Thomas McMahon, PhD

Thomas J. McMahon, Ph.D. is a Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Psychiatry and Child Study. For many years, he was the program director for the West Haven Mental Health Clinic at the Connecticut Mental Health Center. As a clinician, educator, and researcher, he is broadly interested in developmental perspectives on psychopathology and developmentally informed approaches to clinical intervention offered in community settings.

As a clinician, he is interested in the psychological assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and young adults with a history of child abuse or neglect, particularly in the context of parental addiction. As an educator, he previously coordinated training in clinical child, adolescent, and young adult psychology; and he has been actively involved in cross-training on addiction, family process, and child development within the child welfare, child guidance, and addiction treatment systems. As a researcher, he is interested in the impact of drug addiction on family process; and he is involved in the development of family-oriented intervention for men and women affected by drug addiction.

Dr. McMahon has been the recipient of several grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to explore parenting as a treatment issue for men struggling with drug addiction; and he has been invited to participate in national and international initiatives designed to attenuate the impact of alcohol and drug addiction on family process and child development.