Born in Annapolis, MD, Barton Evans graduated from Tufts University with a B.S. magna cum laude in psychology and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from The American University, where he was mentored by Dr. Margaret J. Rioch. It was from Dr. Rioch that he learned that the practice of psychology and spirituality were inextricably interrelated. He subsequently studied at Yale University School of Medicine and the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.  

Dr. Evans is a graduate of the Advanced Psychotherapy Training Program (APTP) of the Washington School of Psychiatry (WSP), the school founded by Harry Stack Sullivan. He then joined the faculty of the APTP, teaching Sullivan’s interpersonal theory. Through the WSP, he chaired two conferences celebrating Sullivan’s momentous work, Rediscovering Harry Stack Sullivan: Harry Stack Sullivan Centennial Conference in 1992 and Advances in Interpersonal and Relational Psychotherapy: Harry Stack Sullivan Memorial Conference in 1999.  The Sullivan Centennial Conference led to the publishing of his book Harry Stack Sullivan: Interpersonal Theory and Psychotherapy in 1996, which will be republished in a revised edition in 2023.

His long and varied career in psychology included working in the counseling centers at Georgetown University and UNC-Greensboro; 20 years of full-time private practice in clinical psychology in Washington, DC, and Bozeman, MT; the Veterans Administration in both Bozeman and Asheville, NC; and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, East Tennessee State University College of Medicine. Along the way, he also held adjunct appointments at universities, including George Washington University School of Medicine, The American University, Georgetown University Medical School, and University of Washington School of Medicine. Dr. Evans is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Clinical Psychology) and Fellow of the Society for Personality Assessment. He additionally co-authored four more books on the Rorschach test and forensic psychology; published many professional book chapters and articles on topics such as interpersonal theory, psychological trauma, forensic assessment, and psychological assessment; and has given over 200 presentations in the U.S. and internationally.
 
Dr. Evans is retired from clinical practice but continues to write and present workshops internationally while enjoying the pleasures of living in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina with his beloved wife, Judy Maris, and playing fingerstyle guitar.  His son and daughter are grown, and he has five delightful grandchildren.