Nazia Denese, Ph.D.

Baker Center for Children and Families

Dr. Nazia Denese is a licensed clinical psychologist in Massachusetts and New York. She is a staff psychologist at the Center for Effective Therapy at the Baker Center for Children and Families, a Harvard Medical School Affiliate, and an Instructor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Denese earned her Ph.D. at Columbia University in the City of New York. She completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the Baker Center for Children and Families and APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship at the Hawaii Psychology Internship Consortium. Dr. Denese previously completed clinical externships at Child Mind Institute’s Anxiety Disorders Center and the Children’s Hospital at SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

Dr. Denese has extensive clinical experience treating children, adolescents, and young adults with a range of internalizing and externalizing disorders. She is certified in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and the Modular Approach to Treatment for Children with Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, or Conduct Problems (MATCH-ADTC) and is clinically trained in several evidence-based treatments, including Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Selective Mutism (PCIT-SM), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Additionally, she has significant experience conducting comprehensive diagnostic evaluations and administering neuropsychological, psychoeducational, and developmental assessments.

Dr. Denese is passionate about providing quality trauma-informed and culturally competent mental health treatment and psychoeducation to communities on a national and global scale. In particular, she finds it highly rewarding to help children diagnosed with selective mutism learn to use their voice with confidence and as a result, improve overall functioning and happiness at home, school, and socially. When treating selective mutism, Dr. Denese uses various evidence-based approaches depending on developmental age and presentation, including Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Selective Mutism (PCIT-SM), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE). To ensure treatment success in multiple settings, Dr. Denese also engages in extensive collaboration with outside providers who are part of the child’s treatment team, such as school personnel, speech and language pathologists, neuropsychologists, and psychiatrists.