CLINICAL CHAPTERS
PIMA COUNTY CHAPTER
Frances Almstrom, LMFT
Frances is an LMFT in private practice, with extensive work experience with children in the foster system. While at community mental health non-profits, she ran a 0-5 program for children in foster care, later taking a therapy position. She received her master’s from the University of Phoenix, and has additional training in psychodrama, attachment, and Emotionally Focused Therapy. She is currently partnering with a Parent Education organization to develop and offer parenting classes for parents raising children with attachment issues (adoptive parents, foster parents, and re-united parents).
Miles H. Overholt, D.S.W.
Miles is a practicing family therapist and hypnotherapist who has extensive experience in working with families, couples and children. He was trained by staff members of the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic and incorporates the systems approach of Traditional Chinese Medicine into his work with patients. He has been in private practice in New Jersey for over thirty years and currently resides in Tucson, AZ. He also has over 30 years of consulting and research expertise in strategy execution and organizational design, as well as in guiding change for organizations, teams, and individuals. He is the author of Building Flexible Organizations: A People-Centered Approach and has written numerous articles on strategy execution, change processes, organizational behavior and organizational alignment. His undergraduate degree is from Lafayette College and he earned his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania.
ALAMEDA CHAPTER
Saralyn Ruff, MFTI
LOS ANGELES CHAPTER
Pamela Haddad, LMFT
Pamela Haddad, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist working in private practice in Santa Monica and West Los Angeles. For many years Pamela provided therapy, doing field based outreach work with high-risk youth and their families. Pamela grew up and lived in Sweden and during this time she worked for years as an elementary and High school teacher. When living on an island in the Baltic Sea, together with the local social services she started up a hotline for victims of DV. Pamela took part in putting together the curriculum and training of the ER and 911 personnel in regards to how to respond when assisting victims of domestic violence, and of sexual assault. While working for Scandinavia’s largest school for massage and alternative medicine she took part in creating a program called “The Peaceful Touch”, a program designed to minimize physical violence in schools and daycare centers in Stockholm Sweden. Eventually, the program became part of the teachers continuing education nation wide. Today Pamela works with a focus on the mind body connection and is specialized in Trauma work. Pamela works with the county of LA seeing clients who are in the Victim-Witness Assistance Program.
MARIN COUNTY CHAPTER
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MISSION VIEJO CHAPTER
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ORANGE COUNTY CHAPTER
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SAN BERNARDINO CHAPTER
Ruth Lester, MFT
Ruth Lester has been in practice since 1993. She worked in public school settings until opening her private practice in Lake Arrowhead in 2005. In both settings, Ruth has worked extensively with foster children, foster and biological parents, and the system. She sees individuals, couples, and families in her practice.
SANTA CLARA CHAPTER
Meenal Chaudhari, MFTI
Meenal has two Master’s degrees: one in Clinical Psychology from India; and one in Counseling Psychology from the department of Holistic Studies at JFKU. She finds the holistic approach makes complete sense as it combines the transpersonal with somatic wisdom. She is currently in private practice with Doreen Maxwell, LMFT. She has held clinical positions at the JFKU Sunnyvale community counseling center, both as a Trainee and as an Intern; prior to that she worked as a psychotherapist in India. Meenal is also a painter. You can find her work at www.digmeart.com.
SAN DIEGO SOUTH CHAPTER
Roderick Hall, PhD
Rick Hall is a Clinical Psychologist and Child and Adolescent Psychoanalyst. He has been working with children and their families for more than 20 years. He has been in private practice in Coronado, CA since 1998. Prior to moving to the San Diego area, Dr. Hall worked in community mental health in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC and Washington State. Through his experience in community mental health, Dr. Hall learned much about foster children, the issues they and their foster families face, and the ways in which treatment can set their lives on a different trajectory. Dr. Hall received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from George Washington University in Washington, DC and his training in Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis at the San Diego Psychoanalytic Center where he is currently the director of their training program in child and adolescent psychoanalysis.
