César A Alfonso, MD

César A. Alfonso is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University, Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Indonesia, and Visiting Professor of Psychiatry at the National University of Malaysia and at Prince of Songkla University in Thailand. He serves as President of the World Federation for Psychotherapy (WFP), and was Chair of the Psychotherapy Section of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) for two consecutive triennia. He is the Chief Psychiatrist at the Lighthouse Guild in New York.

Dr. Alfonso’s recent academic work includes the study of the biopsychosocial and transcultural aspects of suicide, the clinical care of persons with low vision and medical multimorbidities, and the design and implementation of psychotherapy training programs. He has designed psychotherapy courses with the support of the WFP and WPA for early career psychiatrists and trainees in countries with limited academic resources in Asia and Africa. 

Dr. Alfonso is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (DFAPA). He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry (FACLP), the New York Academy of Medicine (FNYAM) and the American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis (FAAPDPP). He served as President of the AAPDPP from 2010-2012. He is the recipient of the Teichner Award twice, with Visiting Professorships at Northwell-Staten Island (2015) and the University of Iowa (2019). Dr. Alfonso is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Psychodynamic Psychiatry.