Dr. Spencer Rathus got his Ph.D. in psychology and then entered clinical practice and teaching. He has published many research articles in journals such as Behaviour Research and Therapy, Behavior Therapy, Journal of Clinical Psychology, Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, Adolescence, and Criminology.

Dr. Spencer’s research interests lie in the areas of human growth and development, methods of therapy, psychological disorders, and psychological assessment. Numerous personal experiences enter into Spencer Rathus’s textbooks. He was the first member of his family to go to college and found textbooks to be very cold and intimidating. When his opportunity arrived to write textbooks for college students, Spencer wanted them to be different–warm and encouraging, especially to students who were also the first generation in their families to be entering college.

Rathus is proud of his family. His wife, Lois Fichner-Rathus, is also a successful textbook author and a professor of art history.