Dr. David Cross is the former Rees-Jones Director of the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development and is a retired Professor in the TCU Department of Psychology. From 2016 – 2022, Dr. Cross lead the Institute in its triple mission of research, education and outreach to improve the lives of children who have experienced abuse, neglect, and/or trauma. He has authored many peer-reviewed publications about issues regarding at-risk children.
Dr. Cross earned his B.S. from California State University Fresno with a major in Psychology, and then attended The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for graduate study, beginning in 1980. He earned an M.A. in Psychology and an M.A. in Statistics. He later earned a Ph.D. in Education and Psychology. In 1985, he accepted a position as Assistant Professor in TCU’s Department of Psychology.
Dr. Cross, with his former colleague Dr. Karyn Purvis, co-authored “The Connected Child: Bringing Hope and Healing to Your Adoptive Family” to help adoptive parents understand the needs of children who have experienced trauma. “The Connected Child” continues to be a best-seller among adoption books. Together, Drs. Purvis and Cross created Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®), a holistic, attachment based, trauma-informed, and evidence-based intervention for children who have experienced relational trauma.
Dr. Cross taught many TCU courses including Case Studies in Child Development, Generalized Linear Models, and Graduate Developmental Psychology.
Dr. Cross retired from TCU in 2022. You can learn more about Dr. Cross’s leadership and legacy through his blog posts and episodes of the TBRI Podcast.