Lisa Ranzenhofer, PHD

Dr. Ranzenhofer is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI). She received her PhD in medical and clinical psychology from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. She completed her clinical psychology internship in the area of child clinical psychology at Brown University Medical Center. After finishing her PhD, Dr. Ranzenhofer received specialty training in eating and weight disorders at Brown University’s Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center and the Center for Eating Disorders at NYSPI. Following her fellowship, she joined the Center for Eating Disorders under the direction of Drs. Tim Walsh and Evelyn Attia.

Dr. Ranzenhofer works with children, teens and adults with a range of primary concerns including eating disorders, depression and anxiety, problems in relationships, problems with anger, and problems managing chronic medical conditions. One of her key interests is developing ways to help clients work on problematic behaviors in their day-to-day lives using technology. In her NIH-funded research, she uses smart phones and biosensors to study how stress and emotions relate to behaviors like binge eating. An additional area of interest of Dr. Ranzenhofer is the interplay between interpersonal stress and eating problems.

Dr. Ranzenhofer’s primary approach to therapy is cognitive behavioral (“CBT”). She also uses interpersonal psychotherapy, behavioral strategies, parent coaching/training, and family-based therapy depending on the needs of the individual or family.