SAN DIEGO NORTH CHAPTER
Anellina Marrelli, LCSW
Anellina has years of experience working as a clinician both as a psychotherapist and a psychoanalyst with adults, adolescents, and children. Before her private practice, Anellina worked in hospitals where she developed family programs on chemical dependency units, and developed focused women’s groups. She also partners with her husband in a lumber business which buys/sells wood and remanufactures wood into various products such as wine racks. She loves growing herbs and vegetables, cooking and entertaining with friends and family.
SAN FRANCISCO CHAPTER
Danielle Dunchok, PsyD
Dr. Danielle Dunchok is a licensed clinical psychologist treating older adolescents, adults, and couples who struggle with anxiety, depression, mood disorders, relationship and marital problems. Her style is warm, friendly, and thoughtful; and her work is influenced by modern psychoanalytic perspectives, attachment theory, as well as a background in eastern spiritual traditions. She obtained her doctorate at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at California College of the Arts, which included specialized training in working with highly creative individuals and performance anxiety. She currently is a staff psychologist at Psychiatric Alternatives and Wellness Center, and has her own her own private practice in San Francisco.
Kristen Hurvitz • Teletherapy Chapter
Kristen graduated from the University of Washington with her Masters degree in Social Work, and she also holds a Masters degree in Human Services. Kristen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in California in Washington State.
Kristen is working towards the Registered Play Therapy Credential through the National Association for Play Therapy. Kristen has received training as a Yoga Calm Youth instructor and Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, as well as post-graduate certification in Therapy with Adoptive and Foster Families.
UCLA CHAPTER
Catherine Mogil, PsyD
Dr. Mogil is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior in the David Geffen School of Medicine. She is a licensed clinical psychologist and serves as the Director of Training and Intervention Development for the Nathanson Family Resilience Center. She is also the Director of the Family Development Project and the Co-Director of the Child and Family Trauma Service. Dr. Mogil serves as a consultant for the National Military Family Association Operation Purple Family Retreats, the Uniformed Services University, and a military project with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.
Her recent research focuses on developing effective interventions for children and families in high-stress environments. Working with children of all developmental stages, Dr. Mogil has been involved in several intervention development and translational research projects examining the efficacy of parent-assisted interventions for infants and toddlers in foster care, school-aged children with developmental disabilities, and adolescents with Autism Spectrum and other disorders. She is certified in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilties. Dr. Mogil received her doctorate from Pepperdine University and completed her clinical internship at UCLA. Dr. Mogil also completed a post-doctoral fellowship specializing in the prevention and treatment of child and family traumatic stress at USC/Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
DENVER CHAPTER
Meghan Hinman, MA, LCAT
Meghan is a licensed creative arts therapist and depth psychotherapist, operating a private psychotherapy practice in midtown Manhattan. She is an adjunct faculty member in the music therapy department at Montclair State University in New Jersey and currently completing doctoral research at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Her background includes work in group homes and emergency shelters for adolescents, and her current practice focuses on adults and adolescents.
MIAMI CHAPTER
Andrew Lagomasino, PsyD
Andrew Lagomasino, PsyD, ABPP is a psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Miami, FL. He graduated from Nova Southeastern University and spent about 10 years working as a Staff Psychologist on the Latino Team at Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) in Cambridge, MA. At CHA he studied and learned about cross-cultural psychotherapy, including with the most difficult to treat low income, immigrant, and chronically mentally ill patients. He did adult psychoanalytic training at Boston Psychoanalytic Society & Institute, then moved back to Miami in 2003 to be closer to his family. He was elected President of SEFAPP, Southeast Florida Association for Psychoanalytic Psychology, in 2005. He tested children for the public school system and was trained in child therapy through the New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center. He maintains a decades-long interest and expertise in personality pathology (particularly narcissism), and in psychoanalytic self-psychology. He obtained his Diplomate in Psychoanalysis in 2016. He sees children, adolescents, and adults for psychotherapy and psychological testing in private practice in Coral Gables, FL. He is active on the Program Committee of the Florida Psychoanalytic Center in Miami.
