Dr. Anthony Rao holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Vanderbilt University and trained as a pediatric psychologist at Boston Children’s Hospital. For more than 20 years, Dr. Rao worked in the Department of Psychiatry at Children’s Hospital and served as instructor at Harvard Medical School, where he trained psychologists and physicians in the use of Cognitive Behavior Therapy, or CBT.

He is the founder of Behavioral Solutions in Lexington, Massachusetts, a private practice known throughout the Boston area for using CBT to help children without relying solely on medications. Dr. Rao consults with families all over the country and has lectured at numerous colleges. He regularly presents at conferences and parenting groups, and conducts workshops for professionals who work with children.

Dr. Rao has been the featured expert on documentaries for the A&E series Investigative Reports and MTV’s True Life series. Dr. Rao has been interviewed for articles in the New Yorker (“The Doubting Disease,” by Jerome Groopman, April 10, 2000) and Parents Magazine, and has written articles on childhood issues for the Boston Herald. His editorial letters and opinions have appeared in the Boston Globe, Newsweek, Scientific American, and New York Magazine.

His book, The Way of Boys: Raising Healthy Boys in a Challenging and Complex World, is about the crisis in American boyhood. It's published by William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins, and was released on August 25, 2009.

Recent Speaking Engagements

April 9-10, 2010: Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Health Alliance. Boston, MA. Child Psychotherapy Conference.

March 25-28, 2010: 33rd Annual Psychotherapy Networker Symposium, Washington, DC. The Way of Boys: Understanding the Hurdles.

March 16, 2010: Tufts University Department of Child Development, Medford, Massachusetts. Talk: “Medication Issues and Children”

March 15, 2010: Preschool Association of Lexington, Conference Workshop. Temple Emunah, Lexington, MA.

March 12, 2010: The Way of Boys. Presentation to Staff of Boston Public Schools, Gardner Pilot Academy, Boston, MA.

February 3, 2010: Helping Boys Find their Way in School. Discussion and Book Signing, St. Mary of the Hills, Milton, MA.

January 19, 2010 (6:30 pm): Raising Happy & Healthy Boys, Discussion and Book Signing, Happy Child Daycare, Newton, MA.

December 14, 2009 (7:00 pm): ISIS Maternity Expert Speaker Series, Boston, MA.

November 10, 2009 (7:00 pm): ISIS Maternity Expert Speaker Series, Needham, MA.

November 6, 2009 (9:00 am-12:15): Regis College in Weston, MA. National Association of Social Workersworkshop: “The Way of Boys”

October 28, 2009 (7:30 pm): Wellesley Free Library 530 Washington Street (sponsored by Wellesley Booksmith & The Wellesley Mother's Forum). Discussion & book signing.

October 28, 2009: Psychopharmacology Seminar, Department of Psychiatry, Children's Hospital Boston, Invited Speaker.

October 17, 2009 (2:00 pm): Barnes & Noble, Waterside Shops, Naples, Florida. Discussion and Book signing.

October 14, 2009 (7:00 pm): Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA. Discussion & Book signing.

October 10, 2009 (10:00 - Noon): Grub Street Writer's Center, Boston, MA. Saturday morning Serial.

October 1, 2009 (7:00-9:00 pm): Performing Arts Center, Duxbury, MA. The Parent Connection, Fall Speakers Series.

September 14, 2009 (6:30 pm): E.B. Bertha C. Ball Center, Ball State University, Author Lecture.

March 31, 2009: Tufts University Department of Child Development, Medford, Massachusetts. Talk: “Medication Issues and Children”