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Mary K. Alvord, Ph.D
Psychologist
Licensed psychologist, Dr. Alvord has more than 30 years of clinical experience, the past 25 years of which have been in private practice. Dr. Alvord has
developed a style that incorporates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and a Systems approach. She specializes in the treatment of children,
adolescents and adults with anxiety disorders, and children and teens with ADHD and problems of emotional and behavioral regulation
through individual and group therapy.
In 1977 Dr. Alvord helped to establish a mental health clinic for children and adolescents through the Cheltenham Outreach Program. She
worked as a therapist and later as the Director of Psychology Training at the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents, a day and
residential treatment center. Dr. Alvord has presented on child and adolescent disorders and treatment for both national and international
professional audiences.
For the past 18 years, Dr. Alvord's focus has been on resilience and strength-based approaches. She has developed a model for group
therapy for social competence training which is based on these principles. She served as training coordinator of the Post-Doctoral Institute
on Child and Adolescent Psychology sponsored by the Maryland Psychological Association Foundation between October 2000 and June 2002. She has co-authored two journal articles on resilience and has contributed to the American
Psychological Association's (APA) public education guides on resilience in children and teens. Currently Dr. Alvord serves as APA's Public
Education Coordinator for the Maryland Psychological Association. Dr. Alvord was recently honored as the first recipient of the American
Psychological Associations Presidential Innovative Practice Citation (2009). The award is part of the 2009 Presidential Future of Psychology
Practice initiative to recognize groundbreaking practices that may inspire other practitioners.
Visit the APA website to learn more about Dr. Alvord's selection for this citation.
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Patricia Baker, Ph.D, LCSW-C, BCD
Social Worker
Board certified licensed clinical social worker, Dr. Baker earned her a doctorate in clinical social work from The Catholic University of America and completed postdoctoral training in grief and loss with the Steven Daniel Jeffreys Foundation, as well as training in mediation with the Baltimore Mediation Center. Dr. Baker has worked with adults individually, wtih couples, and in groups both in the practice and as Director of Psychiatry and Substance Abuse at Providence Hospital doing both inpatient and outpatient work. Her child, adolescent and family work includes the Cheltenham Outreach Program and the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents where she served as senior therapist, team leader and Admissions Officer. She is the author of several articles in professional journals on adolescent theory and treatment. Her work with adults, children, adolescents and their families includes specialties in couples counseling, adolescent individual and group therapy, issues related to separation and divorce and other disappointments and losses throughout the life cycle.
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Samantha T. Bender, Ph.D
Psychologist
Licensed psychologist in Maryland, New York, and the District of Columbia, Dr. Bender earned her degree from the University of Connecticut and completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services in New York. Dr. Bender has extensive experience working with children, adolescents, families, and adults. For the past eight years, Dr. Bender has worked at the Reginald S. Lourie Center for Infants and Young Children in Rockville, Maryland, providing a range of services including: psychological testing and individual and family psychotherapy treatment with infants, toddlers, preschool, and school age children; work in the therapeutic nursey school program; and work at the therapeutic school program for students with learning, emotional, and behavioral difficulties. Dr. Bender also has significant experience working with children, adolescents, and families coping with trauma, abuse and neglect, loss, adoption, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, ADHD, Asperger's, and problems of emotional behavioral regulation. Additional areas of expertise include neuropsychological and psycho-educational evaluations and educational consultation and advocacy.
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Erica Berger , LCSW-C
Social Worker
Licensed clinical social worker with more than 14 years of experience, Ms. Berger has provided a broad range of counseling services including individual, family, couples and group therapy. In addition, she has completed the intensive clinical externship program in Family Therapy with the Ackerman Institute for the Family in New York. Areas of specialty include: anxiety; depression; family communication; family transitions; adolescent development; adjustment to illness; and bereavement. While at Ackerman, she was presented with the Carl Kempner Award recognizing her work assisting families dealing with terminal illness . She has worked with children and families coping with disabilities, trauma, and chronic/life threatening illness. This work included assisting families who were dealing with loss from the September 11 th tragedy. While at The Family Center in New York , Ms. Berger helped to develop Teen Scene, a monthly drop-in group for inner city youth. In addition to her clinical experience, she has spent more than six years offering consultation and supervision to clinical social workers.
