Douglas LaBier, Ph.D.
Dr. Douglas LaBier is a nationally recognized business psychologist, psychotherapist, author and researcher. A thought-leader in the areas of personal growth and organizational leadership within contemporary culture, he is the founder and director of the Center for Adult Development in Washington, DC. Dr. LaBier brings over 30 years of experience and insight to the challenge of integrating positive human development with successful business and career strategies.
Dr. LaBier applies state-of-the-art knowledge, resources and best practices to his coaching and consultation programs for senior executives and leadership teams; and to his psychotherapeutic work with men and women. Using his unique combination of experiences as a coach to senior executives, consultant to senior leadership of organizations, and psychotherapist, Dr. LaBier helps both individuals and organizations identify and resolve conflicts and impediments to positive growth and development within organizational leadership, careers and personal lives.
Within organizations, Dr. LaBier works with individuals and leadership teams to identify and resolve the mixture of personal and management conflicts and challenges that often undermine career development, effective leadership, teamwork and business success. His consultations and coaching help leaders and managers build effective strategies for dealing with them. Increasingly, they include creating “green” business practices that address the impact of global warming, the need for sustainability, and the impact of related new regulations that affect long-term business success.
Within personal lives, Dr. LaBier provides psychotherapy for both individuals and couples. He helps them address and resolve emotional issues within their personal and career history that have created overt problems, dysfunction or other conflicts that affect their lives and relationships. He also helps them examine conflicts concerning values and life choices that often underlie life transition and life purpose dilemmas. He helps men and women create effective solutions to their conflicts and find ways to activate new growth, healthy, positive development and greater integration throughout the different realms of their lives.
Dr. LaBier is the author of Modern Madness: The Hidden Link Between Work and Emotional Conflict, critically acclaimed as a pioneering study of how work and career within large organizations affect the potential for emotional and values conflict.
Cited by Daniel Goleman in The New York Times as “In the vanguard…offering sobering insights into the costs of modern success,” it was based on seven years of research and study of men and women of today’s adult generation. It explained why personal and career-related conflicts are often caused by successful adaptation to the roles, pressures, and culture within organizations and careers. Prior to its publication, Modern Madness was excerpted by Fortune magazine in both its U.S. and International editions. In addition, it has been widely reviewed and featured in national magazines, newspapers, and the broadcast media.
Dr. LaBier has published many articles on careers in contemporary culture and adult development in the popular press, including the Washington Post, The New York Times, Fortune, Business Ethics, as well as in professional journals and texts. His work and views are the subject of frequent coverage by the print and broadcast media throughout the U.S. and abroad. Features and interviews have appeared in the Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Detroit Free Press, International Herald Tribune, Newsweek, Fortune, US News & World Report, Vogue, Mirabella, Glamour, Working Woman, Mademoiselle, Psychology Today, and many others.
Dr. LaBier is a frequent guest on TV and radio shows. Over the years, his appearances have included TODAY, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, CBS MORNING NEWS, NBC NIGHTLY NEWS, DONAHUE; programs on PBS, CNN, and FOX; local TV talk shows in Boston, Minneapolis, New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, and other cities. He served as a consultant to and was interviewed on segments of a PBS series about Baby Boomers, “In The Prime.” In addition, he has appeared on National Public Radio and other radio programs in various cities.
In addition to his executive coaching, consultation, and psychotherapeutic work, Dr. LaBier lectures widely and conducts workshops and programs for integrating success and fulfillment in both careers and in personal lives. His audiences have included corporations, trade-associations, and government agencies. He has been a faculty member of the Washington School of Psychiatry since 1980, and has served as a Fellow of the Research Council for Healthy Companies International, a nonprofit organization established by the MacArthur Foundation.
Dr. LaBier is currently working on a new book about the rise of a “New Adult” in American culture. It explains how and why men and women are increasingly focused on integrating careers, personal life goals, and service to the human community. It explains why these new pathways will have significant impact upon both individual lives, business and society in the years ahead.
Contact: dlabier@adultdev.org