SKILLS SUMMARY
- Proven ability to collaborate with a broad range of professionals to improve outcomes for young children and families.
- Experience providing relationship-based mental health services to at-risk and foster children from birth to five years.
- Thorough knowledge of childhood development, including psychosocial/functional emotional milestones.
- Training in, knowledge of, and ability to effectively implement techniques from early intervention models such as Infant-Parent Psychotherapy, DIR/Floortime, Wait Watch and Wonder, and Interaction Guidance.
- Solid, working knowledge of birth to five screening and assessment tools, including DC: 03R, Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ), ASQ: SE, Battelle Developmental Inventory-2, Greenspan’s Functional Emotional Growth Chart, CBCL: 1 1/2 to 5, Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, Parenting Stress Index, and L.A. County DMH’s Infancy, Childhood & Relationship Enrichment Initial Assessment.
- Excellent clinical skills and proven ability to work with a wide range of clinical issues.
- Ability to deliver services with respect for each family’s culture, values, and norms.
- Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills.
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
Private Practice, Glendale, CA (October 2008 to Present)
- Provide assessment and treatment of young children and their families, adolescents, and individual adults.
- Provide parenting coaching services.
Hillsides, Baldwin Park, CA (December 2008 to Present)
Therapist/Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist
- Lead development and implementation of agency’s new birth to five program.
- Assess children under age five with multiple risk factors, within agency and as part of Los Angeles County’s Multidisciplinary Assessment Team (MAT), working across disciplines and agencies, including social services, early childhood education, medical, and Dependency Court systems.
- Lead MAT Summary of Findings meetings to discuss assessment results and recommendations for services and disposition of dependent children into appropriate placements within child welfare system.
- Provide ongoing therapeutic services (dyadic, family, and individual) to at-risk young children and vulnerable families in San Gabriel Valley area.
- Provide regular ongoing mental health consultation and training to staff of the Baby Lab Early Childhood Learning Program within CAL-SAFE state teen parenting program and Early Head Start.
- Lead ongoing, agency-wide training and consultation on birth to five cases being treated by Hillsides clinicians.
- Represent agency in multi-agency (Service Provider Area 3) Birth to Five Collaborative on regular basis.
LAC+USC - Violence Intervention Program-Community Mental Health Center (VIP-CMHC),
Los Angeles, CA (Sept. 2006 to Dec. 2008)
Clinical Therapist/Supervisor
- Supervised and trained Clinical Therapists with special interest in working with children from birth to five years of age.
- Provided assessment of and ongoing therapeutic services (individual, family, dyadic, collateral) to low-income, at-risk children (0-18 years) and families within an agency focused on serving victims of abuse and severe neglect.
- Received mentoring and ongoing one-on-one training with Infancy and Early Childhood Expert and past Zero to Three Fellow, Zohreh Zarnegar, Ph.D.
- Worked collaboratively with treatment team, including adjunct therapists, pediatric occupational therapists, case managers, psychologists, school psychologists, psychiatric staff, pediatricians, pediatric neurologists, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) specialist, intra-agency therapeutic behavioral services (TBS) coaches, Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) social workers, and Children’s Law Center attorneys.
- Provided psychoeducation to caregivers; assisted them in improving attunement and mutual engagement with their children.
- Advocated for clients through written case reports, which include clinical concerns and recommendations to DCFS and the Dependency Court.
- Attended IEPs to advocate for clients’ educational and adjunctive needs (including speech and language therapy).
- Participated in clinical and administrative meetings, providing input to improve agency systems, programs, and service provision.
St. Anne’s Maternity Home, Los Angeles, CA (March 2005 to September 2006)
Therapist
- Provided therapeutic services to culturally diverse range of children, parenting and pregnant teens, and families within Level-12 residential, transitional housing, and in-home settings.
- Consulted with residential staff, transitional housing staff, community agencies, school personnel, DCFS workers, attorneys, probation officers, caregivers, and other mental health providers to coordinate client care.
- Participated in team conferences and consulted with psychiatric staff to review client cases and medication issues.
- Provided case management services to community clients.
Valley Community Clinic, North Hollywood, CA (March 2003 to September 2004)
Clinician
- Provided therapy services to low-income children, adults, and couples from diverse east Valley area.
- Performed mental health screenings, initial assessments, and treatment planning.
- Regularly presented and led discussion of case material, including diagnoses and interventions, within group supervision setting.
EDUCATION
- Antioch University, Los Angeles, CA – M.A., Clinical Psychology (March 2004).
- Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY – M.F.A., Creative Writing, Concentration: Fiction (May 1996).
- Connecticut College, New London, CT – B.A., History, Concentration: Intellectual History (May 1990).
RECENT RELEVANT TRAININGS (BIRTH TO FIVE)
- Huntington Memorial Hospital: “Pediatric Occupational Therapy in the NICU” – Birth to Five Collaborative (September 2009).
- Diane Cullinane, M.D.: “Assessment of Developmental Functioning” – Birth to Five Collaborative (July, 2009).
- Zero to Three: National Training Institute (2008), includes the following:
- “Early Childhood Wellness Initiative”
- Using Infant Mental Health Consultation to Increase Capacity and Reduce Burnout Among Family Support Staff”
- “The Birth of Social Intelligence: How Infants Learn About the Minds of Others” (Alison Gopnik, Ph.D.)
