A New York-based psychologist and anti-torture activist, Dr. Steven Reisner is the psychological ethics advisor at Physicians for Human Rights, a faculty member of both Columbia University Teachers College and New York University School of Medicine, and a founding member of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology.

Steven Reisner

Psychologist and Activist, Coalition for an Ethical Psychology


An interview of Steven Reisner conducted April 30, 2013 by Ghislaine Boulanger for the Columbia Center for Oral History, Rule of Law Oral History Project.

A New York-based psychologist and anti-torture activist, Dr. Steven Reisner is the psychological ethics advisor at Physicians for Human Rights, a faculty member of both Columbia University Teachers College and New York University School of Medicine and a founding member of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology. An award-winning actor and director, Dr. Reisner has also consulted extensively on the importance of the arts in post-conflict and post-natural disaster settings. He is currently the director of Theatre Arts Against Political Violence.  Highlights from this interview include Dr. Reisner’s recollections of his family’s experiences during the Holocaust and an account of his campaign to ban the participation of psychologists in interrogations at Guantánamo.