(914) 325-8464
About Dr. Shelby
Dr. Shelby Harris, PsyD, DBSM.
Board-Certified Behavioral Sleep Medicine
Clinical Associate Professor, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
A board-certified clinical psychologist who has spent over two decades treating sleep disorders using evidence-based behavioral approaches, often without relying on medication. The practice office is located in White Plains, NY with telehealth available statewide.
The Practice
Twenty-plus years of work in the field of behavioral sleep medicine
Dr. Shelby Harris is only one of a few hundred Diplomates in Behavioral Sleep Medicine in the United States (DBSM) - a credential awarded by the Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine. In addition, she is holds credentialing from the American Board of Sleep Medicine (CBSM). These designations are given to clinicans who have demonstrated specialized expertise in the behavioral treatment of sleep disorders.
She formerly served as Director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, where she ran the program for more than a decade. She continues to hold an academic appointment as Clinical Associate Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Dr. Harris has published and presented research on the neuropsychological effects of insomnia in older adults as well as behavioral treatments for insomnia, parasomnias, narcolepsy, and excessive daytime sleepiness.
The private practice treats insomnia, nightmares, narcolepsy, circadian rhythm disorders, difficulties with apnea treatment as well as anxiety and depression. Most patients are seen via secure telehealth across New York State, with in-person sessions available at the White Plains office.
As Seen On
Credentials & training
Where the expertise comes from.Board certification
Diplomate, Behavioral Sleep Medicine (DBSM) — awarded by Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine
One of only a few hundred in the USA.Board certification
Behavioral Sleep Medicine (CBSM) - awarded by the American Board of Sleep Medicine
Licensure
Licensed Psychologist, State of New York
Academic appointment
Clinical Associate Professor
Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NYC, NYPrior clinical leadership
Director, Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program, Montefiore Medical Center Sleep-Wake Disorder’s Center, NYC, NY
Program founder and director for more than a decade before transitioning to private practice.Postdoctoral Fellowship
Cognitive Behavioral Consultants, NY
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety and Depression, Dialectical Behavior TherapyInternship
Montefiore Medical Center, NYC, NY
Graduate training
Doctor of Psychology (PsyD), Clinical Psychology, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, NYC, NY
Pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training in behavioral sleep medicine, including research placements in sleep-related research at academic medical centers.Undergraduate degree
Brown University, Providence, RI
Double major in Psychology and Music.Professional memberships
American Academy of Sleep Medicine · Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine · American Psychological Association · Academy of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy
A note to patients
Don't get brushed off.
Dr. Shelby's most direct advice to patients — and the closest thing she has to a clinical mission — is this:
If you're struggling with sleep, and you've been told it's just stress, or it's just age, or it's just the season of life you're in, and you've been handed a prescription without much conversation: get a second opinion.
Sleep is treatable. The treatments exist. The research is decades old. The barriers to access — finding clinicians who deliver behavioral treatment, getting insurance to cover it, knowing the treatment exists at all — are real, but they aren't reasons to accept poor sleep as a permanent condition.
You're not failing at sleep. The system has failed to give you the right tools.
Media & publications
Where the clinical perspective has appeared.
A selected list of media outlets and publications that have featured Dr. Shelby's clinical commentary. More is available on the Media page.
View Media Archive
Television
CBS Mornings
TODAY Show
Good Morning America
The Drew Barrymore Show
Print & Digital
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
The New Yorker
Author of:
The Women's Guide to Overcoming Insomnia
W.W. Norton
The Essential Guide to Children's Sleep
APA Press
Beyond the credentials
"I've got to practice what I would preach."
— Dr. Shelby, on her own approach to clinical work
The calling
A research study in alcohol rehab changed everything.
In 2000, before going to graduate school, Shelby was a research assistant at the Brown University Medical School. She worked on research studies at rehab centers for patients in early recovery from alcohol use disorder. The team noticed something the addiction field hadn't widely discussed yet: one of the strongest predictors of relapse wasn't psychological or social. It was sleep.
Patients who weren't sleeping relapsed. When the team treated the insomnia — at the time, using medication — relapse rates dropped substantially.
That observation became the foundation of her clinical career. "Why aren't we talking about this for other populations?" she remembers asking. If treating sleep can change outcomes in addiction recovery, what else can it change?
She went to graduate school specifically to find out. Two decades later, she's still working on the same question.
Practicing what she preached
She started running because patients trust advice more when their doctor does it, too.
On the cusp of her 30th birthday, Dr. Shelby was running the behavioral sleep medicine clinic at Montefiore in New York City. She was telling patients, every day, that they needed to build movement into their lives to help improve their sleep.
A routine primary care physical revealed that she was out of shape and overweight, with high blood pressure and high cholesterol. All concerning given her family history.
"I just felt like the biggest hypocrite ever," she has said of that period. So she joined Team in Training (a charity-running program with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) and committed to running the Marine Corps Marathon. She had never really run before. They trained her from start to finish, run after run, slowly building upon each workout session in a manageable way.
She finished her first marathon ten months later. That was twenty-some years ago. She has now finished twenty-seven.
Running became more than a personal practice. It became the model for how she now talks to patients about behavior change: small, structured, sustained over time. You don't fix chronic insomnia overnight. You don't run a marathon by willing yourself across a finish line. You build the capacity gradually, with a protocol, and you trust the process.
Outside the practice
A few things that aren't on the CV.Marathoner
27 marathons, including 3 Boston marathons. Still training, still racing, getting slower with age but loving the process and that she’s still out there.Former classical musician
Trained as an orchestral bassist before pivoting to psychology. The musical discipline shaped how she thinks about practice, repetition, and gradual mastery.Baker
Cooks and bakes — a longstanding family practice, and the antidote to the analytical work of clinical psychology. Occasionally thought about going to pastry school, but realized she wasn’t built for the 3am wake-ups.Mom
Two kids. Westchester County, New York.Ready to talk?
The first conversation is a 15-minute call.
No referral required. The call is used to understand what you're experiencing and to determine whether the practice is the right fit. If it's not, you'll get a referral to someone who is.Schedule Consultation