TAMPA CHAPTER
Tracy Hacker, LCSW
Tracy Hacker is a licensed clinical social worker and is currently employed with All Children’s Hospital. She is working with the Healthy Start Grant, a federally sponsored project that is working to decrease infant mortality rates among African Americans in 5 specific zip codes in St. Petersburg, FL. Tracy has experience working with children and their families that have been reunified after completing a child protection case plan. She is experienced working with children and families, including foster and adoptive youth and families.
Rachel Rodriguez, LMHC
Rachel Rodriguez is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Florida who began her career working with at risk youth and their families. Rachel was also employed as a counselor providing services to several of the health departments and community health centers in her area. As a mental health provider in the primary care setting, Rachel assisted clients with incorporating whole-body wellness by working in conjunction with her client's primary care doctors as well as their psychiatrists. This also allowed her experience with assessments and diagnosis. While working with this population she not only provided individual therapy, but she also conducted several group therapies and workshops on topics such as stress management, life skills for those with persistent mental Illness, and understanding bipolar disorders. In addition, Rachel has worked as part of the Family Reunification Team by providing counseling services and support to neglected and abused children and their families. Rachel is currently working in the field of social work helping connect those with behavioral health challenges to community and mental health resources in their area.
CHICAGO CHAPTER
Sonya Chaudhry
Sonya Chaudhry started as the Chicago Clinical Director in 2018. Sonya is a social worker by training and her professional experiences have centered around supporting vulnerable youth and families. Sonya worked as a Therapeutic Foster Care Case Manager in the city of New York with the aim of supporting families in a collaborative and sustainable way. In addition, Sonya has worked with youth involved in the juvenile justice system and individuals who were incarcerated as children. Sonya is particularly interested in the intersections of vulnerable populations and how to support the folks we work with when they are touched by multiple systems. Sonya currently works as a Student Advisor with the Institute of International Education. She is working on gaining her next level of social work licensure, traveling outside of the country at least once a year, and finding a way to balance impact in foster care systems and living a happy and healthy life.
BOSTON CHAPTER
Ayelet Barkai, MD
Ayelet R. Barkai, M.D. is a Lecturer in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and a member of the teaching faculty of the Cambridge Health Alliance Division of Adult and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In addition, she is a psychoanalyst member and faculty member of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, where she serves on the Committee on Gender and Sexualities, and the PINE Psychoanalytic Center, where she graduated from her adult psychoanalytic training in 2013. She is the current Program Chair of the Psychodynamic Psychoanalytic Research Society, and a member of the Committee on Research Education of the American Psychoanalytic Association. She is a research associate at Judge Baker Children’s Center of Harvard Medical School, where she has been involved in a 30 plus year longitudinal study of adolescent psychological development. She has a private practice in adult and child psychiatry and psychoanalysis in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Ruth Drasin, PhD
Ruth is a Clinical Psychologist who has been in private practice treating children, adolescents, and adults in Cambridge, Massachusetts for the past 15 years. She received her PhD from the University of Michigan where she studied a variety of parent losses, including parent death, divorce, and adoption. Her current interests include contemporary families, such as single parent and same-sex parent families. Dr. Drasin is an advanced candidate at the Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis and a Clinical Instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
GREENFIELD
Holly Bishop
NORTHAMPTON CHAPTER
Karen Zilberstein, LCSW
Karen Zilberstein, LCSW is a child and family therapist in Northampton, MA and Adjunct Associate Professor at Smith College School for Social Work, where she teaches and coordinates the Child Development Team. She currently serves on the design team and chairs the training resource working group for the Re-envisioning Foster Care in America (REFCA) initiative. REFCA works collaboratively with the Department of Children and Families to bring innovative programs and provide trainings to improve systems of care and outcomes for foster children.
