Renee Garfinkel attended graduate school in Sweden at the University of Lund where she received a PhD. in Clinical Psychology. In Scandinavia she worked on a research project at the University of Copenhagen on the now famous Mednick-Schulsinger longitudinal study of Schizophrenia. Renee Garfinkel has a private psychotherapy practice in Washington DC, and is affiliated with the Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management at the George Washington University.

She conducted studies for the U.S. Institute of Peace on interfaith relations and on the process by which religious extremists renounce violence.   She was a member of the American Red Cross disaster team responsible for providing psychological services during natural disasters and plane crash disasters where she was responsible for setting up triage units for families and individuals in extreme crisis, including the Pentagon 9/11 terrorist attack.  Dr. Garfinkel was the president of Gerontology Services, a psychological consulting firm whose clients included nursing homes and other facilities for the elderly.  GS dealt with neuropsychological issues and the psychological aspects of medical conditions.   

She also founded and edited the peer-reviewed journal, Adoption Quarterly (Haworth Press).

As her wide-ranging and eclectic interests developed, Dr. Garfinkel wrote a UPI column, Outsider View, for many years and then turned her attention to radio where she has several long running programs on Sirius XM Radio.