"Those who fall in love with practice without science are like a sailor who enters a ship without a helm or a compass, and who never can be certain whither he is going." -- Leonardo da Vinci
Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy are closely related forms of psychotherapy rooted in the science of learning. Learning is the process by which durable changes in thinking, feeling, and behaving occur as a result of experience. Learning enables us to grow and adapt.
Behavior/Cognitive Behavior Therapy is goal-directed and active. Because the process is an effortful one and requires work between sessions, it is particularly well suited to increasing independence and reducing the need for long-term professional involvement. The goal of Behavior/Cognitive Behavior Therapy is to provide clients (children and parents) with a repertoire of new skills that will empower them to take charge of their lives and to achieve and maintain desired gains.
As a behavior/cognitive behavior therapist, I work together with the child and his or her parents to structure experiences that will help the child master problems and improve the quality of his or her life by learning more adaptive ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. As a caring and compassionate Clinical Child Psychologist, I favor practices that have a strong scientific foundation.
Problems Treated:
- Fears and anxiety-related problems, including obsessive-compulsive disorder
(OCD), selective mutism, social anxiety, separation anxiety, health anxiety,
panic disorder, specific phobias (e.g., insects, animals, heights, flying,
blood, injections, vomiting, illness, death), nighttime fears, generalized
anxiety, and sensory sensitivities
- Sadness/depression
- Sleep problems
- Toileting/elimination problems, including enuresis, encopresis, retention,
and pollakiuria
- Problems with emotional self-management, including excessive anger, temper
outbursts, aggressiveness, and fighting
- Behavioral difficulties, including opposition and defiance
- Challenges associated with executive dysfunction (ADHD/ADD), including difficulties
with organization, planning, sustaining effort, and completing tasks
Services Offered:
- Evaluations
- Individual and family therapies
- Parent support and collaborative guidance
- School consultations
- Ecological interventions (interventions that involve or take place in the child's
natural environment) such as in-vivo exposure, in-home treatment, and school-based
interventions
- Incorporation of computers and related cutting edge technologies when appropriate
(e.g., video self-modeling as a component of treatment for selective mutism)
- Coordination of services with other involved professionals (e.g., pediatricians,
psychiatrists, school personnel, other health/mental health professionals)
- Intensive outpatient treatment for severe OCD and other severe anxiety-related
problems
- Workshops and presentations