Richard J. Eichler

Dr. Richard J. Eichler has a long affiliation with Columbia, stretching back to his student days when he earned his B.A., M.S., M.Phil., and ultimately Ph.D. at Columbia. He joined what was then the Columbia College Counseling Service in 1986 as a staff psychologist, and for six years was an instructor in the now defunct Human Development program at Columbia College. Since 1992, Richard has successively served as Director, Executive Director, and most recently as Associate Vice President of the Counseling and Psychological Services department of Columbia Health. 

While completing his PhD, Richard trained at a Veterans’ Administration clinic and at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he completed his internship in clinical psychology. Among other professional activities early in his career, he worked on a research project at Hunter College on sex role socialization in nursery schools and day care centers. Prior to joining the Columbia Health team, he served as a psychotherapist, treating a culturally diverse population at Bronx Municipal Hospital Center, and concurrently worked on a grant studying the delivery of health care services for disabled and chronically ill children at the Preventive Intervention Research Center for Child Health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.  

Richard has taught numerous undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral courses in psychology and psychotherapy, including classes in adolescence and lifespan development at Columbia College and classes in psychodynamic psychotherapy and developmental psychopathology at Teachers College. He has also taught courses and seminars in adolescent development and college mental health practice at the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Training Program of the William Alanson White Institute. 

Dating back to his time at the Veterans Administration, he maintains an ongoing interest in the welfare of military veterans. Other areas of particular professional interest include: psychological opportunities and pitfalls of adolescence and young adulthood; early intervention and prevention strategies; the impact of cultural variables on personal development; evolving relationships through the lifespan; trauma; psychological obstacles to academic and career success; learning problems; and the application of psychoanalytic thinking to brief therapy.  Richard is also versed in and helping young adults and their parents renegotiate their evolving relationships. He is a frequent speaker at professional conferences and community events, addressing various topics such as transitioning to college, the social and emotional concomitants of learning disabilities, improving access to mental health care, and suicide prevention. 

Richard has served as a consultant to the College Mental Health section of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, and in collaboration with its membership, co-authored a paper in response to mental health crises on college campuses. He has also served on the Clinical Advisory Board of the Jed Foundation. He is currently on the Editorial Board of the Journal of College Mental Health. 

 

Education: 

  • Ph.D., Columbia University 
  • M.Phil., Columbia University 
  • M.S., Columbia University 
  • B.A., Columbia University 

Certifications and Licensure: 

  • Licensed to practice psychology in the State of New York 

Professional Experience: 

  • Columbia University 
  • Preventive Intervention Research Center for Child Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine 
  • William Alanson White Institute 

Community and Volunteer Activities: 

  • Editorial Board Member, Journal of College Mental Health  

Published Articles: 

  • Cantor M.B. and Eichler R.J. (1977). Sweetness—a supernormal reinforcer. Chemical Technology 7: 214–216, 1977 
  • Eichler, R.J. (2011) The university as a (potentially) facilitating environment.  Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 47, 289-316. 
  • Eichler, R.J. (2006) Developmental considerations in college counseling.  In P. Grayson & P. Meilman (Eds.) College Mental Health Practice (pp. 21- 41).  New York:  Routledge. 
  • Eichler, R.J. & Schwartz, V.  (2010) Essential services in college counseling.  In J. Kay & V. Schwartz (Eds.) Mental Health Care in the College Community (pp. 57 -93).  New York: John Wiley & Sons. 
  • Girad, C., Schwartz, V., Backus, V., Barreira, P., Eichler, R.J., Goldsmith, M., Miner, J., Notman, M., Reich, P. & Siggins, L. (2012) Challenges of mental health crises in college settings.  Harvard Health Policy Review, 13, 11- 15. 
  • Ireys, H.T.  & Eichler, R.J.  (1988) Program priorities of crippled children's agencies: A survey. Public Health Reports, 103, 77-83. 

Languages Spoken:

  • English