Sally Popper, PhD
Sally Popper has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, and has worked as a researcher and therapist exploring the impact of attachment disruption and early trauma on the development of children and working with their families to help them heal. As a board member of the national parent/professional organization, ATTACh, she worked to bring information from new research to the clinical practice and parenting of members and helped to write the ATTACh publication, Attachment-Focused Therapy: A Professional Practice Guide.
PORTLAND, ME CHAPTER
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NORTH CENTRAL NJ CHAPTER
Debra Roelke, PhD
Debi is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst with a private practice in Morristown, New Jersey. Her practice includes psychotherapy with both adults and young children. Debi’s background includes postdoctoral training in Infant and Preschool Mental Health, and she was a Mental Health Consultant at the Newark Preschool Council Head Start program for five years. Debi has served on the Advisory Board of the New Jersey Association for Infant Mental Health and has presented widely on a number of topics in early child development. Debi is currently a faculty member at the Center for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis of New Jersey.
Lissa R. Grossi, LCSW
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist with 20 years of experience specializing in individual, couples and family therapy. I specialize in adolescent and family therapy among other areas of expertise, including adolescents and young adults suffering from mood disorders and anxiety related to loss, challenges, and transitions.
My years of experience include Adolescent Inpatient and Outpatient Clinical services, a Clinician at a Therapeutic Day School and acting as Clinical Coordinator of a therapeutic school program in a local high school where I provided individual, group and family counseling to at risk youth. I also provide individual and group supervision to other Social Workers and I am a Certified Supervisor by the National Association of Social Workers and I am a Licensed School Social Worker by the State of New Jersey.
HUDSON RIVER VALLEY CHAPTER
Jenny Bates, LCSW
Jenny has been working with children and families for the past 15 years. Currently, she is in private practice in Kingston, New York and specializes in Dynamic Play Therapy with children and families with trauma, divorce, and learning disabilities.
BROOKLYN/MANHATTAN CHAPTER
Almas Merchant, MA
Almas (Ally) Merchant is a clinical psychologist practicing in Brooklyn. Apart from private practice, she also works at Brightpoint Health, a non-profit agency providing both, physical and mental health care to community members as well as homeless populations around New York City. Besides her clinical work, she is also the externship coordinator at Brightpoint Health, where she supervises externs from doctoral programs in psychology. Prior to this, she worked in juvenile justice in New York City. She came to A Home Within because of her own training experiences in working with foster care children and youth in New York City throughout her graduate school experience. Ally’s primary orientation is psychoanalytic and she specializes in trauma as well as child and adolescent psychotherapy. To this end, Ally is engaged within Division 39 of the APA (Division of Psychoanalysis) and the Association of Psychoanalysis in Culture and Society.
Heidi Haddad, LCSW
Heidi Haddad is a licensed clinical social worker in both California and New York. Prior to starting a private practice, she worked within community mental health agencies, schools, therapeutic group homes, and foster family and adoption agencies. Once in private practice, she was able to join A Home Within's San Francisco chapter as a clinician, subsequently authored a chapter in A Home Within's, Relationship-Based Psychotherapy with Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults before moving to New York to grow her practice and become a Co-Clinical Director with A Home Within. She has extensive experience as a family therapist, educator, advocator, mediator, group facilitator, and clinical case manager for children, adolescents, couples, and families both domestically and globally.
CHARLOTTE CHAPTER
Tiffany Huggins, LPC
Tiffany Huggins graduated from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC with a degree in Community Counseling. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in North and South Carolina. She has a private practice in Charlotte, NC. Tiffany treats children, adolescents, and adults. She is a subcontractor with Logistics Health, providing services to military personnel post-deployment. Tiffany also works with the American Red Cross in Disaster Mental Health.
