Michael J. Bradley

Michael J. Bradley grew up in Philadelphia, where he attended parochial schools before entering LaSalle College on a military scholarship. After briefly serving as an officer in the U.S. Army, he entered law school and supported himself with a temporary job counseling troubled adolescents in an inner-city Philadelphia high school. To his amazement, he developed a passionate interest in his new sideline job and switched to graduate studies in psychology, ultimately earning a doctorate from Temple University. Since then, Dr. Bradley has worded with children, adolescents, and their families in treatment settings ranging from jails, to social service agencies, to private practice. His professional experience with children encompasses virtually every aspect of youth work. In addition to being a licensed psychologist, Dr. Bradley holds a specialized certification in the treatment of substance abuse disorders from the American Psychological Association’s college of Professional Psychology. He is also a member and Fellow of the American College of Forensic Examiners.

Dr. Bradley, his wife Cynthia, and their biological son Ross adopted Sarah, a baby girl who was born cocaine-addicted and then nearly starved to death in a neglectful temporary home. After one terrible year, she began to blossom into a beautiful and loving little girl. This "gut-wrenching and incredibly rewarding" experience reinforced the core premise of Dr. Bradley’s work with children, which holds that "love is indeed the most real, most potent aspect of parenting. And, in parenting, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger." A recipient of the William Penn Humanitarian Award, Dr. Bradley lives with his family in suburban Philadelphia, where he worries incessantly about his children’s impending adolescence.