Our Featured Experts
In February of 2009, we brought you a live teleseminar with our featured expert, Claudia Sheftel-Luiz, Ed.M., LMHC, Certified Psya. Ms Luiz spoke with parents of adolescents on "Finding It When You're Losing It With Your Adolescent".
Claudia Sheftel-Luiz, Ed.M., Harvard University, Cert. Psya., Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, is a psychoanalyst in private practice in Westwood, MA and the former director of the Extension Division at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. Claudia is the author of Claudia Confidentially, a weekly column in the Daily News Transcript. View her column at www.dailynewstranscript.com. She also directs The Mother Project, where mothers form in groups to study their own and their family’s emotional and inner life. Currently, groups are forming to study the topic of emotional receptivity, in children and adolescents, to discipline and learning. Claudia is the 2006 first-place winner of the Phyllis Meadow award for excellence in psychoanalytic writing, and the 2008 first place winner of the Reader’s Digest Best Writer’s Website Award. A frequent guest on news and radio shows, Claudia has been featured on Chronicle, in The Boston Globe, as well as other local area publications. Claudia can be reached at claudialuiz@post.harvard.edu, at (781) 440-9644 or via her website.www.claudialuiz.com
In her own words: "My belief about emotional health is that a period of immersion in the obstacles to happiness can be very helpful towards gaining a new perspective. A therapist, more than correcting perceptions or offering new insights, should be a helpful companion on the journey, making it possible for new emotional possibilities to open up naturally. Ideally, I believe a mental health professional should be able to tolerate and understand what is required on the path to greater happiness.The “Mother Project” was born of the idea that solutions to a problem come naturally after studying a dynamic for some time. In groups, mothers spend a good amount of time talking about the dynamics they observe, and coming up with new things to study about it. The more open we are to study and understanding, the more ideas we can begin to have about how to approach any problem. Women come to study themselves and other, and to learn more about what they are trying to study.With a client one on one, I like to use the couch, as Freud did, because I do believe we have an unconscious, and that using the couch helps access new feelings and ideas. It can create the feeling of an oasis, where once a week or twice a month you come and explore your life.I don't consider myself unique in the satisfaction I derive from my work. My clients, in over twenty years of practice, are always unique to me, even despite the often common themes. Each person's story and experiences, hopes and dreams make my practice uniquely interesting and marvelous to me."
We hope you'll join us for this enlightening call.
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In January of 2009 we brought you a live teleseminar with our featured expert, Greg Kersten, of The O.K. Corral Series. During this call, we talked about utilizing Equine Assisted Psychotherapy with challenging adolescents, parents of adolescents, and families; and we offered information to those professionals who may be interested in becoming certified in the field.
Greg Kersten is the founder of a therapeutic modality that is called Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. Working with at-risk youth in corrections in the early 1990s, he created specific activities to work with the youth and horses that were filled with metaphors and created self-awareness in the adolescents.
Since that time, Greg Kersten went on to certify professional counselors and equine professionals to work together in this effective therapy (now being used in many different arenas – not just with troubled youth). To date he has certified over 5000 professionals worldwide – about half of whom are licensed mental health professionals. Kersten created three different organizations to certify professionals: Equine Services, Inc., EAGALA, and now the O.K. Corral Series.
Kersten is recognized worldwide as the creator of the field of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, and he has trained or certified every equine-assisted trainer in the world. His techniques and skill are a result of his life raising horses, working as an MP dog handler in the United States Army, working as a private investigator, and his years of experience working as a counselor with clients in treatment. He is considered by both master’s and doctoral level practitioners to be the undisputed expert in the field.
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Each month we feature one to several experts in the field of adolescence. Our experts include authors, Judges, psychotherapists, probation officers, doctors, counselors, psychologists, coaches, police officers and other helping professionals who have expertise in working with adolescents and parents. Our experts are not paid and they don't pay for advertising on our site. They are either invited guests or have applied to be of service to you. Please read our disclaimer in regards to our featuring experts on this site. If you would like to be a featured expert, you may apply by using the link on the right-hand side-bar.
We are waiting for confirmation from several very exciting experts who will be bringing you tangible parenting tips about protecting teens online, violence in the home, teen depression and so much more. Make sure you are on on our list to get news about upcoming events. Find out more on the teleseminars page.
In July, the author of this site, Shannon K. Spellman, M.S.W., LCSW, LMFT, LISAC offered a free teleseminar/webinar for parents of adolescents. Shannon has been working with adolescents and parents since 1980 and shared with parents some tips she's learned from adolescents themselves over the years. For additional information about her expertise, you can read her profile on this site and visit her psychotherapy practice site.
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Read more about some of our previously featured experts below.
In May, our featured expert was Dr. Bryan Post, PhD., LCSW, of The POST Institute who spoke with the author during our free teleseminar about challenging adolescents. We were honored to have the opportunity to bring you his wisdom and experience.
An adopted and disruptive child himself, Dr. Post has made it his primary work to speak to parents and professionals from a perspective of true-life experience and “in the trenches” therapeutic work. A pioneer of the Stress Model theory of human behavior, and Family-Centered Regulatory Therapy, Dr. Post has lectured and provided expert consultation regarding adoption, trauma, and attachment and bonding, throughout the United States and abroad. The family-centered principles and concepts offered by Dr. Post have been taught to more than 25,000 parents and professionals with a 98% excellent rating.
