Dr. Avery Neal is an internationally published author, researcher, and psychotherapist. She is the leading expert on psychological abuse and its effects on mental and physical health.

Her first book, If He’s So Great, Why Do I Feel So Bad?: Recognizing and Overcoming Subtle Abuse, gave readers the language to recognize subtle abuse and it has been published in twelve languages. More than 20,000 people worldwide have taken her courses, which are also used by clinicians, universities, and organizations. Her writing and interviews have appeared on Oprah.com, Counseling Today, and Best Self Magazine, and she has spoken at conferences alongside some of the world’s leading experts in psychology.

Her second book, Loving You Shouldn’t Be Hurting Me: Psychological Abuse and Its Effects on Physical and Mental Health, deepens that work. Drawing on current research and findings from her clinical practice, it examines how psychological abuse harms the nervous system, the body, and the mind. It also introduces the Neal Method and her CLEAR Framework for recovery.

Her work now extends beyond individual clinical practice to address psychological abuse across the broader healthcare system. Dr. Neal is advancing the clinical and medical recognition of psychological abuse, a form of harm that remains largely unassessed and unidentified in healthcare settings. She has developed assessment and identification tools where none previously existed, and is building the practical resources frontline clinicians need to recognize psychological abuse in their patients.

Through partnerships with hospitals, health systems, and health plans, she is bringing her psychoeducational programs directly to patients so that recognizing psychological abuse and supporting recovery become part of care.