worline, M. (2004). Courage. In M.E.P. Seligman & C. Peterson (Eds.), Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification (213-228). Jointly published by Oxford University Press and the American Psychological Association.

Steen, T. A., Kachorek, V.K., and Peterson, C. (2003). Young adults’ perceptions of human character strengths. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 32(1), pp. 5-16.

Steen, T. A. (2002, October). Sex and virtue: The desirability of character strengths. Poster presented at The First International Positive Psychology Summit, Washington, DC.

Steen, T. A. (2002, February). The role of courage in cultivating a diverse, creative, and strong campus community. Paper presented at the 2002 Big Ten Counseling Centers Conference, Iowa City, Iowa.

Kachorek, V.K. and Steen, T. A. (2001, October). Developing human strengths and virtues among young people. Poster presented at the 2001 Positive Psychology Summit, Washington, DC.

Peterson, C. and Steen, T. A. (2002). Optimistic Explanatory Style. In C.R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of Positive Psychology (244-256). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Steen, T. A., and Peterson, C. (2000, August). Predicting young adults’ return to the nest. Poster presented at the 108th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

Steen, T. A., Lucas, J. A., Finton, M. F., Smith, G. E., Bohac, D. L., & Ivnik, R. J. (1998, February). Use of verbal fluency cutoff scores in the detection of probable Alzheimer’s disease: Age-related effects. Poster presented at the 9th Annual Meeting of the American Neuropsychiatric Association, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Steen, T. A. (1997, April). Prospective memory abilities of Parkinson’s disease patients. Paper presented at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research, Austin, Texas.