Jerry Shapiro was born and raised in Boston. He received an A.B. from Colby College, an M.A. from Northwestern University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo in Ontario. His APA internship was at Hawaii State Hospital. From 1970 to 1981, he taught at the University of Hawaii, where he was awarded the Regents Medal for outstanding teaching among senior faculty. In 2006, he received the Award for Sustained Excellence in Scholarship, the highest honor for Scholarship awarded by Santa Clara University. He also held a visiting professorship at UC Santa Cruz and was president of PsyJourn Corporation, developers of self-help computer-assisted counseling software.
Shapiro is a retired licensed clinical psychologist in Hawaii and California. He formerly held a diplomate from the American Board of Medical Psychotherapists, was a certified clinical consultant with the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, and a certified group therapist by the National Registry. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association.
He has authored and edited 13 books including Pragmatic Existential Counseling and Psychotherapy: Intimacy, Intuition and the Search for Meaning, Finding Meaning, Facing Fears in the Autumn of Your Years (45-65) (Winner of the 2013 Alpha Sigma Nu Book of the Year Award) , When She’s Pregnant: The Essential Guide for Expectant Fathers, The Measure of a Man, Becoming a Father: Social, Developmental, and Clinical Perspectives (winner of a Book of the Year award from the American Journal of Nursing); When Men Are Pregnant, Brief Group Treatment: A Practical Guide for Counselors and Therapists; and Trance on Trial, which won the 1991 Manfred S. Guttmacher Award for Literary Excellence in Law and Psychiatry. He has also authored over 130 journal articles and book chapters, made over 200 professional presentations and addresses and appeared in popular print and electronic media - over 200 radio and TV programs.
His research interests focus on life transitions: The post midlife transition; the transition to college; couples' transition to family and fatherhood, and he makes frequent media appearances discussing men's issues, pregnancy, intimacy, aging, psychological issues in finance and family business.
Shapiro consults regularly with family businesses and company management teams.
He and his wife, Susan, also a Clinical Psychologist, live in Los Altos and have two children and three grandchildren. He describes himself as an itinerant softball pitcher and folk musician.