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Lynn F. Bufka, Ph.D
Psychologist
Licensed psychologist in the states of Maryland and Massachusetts, Dr. Bufka earned her doctorate from Boston University with pre-doctoral training at Brockton Veterans' Affairs Medical Center / Harvard Medical School . She completed post doctoral training at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University under the supervision of Dr. David Barlow. Her clinical expertise is in the cognitive behavioral treatment of anxiety disorders. In addition to the treatment of anxiety disorders in adolescents and adults, Dr. Bufka is interested in issues related to identity development and cross-cultural adaptation and has experience working with these issues with college students and young adults. Other professional interests include evidence based practice, outcomes management, health policy and cross cultural psychology.
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Betsy Carmichael, LCSW-C
Social Worker
Licensed clinical social worker in Maryland with experience providing individual, group, and family therapy, Ms. Carmichael earned her advanced social work degree with a clinical concentration at The Catholic University of America. She has years of experience as a school social worker in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. schools. In these environments she has treated youth with a range of issues including learning disabilities, emotional disabilities, ADHD, anxiety, and autism. She also specializes in the treatment of children and adolescents on the autism spectrum and has had extensive experience running social skills groups and teaching parents and school staff how to promote generalization of these skills. Ms. Carmichael also has a particular interest in promoting thought and behavior changes that help children and adolescents enhance their self-esteem, develop coping strategies, and foster meaningful relationships with peers.
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Karan Lamb, Psy.D
Psychologist
Licensed psychologist with experience in individual and group psychotherapy, Dr. Lamb completed her pre-doctoral internship at Woodhull Medical Center in Brooklyn , New York where she worked at the child and adolescent clinic, adult inpatient, and HIV Clinic. She received her doctoral degree from The George Washington University. She has worked at the Adele Lebowitz Center for Youth and Family in Washington , DC as an individual and group therapist. For the past four years Dr. Lamb has worked as a psychologist with the Johns Hopkins University 's Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Family Study, interviewing multi-generations of families with OCD. Dr. Lamb specializes in the assessment and treatment of ADHD, anxiety and depressive disorders. In addition, she has interest and experience with psychoeducational assessments, social skills groups, and school consultations, for children from pre-school to high school age.
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Dorothy Moore, LCSW-C, BCD
Social Worker
Licensed clinical social worker and member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers with over 30 years of experience including direct services to children, adolescents and their families, Ms. Moore trained at the Family Therapy Institute of Washington, D. C. with Jay Haley and Cloe Madanes. She has managed a crisis center for women and children fleeing domestic violence, a therapeutic nursery program and a highly structured therapeutic and educational program for adolescents and their families. Ms. Moore specializes in the challenges of teaching parent education and is very familiar with PET and STEP. She has a particular interest in working with families with diverse backgrounds.
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Kelly O'Brien, Ph.D.
Psychologist
Licensed psychologist, Dr. O’Brien provides evidence-informed, cognitive-behavioral and family based approaches to the assessment and treatment of child and adolescent anxiety, depression, ADHD, and behavior problems. She completed her doctoral training in Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Florida, where she acquired expertise in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), an empirically supported treatment for young children with attention and behavior problems. Over the past eight years, including her internship at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, she has provided mental health services to children, adolescents, and families in a variety of settings including community clinics, schools, pediatric primary care, and hospitals. She has been a therapist for clinical research studies of PCIT and intensive cognitive-behavioral therapy for children with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Dr. O’Brien is also currently employed as a Research Assistant Professor in the department of psychology at the University of Maryland-College Park (UMD) and she is assistant director of the UMD ADHD Program. She has particular interests in early intervention and dissemination of evidence based practices to community therapists and schools.
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Veronica Raggi, Ph.D.
