Abigail Shrier

Abigail Shrier is an American author and journalist who examines cultural and social issues, with a focus on transgender identification among adolescent girls and rising mental health challenges in children.

She holds an A.B. in philosophy from Columbia College, where she received the Euretta J. Kellett Fellowship, a B.Phil. from the University of Oxford as a Henry Fellow, and a J.D. from Yale Law School .

Shrier gained prominence with her 2020 book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters , a New York Times bestseller critiquing the surge in gender dysphoria diagnoses and medical transitions among teen girls, followed by her 2024 international bestseller Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up , which questions the effects of therapeutic interventions on youth resilience.

Previously an opinion columnist for The Wall Street Journal , she now writes for The Free Press and serves as a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute , contributing commentary on topics like education, family dynamics, and ideological trends in institutions.

Abigail Shrier was born Abigail Brett Krauser in Maryland .

She grew up in a multi-racial suburb in Prince George's County as the daughter of two Maryland state judges and attended a community Jewish day school.

Shrier earned an A.B. in philosophy from Columbia College, graduating summa cum laude and receiving the Euretta J. Kellett Fellowship, which funded two years of graduate study at the University of Oxford . At Oxford, she obtained a B.Phil. degree. She later attended Yale Law School , where she earned a J.D. and served as a Coker Fellow.

Shrier has contributed opinion pieces to The Wall Street Journal , addressing topics such as the role of therapy in building resilience among youth and the influences shaping adolescent behavior. Her work there critiques cultural trends that she argues undermine personal fortitude, advocating instead for approaches that foster independence and emotional toughness in children.

In her current role as a columnist for The Free Press , Shrier writes on similar cultural and social dynamics, including an advice column titled "Tough Love" that offers guidance on parenting and personal challenges. These columns emphasize skepticism toward over-reliance on emotional validation in child-rearing, promoting resilience as a counter to prevailing therapeutic norms.

Shrier's debut book, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters , was published in 2020 by Regnery Publishing . It argues that a sudden increase in gender dysphoria cases among adolescent girls stems from social influences and peer contagion rather than innate conditions, highlighting the role of online communities and friend groups in promoting transgender identification.

Her second book, Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up , appeared in 2024 from Penguin Random House. The work critiques the expansion of therapeutic interventions in education and parenting, positing that practices like constant emotional check-ins and talk therapy for youth exacerbate anxiety and hinder normal development by encouraging rumination over problem-solving.

The publication of Irreversible Damage in June 2020 ignited widespread debates over treatments for transgender youth, with critics arguing that the book propagated unsubstantiated claims of a social contagion driving adolescent girls toward medical transitions, often framed as "seducing daughters." These discussions highlighted tensions between gender-affirming care advocates and skeptics of rapid-onset gender dysphoria, amplifying calls from some advocates to restrict the book's availability due to perceived harm to transgender communities.

In November 2020, retailer Target faced backlash for initially stocking the book and subsequently removed it from physical and online shelves amid accusations of promoting transphobia , though it remained available through third-party sellers.