John C. Norcross


John C. Norcross is an American professor, clinical psychologist, and board-certified specialist in psychotherapy, behavior change, and self-help.
He is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Scranton and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at SUNY Upstate Medical University. He also maintains a part-time practice of clinical psychology in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Norcross is author of over 400 publications and more than 20 books. His two self-help books are Changeology and Changing for Good. His approach to therapy has been called pragmatic, inspired in part by his interest in pragmatist philosophy, an interest that dates back at least to his undergraduate years, when he wrote an undergraduate honors thesis on pragmatist philosophers such as William James, John Dewey, and Charles Sanders Peirce.
Norcross was born in 1957 at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey, the son of George E. Norcross, Jr. and Carol Norcross. He and his three brothers, George Norcross III, congressman Donald Norcross, and Philip A. Norcross, were raised in Pennsauken and Merchantville, New Jersey. He graduated from Rutgers University–Camden with a B.A. in psychology, the University of Rhode Island with a M.A. and Ph.D in clinical psychology, and then completed his internship at Alpert Medical School.
Norcross has served as president of the American Psychological Association Division of Psychotherapy, the Society of Clinical Psychology, and the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration. He received the Distinguished Lifetime Contributions to Education & Training Award from the American Psychological Association and the Pennsylvania Professor of the Year from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He has been elected to the National Academies of Practice.

Selected publications