Ben Bernstein

Ben Bernstein, Ph.D., is a psychologist, educator,and author, with an expertise on performance and test stress .  

An honors graduate of Bowdoin College, Bernstein received his doctorate in Applied Psychology from the University of Toronto and later a master’s degree in Music Composition from Mills College.  

An educator for the last fifty years, Bernstein has taught at every level of the educational system. Trained in London, in the progressive British infant schools in the late ’60s, he has received major grants from the American and Canadian governments for his work.

Bernstein also has extensive involvement in the performing arts. Trained by Viola Spolin (Improvisation for the Theater), he has created and produced original films and plays with psychiatric patients in Australia and the US. As a result, he was invited to be a resource artist for writers at The Sundance Institute . He has directed theater at the Juilliard School and the National Academy for Dramatic Art in Sydney. An award-winning composer and a Master Coach at the San Francisco Opera, Bernstein is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Singer’s Gym, a non-profit training workshop for professional singers to have vitality, spontaneity and connection in their work.

His publications include four books on how stress affects performance: Test Success (2009), Crush Your Test Anxiety (2018); A Teen’s Guide to Success (2014); and Stressed Out! for Parents (2015). His forthcoming book, Superior Test Performance in 8 Lessons, will be released in India in 2021. Dr. Bernstein can be reached via his website: DrBYourBest.com.