The story of how a Harvard graduate becomes one of the Bronx’s most trusted clinical psychologists is, at its heart, a story about intentionality. Every step that Dr. Michael A. Civin took in his education and early career was a deliberate move toward a clearer sense of purpose — one that eventually crystallized into a practice defined by accessibility, community engagement, and clinical mastery.
It began at Harvard, where Dr. Civin earned a cum laude A.B. in 1968, followed almost immediately by a period of study at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. His academic pursuits continued with a Master of Arts from the University of Oregon in 1970. Then, after years of broadening experience, he returned to formal academic study and earned a second M.A. in Clinical Psychology from the Gordon F. Derner Institute at Adelphi University in 1986. His Ph.D. followed from Adelphi, and in 1988 he completed a medical degree at the Pennsylvania Institute of Straight Chiropractic. A Postdoctoral Certificate in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, earned from Adelphi in 1993, added the final layer to an extraordinary educational record.
What is striking about this journey is that each credential wasn’t simply added for prestige — it was earned in service of becoming a more complete and capable clinician. That motivation is visible today in the breadth of Dr. Civin’s practice. He has spent the bulk of his career serving the Bronx community, working as a clinical psychology specialist in an area where mental health resources have historically been stretched thin.
In 2007, he channeled that commitment into a concrete institution: Rose Hill Psychological Services, co-founded to provide high-quality, affordable psychological care to underserved communities near Fordham University. The initiative has been a resounding success, with Rose Hill now operating locations on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and in Mohegan Lake, New York, in addition to its original site. Through his private practice and his role as senior psychologist at Rose Hill, Michael A. Civin Ph.D. has demonstrated that elite education and community-level service are not competing values — they are deeply complementary ones.