About us

Psychologist

Dr. Whitham is a licensed psychologist who provides evidence-based evaluation, treatment and consultation to children, teens, and parents. Dr. Whitham also administers IQ testing for private school admission. Her areas of practice include  anxiety, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, trauma, social and relationship difficulties, and emotional and behavioral regulation challenges. She incorporates different treatment approaches including cognitive behavioral therapy, attachment, self-regulation, and competency, and play therapy.  

Dr. Whitham earned her B.A. in psychology from Scripps College. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. at UCLA. While at UCLA, Dr. Whitham received training in evidence-based treatments including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), parenting support, and social-cognitive treatments for children and adolescents. She completed her post-doctoral training at Pediatric Minds Medical Center in Torrance, California. While at Pediatric Minds, Dr. Whitham received extensive training working with young children with a variety of neurodevelopmental, behavioral, and emotional challenges. Dr. Whitham has provided consultation and training to preschool teachers throughout New York City on the impact of trauma on children utilizing the Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency (ARC) framework.  

Dr. Whitman provides psychotherapy to preschoolers, school-age children, teens and adults.

She also administers developmental assessments for children who are experiencing social or behavioral challenges as well as IQ tests for private school admission. 

  Psychologist

Dr. Gooding works with children, adolescents and adults. She also administers IQ testing for private school admission. In the process of evaluation, treatment and consultation she draws on a variety of empirically informed treatment approaches including CBT. Her style is collaborative, and her general areas of practice include anxiety, depression, managing transitions, grief/loss, acculturation/cultural identity, challenges in parenting and healing following trauma.

Dr. Gooding received her bachelor’s degree from Reed College and her Psy.D. from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She completed her internship at the CG Jung Institute of San Francisco and her postdoctoral fellowship at the Wright Institute’s School Based Collaboration.

Dr. Gooding works with preschoolers, school-age children, teens and adults.

She also administers IQ testing for private school admission.

  Marriage and Family Therapist 

Ms. Deshmukh works with children, teens, adults, parents, and families. She believes in providing an individualized, culturally sensitive, and tailored treatment approach to every client she meets using evidence-based practices. Ms. Deshmukh’s areas of experience and practice includes anxiety (generalized anxiety, OCD, Panic disorder, and phobias), depression, ADHD, emotion regulation, relationship and parenting challenges, learning and communication difficulties, and cultural identity. Ms. Deshmukh has extensive experience working with clients who have experienced trauma (PTSD), loss, and are adapting to changes in their lives including separations, moves, immigration, and acculturation challenges. She has been effectively using creative approaches to join the clients and meet them at their current level of readiness to change in order to foster engagement. Ms. Deshmukh is trained in using approaches such as motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, Trauma Focused-CBT, SPACE (a parent-based treatment program for children and adolescents with anxiety, OCD, and related problems) and play therapy. Her work is informed by attachment, behavioral activation, psychodynamic, and systems theories. 

Ms. Deshmukh works collaboratively with parents and teachers to bring positive changes to the client’s and their family’s lives. She uses multiple assessment tools to diagnose and conceptualize her client’s and family’s needs to collaboratively formulate goals to decide the direction of the treatment and track the progress. Ms. Deshmukh also provides school observations and effectively works with school staff to support her client’s needs at the school. Ms. Deshmukh has 4 years of experience of working in wrap-around model teams and working with very high needs clients. She has led a team of professionals and has provided training to her team, teachers, and parents to effectively support her clients in their natural environment such as school, home, and in the community. Ms. Deshmukh has also led group therapy for children and teens who have experienced trauma to support healing.  

Ms. Deshmukh works with school-age children, teens, and adults. 

Psychologist 

Dr. Zimmerman is a licensed psychologist.  She has experience working with children, adolescents, and families. Her approach is collaborative, trauma informed, and strengths-based, utilizing a variety of evidence-based practices. She utilizes cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness, as well as play therapy, and is certified in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy by PCIT International. Her areas of practice include disruptive behaviors, trauma, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), anxiety, adjustment disorder, and ADHD.

Dr. Zimmerman obtained her B.A. in psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She earned her  Ph.D. at Alliant International University, San Diego. During her clinical training in community mental health settings, Dr. Zimmerman obtained extensive experience working with children who have experienced traumatic events. She is trained in TF- CBT and has utilized this evidence-based therapy with a number of children and their families. Additionally, she has five years of experience providing ABA therapy to children with ASD and two years of experience utilizing PCIT techniques to treat disruptive behavior problems in children. Dr. Zimmerman has provided consultation to elementary teachers on the impact of trauma on children and learning, utilizing the Neurosequential Model. She also administers IQ and emotional assessments.

Dr. Zimmerman works with preschool and school-age children, teens, and adults.

Psychological Associate

Dr. Thompson has experience working with children, adolescents, adults and families in school and community settings. She works from a holistic and developmental approach, striving to include relevant social, educational and developmental systems to support clients. She is passionate about supporting children and teens in various challenges related to their growth and development. She values collaboration with other professionals involved in the treatment of children and teens, and has worked with clients with a variety of presenting issues including anxiety, depression, trauma, autism, ADHD, family separation and social challenges. She uses a strengths-based approach including socially and culturally relevant evidence-based interventions to meet the unique needs o individuals. She incorporates aspects of psychodynamic, attachments, cognitive behavioral (CBT), play therapy, and dialectal behavior therapy (DBT) in her work.   