- “Connect to Me Through PCIT”
- “Developmental Parenting: Why It Matters and How to Support It”
- “Conducting Child-Parent Psychotherapy with Mothers and Infants Affected by Domestic Violence”
- “Building Capacity to Treat Young Children Exposed to Trauma: The Child Trauma Institute, An Innovative Collaborative”
- Connie Lillas, Ph.D.: “Four Common Problems and Their Solutions within the Child Welfare System From a Neurorelational Lens” (2008).
- Project ABC: “Impact of Methamphetamine and Other Substances on Infants, Toddlers, and Their Families” (2008).
- Project ABC: “Failure to Thrive is Not A Diagnosis” (2008).
- ICDL/Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D.: Infancy and Early Childhood Training Course (2008).
- ICDL/Rosemary White, OTR/L: “Regulatory Sensory Processing Disorders” (2008).
- Bruce Perry, M.D.: “Impact of Trauma on Brain Development” (2008).
- Diane Cullinane, M.D.: “Introduction to DIR/Floortimeâ (2008).
- ASQ/ASQ: SE (2008).
- Battelle Developmental Inventory-2 (2008).
- Briana Hamill, OTD: “Feeding and Eating,” (2008).
- PCDA/Diane Cullinane, M.D.: “Introduction to DIR/Floortime,” (2007).
- Briana Hamill, OTD: “Introduction to Sensory Integration and Occupational Therapy,” (2007).
- Lyn Laboriel, M.D.: “Fetal Alcohol Syndrome,” (2007).
- Alison Pinto, Ph.D.: DC: 03R (2006).
- Attachment Theory and Brain Development (2006).
- Infancy Childhood Relationship Enrichment Didactic training Program (2006-2008), LAC+USC – Violence Intervention Program-Community Mental Health Center
- Reflective Supervision and Mentoring (Weekly Individual Meetings) with Zero to Three Fellow, Zohreh Zarnegar, Ph.D. (DMH, American Indian Counseling Center).
- Weekly didactic trainings by Zohreh Zarnegar, Ph.D. (complete list available upon request).
HONORS, ACHIEVEMENTS AND AWARDS
Hillsides, Achievements:
- Lead Birth to Five Clinician across all programs within agency.
- Lead Birth to Five assessor for agency’s Multidisciplinary Assessment Team (MAT) program.
- Lead trainer for professional development in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health across agency programs.
- Implemented agency’s first mental health consultation program to educational/caregiving settings within local provider area.
- Recognized as one of a few specialized MAT assessors for foster children ages birth to five within large service provider area (covering the San Gabriel Valley area).
VIP-CMHC, Achievements:
- Recommended to transition to Director of Birth to Five ICARE program.
- Promoted to Clinical Therapist/Supervisor (2008).
- Promoted to Senior Clinical Therapist position from staff of over twenty-five Clinical Therapists (2007).
- Completed Birth to Five ICARE didactic training course with Zohreh Zarnegar, Ph.D. (2007).
- Recognized as lead clinician in agency’s Birth to Five ICARE program.
- Selected from small group of senior clinicians to hire, train, and mentor clinical staff with specific interest in agency’s Birth to Five ICARE program.
- Teach didactic training modules within Birth to Five ICARE program (2008).
- Through agency’s community outreach program, provided training on “The Effects of Family Violence on Young Children” to professionals from outside community agencies (2007).
St. Anne’s Maternity Home, Achievements:
- Led development and implementation of new in-home community mental health program.
- 2005 Teamwork Award - Recognition by management and peers for exceptional teamwork.
- Provided mental health perspective as member of agency’s multi-disciplinary work group focused on improving Residential Program for pregnant and parenting teens.
- Led development and establishment of on-premises library to serve clients and further the knowledge of agency’s mental health therapists.
Valley Community Clinic, Achievements:
- Developed outstanding understanding of object-relations theory and applications to treatment through close individual supervision of cases by Kleinian and post-Kleinian psychoanalysts.
PRESENTATIONS
- “Infant Mental Health” – Descanso Pediatrics/Huntington Medical Foundation, La Canada, CA (September, 2009).
- “Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: An Introduction” (All-Staff Training) – Hillsides, Pasadena, CA (September 2009).
- “Emotional and Behavioral Regulation” – Hillsides, Pasadena, CA (July, 2009).
- “Socio-Emotional Development” – (Professional Development Day) Robbins Nest Preschool, La Crescenta, CA (March 2009).
- “The Impact of Domestic Violence on Young Children” – (Community Outreach Program, various locations), Violence Intervention Program-CMHC (2008).
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Prior career working as grant writer, project manager, marketing manager, and advertising/marketing copywriter, including:
- Editorial Consultant/Interim Director: World Children’s Publishing, 2003-2004
- Writer/Project Manager: City of Hope National Medical Center, 2001-2003
- Associate Marketing Manager: Meredith Publishing, 1999-2001
- Copywriter/Project Manager: Family Circle Magazine, 1998-1999
- Copywriter: Penguin Putnam Publishing, 1997-1998.
OTHER LIFE EXPERIENCE, ACTIVITIES AND INTERESTS
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
- California Association of Marriage & Family Therapists (CAMFT) – Member
- Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders (ICDL) – Member
EXCELLENT REFERENCES