Dr. David Charney

• Expert on the Psychology of the Spy

• Psychiatric consultant to three spies after they were arrested

• Unique Long-Term, In-Depth Relationships with:

  • Earl Pitts, FBI Special Agent and KGB Spy

  • Robert Hanssen, FBI Special Agent and KGB Spy, perhaps the most damaging spy ever

  • Brian Regan, USAF and NRO, first spy since the Rosenbergs in 1950 to face the Death Penalty (he wound up with a life sentence)

• Quoted extensively in David Wise’s book, Spy, the most authoritative book on the Hanssen case

• Consultant and Lecturer to Agencies of the Intelligence Community

• Developer of the Concept: Life Stages of the Spy

• Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, George Washington University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

• Host of Cable TV Show, Psychiatry Today

• Professor, Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies

Dr. Charney is the Founder and Medical Director of Roundhouse Square Psychiatric Center, in Alexandria, Virginia. He has specialized in Anxiety and Mood Disorders, Couples and Family Therapy, as well as Attention Deficit Disorder in adults.

In addition to his “day job,” he became intimately familiar with the Intelligence Community as a Consultant and Therapist to IC personnel for many years. As a result of being at the right place at the right time, he had the opportunity to join the defense team of his first spy case, Earl Pitts. Building on that foundation, Robert Hanssen’s attorney, Plato Cacheris, invited Dr. Charney to join his defense team, which added a fascinating further dimension to his experience.

With his third spy case, Brian Regan, Dr. Charney’s in-depth knowledge of the psychological nuances of captured spies is unmatched. As a member of their defense teams, Dr. Charney can be received by these spies as an understanding and supportive figure, which lowers their defensive mindsets, providing a truer picture of their inner lives. Many common assumptions of spy motivation have been brought into question by Dr. Charney’s work. To further extend his findings, he has been working on a policy White Paper in which he will amplify his psychological findings and also propose new and perhaps controversial initiatives to better protect the country from spying.

Travels from Washington, DC area

Sample Topics:

Spy Motivation: The Inner Life of the Spy

Life Stages of the Spy

Spies I Have Known

Psychiatrist to the Spies

Rethinking the Counterintelligence Problem

More Topics