Author of more than 25 books, audio, and DVD programs Dr. Post along side a dynamic team of passionate professionals has developed the POST Institute array of services specifically for the most hurt, rejected, and challenging children of Virginia.
To learn more about the POST Institute and Dr. Post please visit: www.postinstitute.com
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Our featured expert during April, 2008 was Dr. Rory Stern, PsyD., who spoke with us about ADHD in our free teleseminar. Dr. Stern is a writer, therapist, coach, consultant, and speaker. In managing The Truth Behind ADHD he offers a unique style of providing parents of children with ADHD both information and insight into what their child is experiencing. In addition, he connects with parents on a level that allows them to understand their own struggles along with how their child is struggling. His main goal is to provide parents with the support, encouragement, and resources to take action now so they can start to experience change in their child's life, as well as their own. Parents might want to watch The ADHD Parents Movie to learn more about what Dr. Stern offers.
Rory's unique style combines his rich experience and training as therapist, coach, consultant, mentor, adviser, and parent. He understands that there is more to each child's struggle than just symptoms of ADHD alone. For that matter, he also knows how a child's ADHD not only impacts himself, but also impacts the lives of his parents and siblings. While considering his approach, Dr. Stern takes into account not just the behaviors of the child, but also urges that parents consider all options and events that are impacting everyone's lives in the family.
Dr. Stern holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. He also completed a graduate certificate in executive coaching. He lives in the greater-Boston area with his wife Lacie, and his two beautiful young children.
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In March, 2008, we brought our FPOA members a very distinguished featured expert, The Honorable Judge Peter J. Cahill, Presiding Judge and Presiding Juvenile Court Judge in Gila County, Arizona. The author had the opportunity to provide therapeutic treatment services to Gila County juveniles with mental health, delinquency issues, family and trauma issues, and substance abuse and addiction problems for several years and worked closely with Judge Cahill as a part of the Drug Court team. Judge Cahill has graciously offered his wisdom to parents in a videotaped interview with the author. His complete biography is below.
Judge Cahill graduated from the University of Notre Dame and the New England School of Law. He came to Arizona as a VISTA Volunteer with the Pima County Legal Aid Society in 1974. Cahill practiced law in Globe beginning in 1975, first with Pinal & Gila Counties Legal Aid Society, then in private practice until he was elected judge and took the Superior Court bench in January 2003. He is the Presiding Judge and Presiding Juvenile Court Judge in Gila County, Arizona and is President of the Arizona Judges Association for 2007-2008.
Judge Cahill is a former chair of the Supreme Court of Arizona’s Lawyer Disciplinary Commission; past president of the Arizona Bar Foundation; a delegate from the State Bar of Arizona to the American Bar Association House of Delegates; past acting-president Habitat for Humanity Arizona; past president of Globe-Miami Habitat for Humanity; and past chair of the Cobre Valley Community Hospital board of directors. Judge Cahill was a founder and then president of La Questa, an alcohol and drug abuse program founded in Globe in 1975. He was founding president of the William E. Morris Institute, formerly the Arizona Justice Institute, an advocacy and support center for legal services and low-income people.
Judge Cahill is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, an elected honor limited to 1/3 of 1% of a state’s lawyers. He is Vice-chair of the 2008 Arizona Supreme Court Task Force on the Code of Judicial Conduct.
Judge Cahill is married to the Honorable Terry L. Chandler, the Associate Presiding Juvenile Court Judge, Pima County Superior Court in Arizona.
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In February, 2008 we offered a free teleseminar with featured expert Izzy Kalman called Empowering Parents.
Israel (Izzy) C. Kalman, MS, is a nationally renowned expert in teaching people how to deal with anger, bullying, and relationship problems. Izzy has always had a knack for finding simple solutions to problems, in mental health and other areas as well. About two decades ago, he developed a one-session method for teaching people how to stop being victimized, and has been using it with great success with both children and adults.
Izzy is the author and creator of the website, Bullies2Buddies.com, which has free online manuals that have been helping people throughout the world solve their problems with bullying. Mr. Kalman is the author of a book for youth, Bullies to Buddies: How to turn your enemies into friends!, a manual for teachers and parents called A Revolutionary Guide to Reducing Aggression between Children, and a CD program, How to Stop Being Teased and Bullied without Really Trying. His whole school bullying reduction program is called Victim-Proof Your School.
Izzy now has available his entire Victim-Proof Your School Program on DVD. And he also offers additional educational programs in his store.
He has appeared on national television as an expert on bullying, has been a speaker at numerous professional conferences in the U.S. and abroad, and created a Staten Island Community TV series, Help, They’re Driving Me Crazy.
Mr. Kalman earned a B.S. in psychology from CCNY in New York and an M.S. in clinical psychology from Hahnemann University in Philadelphia. He has been working as a school psychologist and psychotherapist for twenty-eight years, and is currently devoted full time to writing and to teaching his methods to mental health professionals, schools, and other organizations. He is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist, as well as a member of the International School Psychology Association, the New York State Association of School Psychologists, the Richmond County Psychological Association, the International Society for Research on Aggression, and the Academy of Medicine of Richmond, Pediatric Section.
The child of Holocaust survivors, Izzy was born and raised in the Bronx. After earning his graduate degree in 1978, he fulfilled a childhood dream and moved to Israel, where he began work as a school psychologist, married a beautiful dark-skinned woman of Yemenite ancestry and had his first two children. In 1988 he moved back to the U.S. with his young family. Their third child was born in 1992.