Dr. O’Brien is a licensed psychologist at Alvord, Baker & Associates, LLC. She is the co-director of the Selective Mutism Program and the summer intensive camp. She is a certified Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) trainer and therapist and uses PCIT modified for Selective Mutism as developed by Dr. Steven Kurtz. Dr. O’Brien provided intensive treatment for Selective Mutism and other anxiety disorders during her clinical psychology doctoral training at the University of Florida. She completed her internship at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and was a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland-College Park. She has been involved with numerous research projects for developing and examining outcomes for cutting edge family-based interventions, including a large NIMH funded study for families of young children with behavioral inhibition and social anxiety. She provides trainings about evidence-based interventions for anxiety to therapists and teachers.
Check out this article published in Time about the “Turtle Program” that discusses the intervention that Dr. O’Brien helped to develop and trained others to implement:
http://time.com/4806209/anxiety-kids-cognitive-behavioral-therapy/Counselors
Our counselors are recruited from graduate psychology programs in the DC Metro area. The majority of our counselors come from the University of Maryland, College Park and Catholic University Clinical Psychology Programs. Counselors receive extensive hands on and didactic training in preparation for their involvement in our camp and groups.