Psychologist
Licensed psychologist, Dr. Raggi earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Maryland, with particular emphasis on the evidence-based treatment of child and adolescent ADHD and disruptive behavior disorders. She completed a pre-doctoral internship at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and postdoctoral training at the New York University Child Study Center, through which she provided a wide range of assessment, treatment and consultation services for children, adolescents and families. She has published in numerous scholarly journals on topics such as academic and homework-related concerns, parenting issues, and school-based treatment of ADHD. Dr. Raggi currently provides individual therapy (child, adolescent, and adult), family therapy, behavioral parent training, school consultation services, and psycho-educational/psychological assessments. She has extensive experience in the application of behavioral and cognitive-behavioral approaches in the treatment of child and adolescent anxiety (including selective mutism), social skills deficits, depression, ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, academic problems, and organizational skills deficits. She also has interest and experience in the provision of family therapy to address conflict, communication, and relationship issues.
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Michael Reiter, Ph.D
Psychologist
Licensed psychologist in Maryland and New York, Dr. Reiter earned his doctorate from the George Washington University and completed his pre-doctoral internship at Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. Dr. Reiter has worked in a variety of clinical settings, including a pediatric and adolescent clinic at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, where he provided individual, family, couples, and group therapy, and parental guidance to clients and their families. Dr. Reiter has particular interest in working with couples (both pre-marital and marital) and families in therapy to address conflict, communication, parenting strategies, mental health, and other relationship issues. Dr. Reiter works with children and their families on behavior and school-related issues and provides school-consultation services to help determine the best placement and services needed for the child. He specializes in individual and family work with special health care needs, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, ADHD, and high-risk teen behaviors. Dr. Reiter’s primary approach includes a combination of Cognitive Behavior and Family Systems Therapies.
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Monica Robb , Ph.D
Psychologist
Licensed psychologist, Dr. Robb received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology with a specialty in deafness from Gallaudet University and is a licensed psychologist in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. During her graduate training, she completed externships at CPC Health/Chestnut Lodge Hospital and Howard University Counseling Center. She received her pre-doctoral training at Children's Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Robb has worked as a staff Clinician at a private therapeutic school for students with learning, emotional, and behavioral difficulties. Currently, she provides individual therapy to adults, children, and adolescents, as well as group therapy for children and adolescents. Dr. Robb specializes in social competence training, depression, anxiety (including Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) and Trichotillomania. She also has an interest in the area of stress management, especially as it relates to cardiac health. Her clinical treatment approach incorporates integrative psychotherapy within a Cognitive-Behavioral framework in an effort to meet the individual needs of clients.
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Jessica Samson, Psy.D
Psychologist
Licensed psychologist in Maryland, Dr. Samson earned her degree from Xavier University in Cincinnati and completed her pre-doctoral internship at Wayne State University in Detroit. She has background and expertise in providing individual and family therapy to children and adolescents with a wide range of psychopathology in inpatient and outpatient treatment settings. During her postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dr. Samson had extensive experience in providing cognitive-behavioral treatments (CBT) to children and adolescents with anxiety and tic disorders. Additional clinical experiences include conducting psychological evaluations and group therapy with children and adolescents with specific interests in the treatment of disruptive behavior disorders, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders; divorce and separation; and the dissemination of evidence-based treatments in communities with diverse backgrounds.
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Lisa Sanchez, Ph.D
Psychologist
Licensed psychologist in Maryland and the District of Columbia, Dr. Sanchez earned her degree at the University of Maryland, where she completed specialty training in evidence based approaches for treating children and adolescents with anxiety disorders and ADHD/behavior problems. Her pre-doctoral and post-doctoral experience at Childrens National Medical Center in Washington, DC, provided a broad range of experiences including individual therapy, assessment of children with executive functioning disorders, and assessment of young children with developmental delays and autism spectrum disorders. As part of her training, she also completed a fellowship in the Leadership and Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) program. At Alvord, Baker, & Associates, Dr. Sanchez continues to provide treatment and testing services for children of all ages. Her intervention approach is guided by cognitive behavioral and family systems theory. Specific services include a behavioral therapy program for socially anxious/shy children, parent training programs for children with disruptive behaviors, and comprehensive neurodevelopmental evaluations for toddlers and preschool age children who are suspected of having an autism spectrum disorder. She also has interest and experience in treatment of mood disorders, coping with chronic illness, and school consultation. In addition to providing treatment services, Dr. Sanchez is our Director of Research, and is in the process of implementing empirical approaches to study the effectiveness of our group and individual treatments.