Dr. Thompson obtained her B.A. in Psychology from Claremont McKenna College and earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Alliant International University in San Francisco. She completed her internship and post-doctoral fellowship at Bay Area Psychological Services Center.  Dr. Thompson is at the last step of preparing for the licensing examination and has fulfilled all other training requirements.  

Dr. Thompson works with preschool and school-age children, teens, and adults.

Psychological Associate

Dr. Pearce obtained his Doctor of Psychology degree from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles campus. Prior to pursuing his educational goals, he served in the United States Air Force for approximately 10 years. Due to this experience, he had the opportunity to work and learn from individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures. As such, he understands the importance of respect towards others and developed the ability to understand different perspectives. 

Dr. Pearce has extensive experience working with individuals, couples, families, adults, teens, children, and therapy groups. His experience is gained from working in several different clinical settings, to include private practice, foster care agencies, psychiatric inpatient, and correctional services.

Dr. Pearce excels at working with, but not limited to, the following: anxiety, depression, stress, OCD, trauma, cultural identity, sexual identity, and social identity. He typically utilizes cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT); however, he understands that therapy is for the client, unique to the individual, and therefore tailors the therapy utilizing several therapeutic modalities that best address the client’s needs.

“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality” -Seneca-

Psychologist, Behavior Analyst

Dr. Singh has specialized in working with young children with autism
and their families since 2004. She is a licensed psychologist, a
doctoral-level board certified behavior analyst (BCBA-D), and is also
trained in Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT). Dr. Singh’s primary
clinical interests include developmentally appropriate, behavioral
interventions and diagnostic assessments for infants, children, and
adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders.  Her work is
focused on empowering parents to facilitate improvement in the lives
of their children at home, in school, and in community settings.

Dr. Singh earned her B.A. in psychology from the University of
California, Berkeley. As an undergraduate she interned at Oakland
Children’s Hospital’s Autism Intervention (CHAI) program. She earned
her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of California, Santa Barbara
where she received extensive training in Pivotal Response Treatment
(PRT) at the Koegel Autism Center. Dr. Singh’s professional activities
include numerous conference presentations and several training
workshops, lectures, and research publications in the field of autism.

Dr. Singh provides behavioral treatment services and intervention to
young children diagnosed with autism and their families. She also
provides comprehensive developmental and psychological evaluations. 

Psychologist

Dr. Chew is a Licensed Psychologist. She received her master's degree and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. Dr. Chew's clinical affiliations have included the UC Davis MIND Institute, Seattle Children's Hospital Autism Center, Seattle Children's Center for Integrative Brain Research, and UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior. In addition, Dr. Chew completed a postdoc fellowship with The Children's Health Council where she specialized in early childhood mental health and development. 

Dr. Chew has experience working in pediatric primary care as well as high risk infant follow up. She provides comprehensive developmental and psycho-educational assessments to children, as well as IQ testing for private school admissions. Dr. Chew is dedicated to providing neurodiversity-affirming assessments, and taking a strength-based and holistic approach to promote overall child and family well being. Dr. Chew offers therapy services focused on building parent and caregiver capacity to compassionately and effectively support their child's development and mental health, such as SPACE Treatment for anxiety. 

In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Chew has taught undergraduate and graduate psychology courses at the University of Washington, University of Hawaii, and Chaminade University in Honolulu, Hawaii. She espouses cultural humility, and passionately advocates for inclusion and equity in healthcare and education.

Dr. Chew provides comprehensive developmental evaluations for children 7 and younger as well as psychoeducational evaluations (including concerns regarding attention) for children 8 and younger.  Dr. Chew also offers SPACE treatment with parents of children with anxiety to help reduce children's symptoms of anxiety.  She is passionate about supporting parents and provides consultation for caregivers of young children regarding IEP challenges, new young child diagnoses, parent coaching for child behavior challenges, and when parents are worried but unsure if their concerns warrant further developmental evaluation.   Lastly, she offers

developmental consultation/monitoring and care coordination post-NICU discharge (premature infants, birth brain injury, etc.) for parents/caregivers.

Speech-Language Pathologist

Ms. Rapp is a licensed speech-language pathologist providing evaluations, individual therapy and group therapy sessions. She specializes in treatment and evaluation for selective mutism and social cognitive therapy for children, teens and young adults with social learning challenges. Ms. Rapp has experience working across various clinical settings including private clinics, preschools, pediatric acute care and rehabilitation centers. She completed her clinical training in speech-language pathology at UCSF and her fellowship at Social Thinking® - Stevens Creek. Having experienced selective mutism herself growing up, she brings empathy and passion for helping clients who are struggling with communication. She utilizes evidence-based treatment methods and values collaborating with families, teachers and other care providers to affect meaningful change outside the therapy room. 

Prior to becoming a speech-language pathologist, Ms. Rapp worked in financial communications in New York City. After volunteering at the NYU Child Study Center's intensive treatment program for children with SM, she knew this was the field for her. She earned her Master’s Degree in speech-language pathology from the University of Oregon and her undergraduate degree from Indiana University at Bloomington.