A Breadth of Experience

I have provided empathic and professional therapeutic help to many patients over my 25 years in practice.  Years of study, a commitment to continuing professional education, service to my profession, experience with many kinds of problems, and work with many children, adolescents, and adults have created a framework for reasoned, experienced, and innovative work with individuals, families and couples.

I have worked in many different settings as a psychologist:  in outpatient clinics, in inpatient and day-treatment hospital settings, and in both mental-health and substance-abuse treatment programs.

For the past 11 years I have been proud to be affiliated with a group of psychologists, Psychological Institutes of Michigan, P.C. Psychological Institutes of Michigan was the

first mental health practice in the state of Michigan owned by psychologists.

A Strong Education and Training

• Licensed Psychologist: State of Michigan
• Ph.D., M.A.: The University of Michigan.  Joint Program in Clinical and Developmental Psychology.
• B.A.:  Michigan State University.
• Internships: American Psychological Association Approved:  Children's Psychiatric Hospital, The Psychological Clinic.
• Continuing Professional Education: Including the American Psychological Association, Michigan Psychological Association, Society for Personality Assessment, Rorschach Workshops, Center for Therapeutic Assessment, Michigan Interprofessional Association on Marriage, Divorce, and the Family.

Professional Pursuits

I am a recognized expert, based upon my extensive training and experience, as well as teaching experience in a number of different professional areas:

• Psychotherapy: with adults, adolescents, children, couples, and families.
• Forensic psychology:  evaluations, consultations, testimony.
• Mediation, Evaluation and Parenting Coordination:  in family law matters.
• Psychological evaluation:  Including traditional psychological testing, collaborative assessment and therapeutic assessment.  This includes psychological evaluations of children, adoelscents, adults and families.
• Therapeutic assessment.

I have practiced extensively in the arena of forensic psychology, performing hundreds of custody evaluations and scores of evaluations for civil and criminal matters over the past 25 years.  I have been admitted many times as an expert witness in Oakland, Wayne, Macomb, Washtenaw, and Ingham Counties, among other judicial circuits, and in Federal court.

I often work with divorcing parents to help them make joint decisions about future parenting arrangements, and with divorced parents to reduce the level of conflict to which their children are exposed. I have served as mediator or parenting coordinator for dozens of families, working with parents and attorneys to work out solutions to parenting issues or disputes.  I have been appointed as the parenting coordinator in well over a hundred cases over the past 15 years.

Therapeutic assessment is a combination of psychological assessment and techniques for therapeutic change.  Therapeutic assessment differs from traditional psychological testing "in its explicit goal of leaving clients positively changed at the end of an assessment (Tharinger, Finn, et. cal, 20007)"  through ongoing focused dialogue between clients and assessors, which can lead the clients to develop "a new story" about their lives, "their strengths, their significant relationships and problems in living..." The goal is to make the assessment experience the most positive and useful experience possible for the client and family, and to make a significant impact on the client's (and family's) life.  Research has demonstrated that therapeutic assessment can lead to positive changes for many clients.

A Leader in the Professional Community

I have always collaborated with colleagues, and involvement in professional organizations has allowed me to have an impact on the issues which impact the profession of psychology, and which in turn affect the clients with whom I work.   I have been recognized by my peers for my leadership in psychology and in the community of professionals who work with the family courts:

• President: Michigan Psychological Association, 2001.
• Member, Board of Directors: Michigan Psychological Association, 1996-1998, 2000-2009.
• President: Michigan Interprofessional Association on Marriage, Divorce, and the Family, 2007-2010.
• Member, Board of Trustees:  Michigan Interprofessional Association on Marriage, Divorce, and the Family, 2005-present.
• Fellow: Michigan Psychological Association, elected 1994.
• Distinguished Psychologist:  Michigan Psychological Association, 1999.
• Beth Clark Service Award: Michigan Psychological Association, 2007.
• Past President Award: Michigan Psychological Association, 2002.
• Representative for Michigan:  American Psychological Association Council of Representatives, 2003-2004.
• Chairperson:  Insurance Committee, Michigan Psychological Association, 1996-1998.
• Chairperson: Communications Committee, Michigan Psychological Association,  2007-2009.
• Member: Ethics Committee, Michigan Psychological Association, 2005-present.
• Member: Michigan Psychological Association, Michigan Interprofessional Association on Marriage, Divorce, and the Family, American Psychological Association, Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, Society for Personality Assessment.
• Presenter:  SMILE Program (Start Making It Livable for Everyone), Oakland County Family Court, 2003-2009.

Teaching A New Generation of Psychologists

Teaching and clinical supervision are great ways to keep myself even more current in new developments in my profession, and to encourage the growth of other professionals.

I am an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Madonna University, in Livonia Michigan.  There, I teach courses to graduate students in Clinical Psychology, including courses on psychological assessment and child and adolescent psychopathology.

Sharing My Experience with Colleagues and Other Professionals

Through presentations to colleagues and other professionals, I can share my experience extend the reach of my insights into helping inividuals and families.

I have presented to psychologists at meetings of the Michigan Psychological Association, the American Psychological Association, the Society for Personality Assessment.  In February, 2011, I will be presenting to the Michigan Psychological Association on ethical issues involved in serving as a psychotherapist in a family who are pursuing, or who have pursued action in family court.

I have presented on forensic psychology in Family Law matters to many organizations, including: the Michigan Inter-Professional Association on Marriage, Divorce and the Family (MIPA), the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (Michigan Chapter), the Oakland and Wayne County Circuit Court judges and referees, the American Bar Association- Family Law Section, the Michigan Bar Association-Family Law Section, the Oakland County Bar Association, the Wayne County Bar Association-Family Law Section, and the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association.

I was, for many years, a regular presenter for the SMILE Program (Start Making It Livable for Everyone), a mandatory program in Oakland County for divorcing persons who have children under 18.

My Curriculum Vitae

Psychological Institutes of Michigan, P.C. is a group psychotherapy practice with offices in a quiet, wooded location in Bloomfield Hills. Started in 1967, it is the oldest psychotherapy practice in Michigan wholly owned by psychologists. The staff consists of doctoral-level psychologists, and it offers a wide range of services for individuals, couples and families, as well as consultations for businesses, schools and community organizations.