Peter Montminy, Ph.D. is a clinical child psychologist, mindfulness teacher, speaker, author, and dad.
As Founding Director of MidStep Centers for Child Development in State College, PA, he has been passionate about enhancing the emotional well-being of youth and families for the past 25 years. He believes that all children have the ability to move from surviving to thriving on their journey towards adulthood, if they have the proper guidance and support along the way.
Dr. Montminy spent eight years as the Director of Child and Adolescent Services at Penn State’s Psychological Clinic, before founding MidStep in 1996. After 20 years at Midstep, he decided to fully commit himself to stress relief programs for kids and their caregivers, beginning anew in 2016 with A Mindful Village. Meanwhile, he continues to teach courses and supervise graduate students as an adjunct faculty member at Penn State University.
Clinically, Dr. Montminy is highly regarded for his therapeutic work with children and adolescents struggling with ADHD and other Executive Function Deficits, Anxiety and Stress, and Anger and Aggression. He specializes in mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy, as well as solutions-focused coaching that promotes personal responsibility and resiliency.
As a national speaker, Dr. Montminy has provided hundreds of inspiring and educational programs to thousands of parents, teachers, and child-care professionals. His mindful parenting classes and professional development workshops are always filled with love, laughter, and learning.
Dr. Montminy graduated from Dartmouth College in 1982, earned masters and doctorate degrees in child clinical psychology from Penn State University, and completed a clinical fellowship year at Yale Medical School’s Child Study Center.
As an avid life-long learner, he continues his trainings with the American Psychological Association, the Psychotherapy Networker, Learning and the Brain Society, the Global Association of Interpersonal Neurobiology, the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine, the Greater Good Science Center, and the Omega Institute.
After several years of training with Mindful Schools, including their intensive year-long certification program, Dr. Montminy has become a Certified Mindfulness Instructor. He continues his work with the Mindful Schools organization as a Guiding Teacher for their internationally acclaimed online courses.
Meanwhile, Peter’s ultimate training – involving both great pride and humility – comes from raising his four children with his wife Mary in the woods of central Pennsylvania. An avid nature lover, he enjoys nothing better than time spent hiking, camping, or skiing in the mountains with family and friends.
And he is eternally grateful for a loving family, both past and present, whose ongoing gifts never cease to amaze.