My Approach
Every child presents with his or her own unique set of strengths and weaknesses, and it is my role to help clarify and define what those are, and how they manifest across all the different environments your child functions in. For parents, a comprehensive evaluation can serve as a kind of “blueprint” or “roadmap” of your child’s personality and abilities, and this information serves to help gain a better understanding of who your child is, and what they need to achieve their full potential, both now and in the future. For a child, an evaluation is the opportunity to have their challenges normalized and validated, their strengths recognized and appreciated, to gain confidence, and feel supported and reassured.
The child sets the pace at which the evaluation progresses and I strive to make the testing process stress free, accommodating each child’s stamina and energy level. I explain both the reasons for the evaluation and the reasons behind each task, in age appropriate terms that each child can understand. I have found this makes children much more active and enthusiastic participants in the testing process. If a young child might perform best in a familiar environment, I can offer evaluations in a home setting.
My background in both clinical psychology and behavior analysis gives me a unique set of skills and I view the children I evaluate and treat through both a clinical and a behavioral lens. I have found this to be critical, as behavior plays a key role in both understanding a child’s distinctive profile, and their ability to function in all of the environments they encounter. Behavior is ultimately the truest expression of the combination of a child’s experiences and skill set.
When an evaluation is completed, I work very closely and directly with parents and schools to ensure that the results of the evaluation translate into meaningful changes to benefit and support a child in their home and school environments. If a new school placement is being sought, I guide parents in making the most appropriate choice for their child. It is critical to me that a child’s school not only support and accommodate them in meaningful and effective ways, but also recognize and nurture each child’s unique “spark.”
For the children for whom I offer supportive therapy, my approach is highly individualized to each child’s specific needs, and combines cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic approaches. I place emphasis on working with parents when and where applicable, so that a child’s progress in therapy translates into meaningful gains both at home and in any environment that child functions in.
About
I was born in London and raised in New York City. I attended the Lyçée Français de New York before completing my undergraduate degree at Vassar College and New York University. I began a Masters Degree in Psychology at New York University which I completed as part of my doctoral studies at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Albert Einstein School of Medicine. I completed my doctorate in Clinical Psychology after an internship at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in 2000.
​
Over the next several years, I continued to work in a variety of settings with children, performing evaluations and working therapeutically with children with a broad variety of presenting problems and diagnoses. While working as the school psychologist at a specialized pre-school, I became increasingly familiar with applied behavior analysis and its empirically based efficacy treating autism. It became clear to me that this approach is the “gold standard” for working with children on the autism spectrum. I began pursuing my certification and licensure in applied behavior analysis which I completed in 2012.
​
Since then, I have established a practice as a certified and licensed behavior analyst, a clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist, and have benefited immensely from the ways in which these disciplines inform and complement each other when addressing the needs of the children I work with. I have found that while behavior analysis has primarily become known as a methodology for treating autism, its principles are applicable and helpful to a wide variety of issues that present with behavioral challenges, such as attention deficits, anxiety, and depression, to name just a few. Together with my clinical and neuropsychological expertise, my practice offers a comprehensive approach to both assessment and treatment of a wide variety of diagnoses.
My Personal Story
I decided to pursue graduate studies in clinical psychology in my early twenties, after a brief stint in the world of public relations and fashion. My doctoral studies soon focused on child and developmental psychology, and during my internship year I began training in neuropsychological evaluations of children in both an inpatient and outpatient hospital setting. I also became pregnant with my first child.
About a year and a half after my daughter was born, I started to notice the very red flags I had been trained to observe in children I was evaluating. She was not developing communication and play skills typical of a child her age and I became concerned. Many of my colleagues could not believe that of all people, I might have a child with developmental delays, and of course the irony was not lost on me, but there was no time to dwell on this. While my training prepared me well for sourcing the kinds of services and schools that would best help my daughter, I was not spared any of the anguish and heartbreak that comes with the realization that my child had special needs.
​
The following several years were full of therapies, IEP meetings, evaluations and specialized school tours, and despite being a professional in this field, I experienced the baptism by fire of navigating the often confusing and very stressful world of special needs children. My daughter progressed and thrived in specialized settings during her pre-school and elementary years, then successfully transitioned to a mainstream school for middle and high school. Today she is a happy and successful college student, but for me this journey remains a true education on what it is like to be on the “other” side of the equation, as a parent and not as a professional. I carry this knowledge and experience to every case I take on, and, as such, I believe I am able to offer unique insight and support to the children and families I work with.