Meredith Garofalo, LPC
MEDINA/AKRON CHAPTER
Suzanne LeSure, PhD
Suzanne is a Psychologist with over 25 years of experience with children, adolescents, adults and families. She received her B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University, her M.A. in Child and Family Studies from Syracuse University and her PhD in Psychology from Syracuse University. She completed an internship in Pediatric and Child Clinical Psychology at Milwaukee Children’s Hospital, Medical College of Wisconsin and received post-doctoral training in Community Mental Health at Community Mental Health Services of Medina. Her professional career has included experience in community mental health, in hospital based practice, in private practice and in teaching other professionals.
PORTLAND, OR CHAPTER
Laura Orgel, PhD
Although originally from New York, Portland has been my home since 1981. I have worked with children my whole adult life, first as an educator and now as a psychologist. I have a Master’s in Early Childhood Special Education from Bank Street College of Education and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the Fielding Graduate University. Currently, I have a private practice where I work with children, families, couples and adults. As an adjunct faculty member at Pacific University and at Morrison Child and Family Services, I also supervise psychology practicum students, interns and residents during their years of clinical training. All of my work is influenced by a great love for children and a belief in the centrality of relationships to human development and mental health. My doctoral dissertation looked at attachment as a mediator of the relationship between maltreatment history and children’s behavior problems in a foster care population. Much of my early training and experience was with children and families in day treatment and community mental health settings, where child welfare involvement and foster care placements were ubiquitous. I have provided psychological evaluations for hundreds of children who were in the state’s custody. I have been a member of Portland’s branch of A Home Within since its beginnings in 2009, and I have carried a continuous A Home Within case since 2012.
PHILADELPHIA CHAPTER
Joseph Schaller, PsyD
Joe Schaller has been in clinical practice in the Philadelphia area for over 20 years as both a Clinical Psychologist and Marriage and Family Therapist. He currently maintains a private practice of adults, adolescents, and children, with specialization in play therapy and sand tray therapy. He has worked extensively with local child and family services agencies with special attention to issues related to temporary placement, foster care, and adoption. He is also experienced in working with children with Learning and Developmental Disabilities. Dr. Schaller is recently past-president of the Philadelphia Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology and continues in a leadership position within Division 39 (Psychoanalysis) of the American Psychological Association. He is an Adjunct Clinical Professor at the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology at Widener University and a graduate of the Institute for Relational Psychoanalysis of Philadelphia.
Leda Sportolari, MSW, LCSW
Leda Sportolari, MSW, LCSW is in private practice in Bala Cynwyd, a near suburb of Philadelphia. She sees children, adolescents, adults, couples and families. Leda is a past-president and current board member of the Pennsylvania Society for Clinical Social Work. She is an adjunct faculty member at the Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, where she teaches Attachment Based Psychotherapy. Leda is active in the Philadelphia chapter of A Home Within, serving as a clinician, consultation group leader, associate clinical director, and steering committee member.
DALLAS CHAPTER
Kristen Ohlenforst, PhD
Dr. Ohlenforst received her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology Graduate Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center and completed her Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Child Psychology at Stanford School of Medicine’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic, where she provided therapy and assessment for children and adolescents with anxiety and mood disorders, eating disorders, and autism spectrum disorders. She serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and as the Dallas Clinical Director of A Home Within.
SEATTLE CHAPTER
Rosie Newman, LMHC, RPT
Rosie is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Child Mental Health Specialist and Registered Play Therapist. In her private practice, Seattle Play Therapy, Rosie sees children with social, emotional and behavioral challenges. She is the past president of the Washington State Association for Play Therapy and a community advocate for play therapy as a means for understanding and helping children. Rosie is an Adjunct Professor at Seattle University. She received her Masters of Arts Degree in Counseling Psychology from Seattle University, and has extensive post-graduate training in child counseling and play therapy.
WASHINGTON D.C. CHAPTER
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