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Erik Scott, Ph.D
Psychologist
Licensed psychologist, Dr. Scott compelted his pre-doctoral training at Georgetown University Child Development Center in Washington, DC and his doctoral training at the University of Maryland. Dr. Scott completed his post-doctoral training at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. Dr. Scott is also employed as a pediatric psychologist at Children's National Medical Center at the HSC Pediatric Center in Washington, DC, and holds a faculty appointment as an Adjunct Professor at Howard University Department of Psychology. His current interest areas include: psychological assessments in infants, toddlers, preschool and school age children; developmental disabilities (including autism); psychological services for children with special health care needs; emotional and behavioral disorders in children; abuse and neglect; as well as social skills groups.
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Edward Spector, Psy.D
Psychologist
Licensed psychologist with a background and expertise in helping children, adolescents, and parents in individual and group therapy, Dr. Spector completed his postdoctoral training at Kingsbury Day School where he acquired extensive experience helping children and adolescents with learning disabilities, executive function deficits, social skills deficits, pervasive developmental disabilities, anxiety disorders, depression, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and aggressive, oppositional, and impulsive behaviors. Dr. Spector has significant experience with preschool age children as a former nursery school teacher and through his work with therapeutic nursery school programs. Dr Spector has experience helping children with toilet-training issues, collaborating with pediatric Gastroenterologists in the treatment of lower G.I. difficulties. Dr. Spector has worked with internationally adopted children and their families and has led a variety of support groups for parents of children with emotional and behavioral problems. Additional areas of interest and expertise include bereavement, divorce, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, school refusal, difficulties with academic motivation, and the unique challenges facing gifted and talented youth.
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Marquette W. Turner, Ph.D
Psychologist
Licensed psychologist, Dr. Turner completed his pre-doctoral training at Virginia Tech, Temple University , and Howard University Hospital Center. Dr. Turner completed his postdoctoral training and later held the position of Research Assistant Professor at the Maryland Center for Anxiety Disorders (MCAD) at the University of Maryland , College Park . In these capacities, he provided clinical services which included individual and group therapy for children, adolescents, and adults and has extensive experience with individuals diagnosed with Social Phobia. For four years, Dr. Turner held the position of staff psychologist in a college counseling center. In addition he has an interest and experience with the spectrum of anxiety disorders and depression with children, teens and adults. with adolescents, individual work with children, adolescents and adults, couples therapy, as well as child and adolescent group therapy.
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Tom Verratti, LCSW-C, BCD
Social Worker
Licensed clinical social worker and Board Certified Diplomate with more that 25 years of clinical experience. Mr. Verratti has served as a consultant to the Montgomery County (Maryland) Child Mental Health Staff, MCPS, served as Chief Clinical Social Worker for a private child psychiatry practice and was Clinical Program Director for a residential treatment center for adolescents. Mr. Verratti specializes in family therapy with adolescents, individual work with children, adolescents and adults, couples therapy, as well as child and adolescent group therapy. Additionally, Mr. Verratti is a Life and Executive Coach.
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Bonnie Zucker, Psy.D
Psychologist
Licensed psychologist with background and expertise in psychotherapy with adults, adolescents, and children. Dr. Zucker completed her postdoctoral training at William Stixrud, Ph.D. and Associates, where she acquired extensive experience administering neuropsychological tests and conducting psycho-educational evaluations. Her pre-doctoral training included co-leading social skills groups at the Hyperactivity, Attention, and Learning Problems (HALP) clinic at the University of Chicago. Dr. Zucker's areas of interest include: individual, family, couples, and group therapy; treatment of anxiety disorders, mood disorders, ADHD and learning problems, emotional and behavioral problems, social skills training, relationship & self-esteem issues, and sexual abuse & sexual reactivity; and psycho-educational assessments. Dr. Zucker is the author of Anxiety-Free Kids: An Interactive Guide for Parents and Children, a self-help book for children ages 7-13 and their parents. The book is based on the cognitive-behavioral treatment of anxiety disorders. Dr.Zucker is also active in training other mental health professionals on the treatment of anxiety disorders in children and adults.
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