ABOUT
SPECIALIZED CARE
My practice is dedicated to providing care for children, adolescents, adults and families. By combining expertise in evaluation with individual or family therapy, the reasons for the presenting problems may be more accurately identified and understood so the right care and guidance can be provided to resolve them.
SERVICES
OFFERED
TESTING & EVALUATION
Psychoeducational Evaluations are provided for children, adolescents and college students.
THERAPY & COUNSELING
Individual, parent or family therapy are available based on the presenting concerns.
ADHD CARE
ADHD is a very complex and widely misunderstood disorder. I founded the
Center for Attention Disorders for its care.
CONTACT
CONSULTATION
Providing information about struggling students to their schools is an essential
step in comprehensive care.
ASSESSMENT MATERIALS
I develop testing materials for psychologists and schools through Psychological Assessment Services.
TREATING ADOLESCENTS
I''ve had a particular interest in working with adolescents for the past 30 years.
Despite parents’ wishes, loving intentions and best efforts, children and adolescents don’t always behave, achieve or turn out as expected. Sometimes the personality of a child is not well matched to his or her parent’s and differences in temperament may create frustration or tension. Sometimes a child or adolescent may have an undetected learning or attention problem that is compromising the ability to meet behavioral or academic expectations. An anxiety disorder or depression may make a child or already moody adolescent more worried, needy, difficult to reassure or console, easily irritated or pervasively sad. This can confuse or test the patience of even the very best parent.
Especially during the adolescent years, it can be very hard and confusing for just about any parent to know what to make of, and how to respond to, the changes unfolding right before their eyes. Previously sweet, loving and engaged children can sometimes turn into new private, withdrawn and disrespectful versions of themselves seemingly overnight. And as the adolescent years also bring new and steadily increasing demands for self-motivation, memory, planning, organization and time management the middle and high school years cause previously unknown learning or attention disorders to emerge.
If there are any unaddressed or unresolved issues during high school, they may come to a head when an adolescent leaves for college. To make a successful college adjustment, adolescents' learning, attention and executive functions, stress and emotional management abilities must all be at the top of their game. But this is not always the case. Some college students falter academically, or get too overwhelmed or distracted by college life, getting themselves hopelessly behind in their courses, fearing or avoiding the fact that they can’t salvage the semester and ending up on academic probation or taking a leave of absence.
Working with children and adolescents can be complicated, but extremely rewarding. It requires the ability to gain their trust and respect while walking a fine line between maintaining their confidentiality and helping their parents understand what’s going on and how they can be helpful. I have always enjoyed clinical challenges and am particularly drawn to working with adolescents and their parents. The care provided during these years can make an huge difference in their achievement and well being and bring relief and peace of mind to them and their parents.
Not only do parents have to deal with the stresses or child-rearing, they have their own individual issues and concerns to deal with. Working with adults has been an integral part of my practice for the last 35 years.
FOR
CHILDREN
ADOLESCENTS
ADULTS
FOSTERING WELL-BEING
At some point, almost all children, adolescents and adults will struggle with personal difficulties that will upset, perhaps overwhelm them and impact their families. The focus of my practice is to provide assessment and treatment services that lead to the understanding, support and guidance needed to restore personal, academic or family well-being.
I am a clinical psychologist specializing in working with children, adolescents, college students and adults since 1977. In 1993, I became one of less than 200 psychologists nationwide to be awarded a Diplomate in Assessment Psychology, an honorary degree recognizing clinical excellence. I received my Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the State University of New York in 1977. My first job was as Director of Consultation and Education at a large community mental health center in New Jersey. Fascinated by the emerging field of family therapy, I began advanced training at the Family Institute of Philadelphia and in 1979 became a senior psychologist at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic, an internationally known center for family therapy treatment and training. Between 1979 and 1988 I held a variety of positions, including Director of Psychology Training and Director of Outpatient Psychological Services. I also served as a consultant to the adolescent medical unit at CHOP, supervising psychiatry residents and to the pediatric oncology department, providing psychological support for medical interns and residents.
During my tenure at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic, I became dissatisfied with the tests available to assess child and adolescent emotional functioning and self-perceptions and began to develop and distribute child and adolescent assessment materials for mental health professionals and school counselors to fill some important gaps. These materials are still in use today and are currently being translated for international use. I’ve had extensive experience as a school consultant. About ten years ago, I began wondering if could be possible to find ways to identify teen students who might be at risk for learning, attention or emotional difficulties before they started to fail. This work included the development and implementation of Facets of Success, a program to strengthen school advisory relationships in middle and high schools and Student Assessment Services, an online extension of Facets of Success.