Maia Pearl Szalavitz (born March 29, 1965) is an American reporter and author who focuses on science, public policy, and addiction treatment.

Maia Szalavitz is an award-winning author and journalist who covers addiction and neuroscience. Her book, Unbroken Brain (St. Martins, April, 2016), uses her own story of recovery from heroin and cocaine addiction to explore how reframing addiction as a developmental disorder could revolutionize prevention, treatment, and policy.

She's the author or co-author of six previous books, including the bestselling The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog (Basic, 2007) and Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential-- and Endangered (Morrow, 2010), both with leading child psychiatrist and trauma expert Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD. Her book, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids, is the first history of systemic abuse in "troubled-teen" programs.