Who We Are

Mark Pesner, PhD., is a Licensed Psychologist with over 20 years experience working with children, adolescents and adults. In his work with children Dr. Pesner has a broad background in developmental difficulties with particular expertise in Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and other learning and behavioral problems. He presents extensively on these topics to parent, school and community groups. His practice also includes individual treatment in the areas of anxiety, depression, loss and adjustments to divorce.

In 1994 Dr. Pesner began leading social skills training groups which has now grown into the Social Skills Resource Program and has worked with hundreds of children, families and school districts in designing effective programs to enhance children's social skills and interpersonal relatedness. Dr. Pesner counsels parents on effective parenting strategies and advocates for them with school districts and Child Study Teams. Dr. Pesner is the psychological consultant to the Montclair Cooperative School. He worked for several years as a School Psychologist in the New York City public schools and then as a staff psychologist at Bronx Children's Psychiatric Center before going into private practice full time.

Dr. Pesner is a certified Neurofeedback provider and is affiliated with EEGSpectrum International. He has been using this modality successfully with adults and children for problems with attention, anxiety and depression as well as for behaviors associated with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Attention Deficit Disorders.

Aileen Collucci, M.A., CCC is a licensed pediatric speech-language pathologist who serves the pre-school and school-age populations. Her areas of expertise include: expressive, receptive and pragmatic language development and disorders; diagnosis and intervention planning for children with language based learning disabilities; and oral-motor and sensory intervention for speech and feeding disorders. Ms. Collucci is also a highly experienced social skills group leader, planning and implementing a comprehensive curriculum that focuses on pragmatic language and socialization deficits in children of varying developmental and social levels.

Ms. Collucci has over fifteen years of clinical experience in both school-based special education programs and private practice. In addition to her private practice at the office of Therapeutic Options, she is the Associate Director of The Social Skills Resource Center.

Karen Liberato, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker with extensive experience in assisting families in responding to their child's developmental challenges, including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD)and anxiety/mood disorders. She helps families develop effective treatment plans and works with school districts to develop appropriate intervention. In addition she assists families with general behavioral concerns regarding their children. While Ms. Liberator has experience working with children of all ages she has a particular expertise working with very young children from 0-3 years old.

Ms. Liberato began her private practice in 2001. Before then she had worked for a number of years as a medical social worker. She began in St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson NJ, where she provided care to chronically ill children and their families. Later while working for Valley Hospital Center for Child Development in Ridgewood her work expanded to include assessments, evaluations and facilitating groups for siblings of children with developmental concerns.

Patricia Einbender specializes in working with autistic children as an RDI® certified consultant, having received her training from the Connections Center in Houston, Texas, under the direct supervision of Drs. Rachelle Sheely and Steven Gutstein.

Being a parent of a child on the autistic spectrum, Ms. Einbender has first hand knowledge of the many day-to-day struggles that families of those children face. Learning about the philosophy and research on which the Relationship Development Intervention® Program is based was truly a life changing experience for Ms. Einbender. Believing that RDI® is a meaningful intervention with the capacity to bring about lasting changes for families, she decided to leave her career in the field of law and underwent training as a RDI consultant. Ms. Einbender became a certified consultant in August 2005. Her practice is limited to RDI® consultation.

Mary Havrilla Burke, M.S.W is a clinician specializing in psychotherapeutic work with children. She offers early intervention services for at-risk children and teens, which includes individual, group and family therapy; child and family assessments; evaluations and client referrals. Ms. Burke also works in multi-disciplinary settings facilitating social skills groups specializing in the treatment of children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Autism and Asperger's Syndrome.

In addition, Ms. Burke implements and facilitates workshops for both students and parents, on topics that include conflict resolution, substance abuse prevention, social skills development, and anger management. She is currently developing programs for childhood obesity and weight issues, both in the private practice and within her school environment. Ms. Burke has experience with crisis and debriefing services within the school setting, providing therapeutic services to children in response to September 11th and other school and community crises.

Michael Greene, LSW, worked in the field of information technology for over twenty years before returning to school for his Masters in Social Work. He is certified as a Neurofeedback practitioner. Mr. Greene also works as an adoption specialist, focusing on assisting parents in dealing with the special issues that arise for adopted children.

As the founder of Streetplay.com, Mr. Greene worked with museums and cultural institutions in teaching various forms of games and play to children and adults. He was also the director of a community education/recreation youth program in the Bronx.

Jeremie Hafitz, MPhil, CCC is a licensed pediatric speech-language pathologist who serves the early intervention, pre-school and school-age populations. Her areas of expertise include: expressive, receptive and pragmatic language development and disorders; diagnosis and intervention planning for children with language based learning disabilities; and oral-motor, sensory and P.R.O.M.P.T. intervention strategies for speech and feeding disorders. Ms. Hafitz is also highly experienced in intervention planning for children who have autistic spectrum disorders, focusing on developing pragmatic language and socialization skills for varying developmental and social levels.

Ms. Hafitz has over twenty-five years of clinical experience, which includes supervisory responsibilities in special education programs. Additionally, she has worked as a Research Associate at Columbia University and The Graduate Center at CUNY. Ms. Hafitz also maintains an office in Glen Ridge, New Jersey.

Ellen S. Haggerty, MA, CCC-SLP is a speech language pathologist who works in the public school setting. Her experience includes serving children between the ages of 3 to 16 years of age in the following areas - expressive and receptive language, pragmatics, autism spectrum disorders, apraxia, articulation/phonological disorders, oral motor disorders, and language acquisition/disorders. She has worked with sensory and P.R.O.M.P.T. intervention strategies for speech and feeding disorders. Additionally, Ms. Haggerty has worked with children with autism spectrum disorders in the home setting and has led social skills groups. She is a member of both the American and New Jersey Speech-Language-Hearing Associations.

Celeste Mancinelli, MS in Communication Disorders and CCC in Speech Pathology. Her early speech therapy experiences involved work at Middlesex Rehabilitation Hospital, followed by service to the Ridgefield Public Schools, Englewood Head Start and "A Starting Place", a clinic setting in Pearl River, New York. She worked as an SLP for the pre-school handicapped program in the Belleville Public Schools before finding a home with the Autistic Program in Paterson, her current placement. Ms. Mancinelli also does private work as part of a home team approach in treating children with autism.

In addition to her work as a speech therapist, Ms. Mancinelli is a proud member of Actor's Equity Association and has worked as a professional actress/singer for 13 years in NYC and beyond. Her theatrical background is evident in her approach to teaching social skills since she implements rhythm, songs, role-play and creative drama exercises to secure attention, focus and observation of others. She believes social/relational success can be achieved by combining pragmatic skills with theatrical technique.

Janice Leventhal Rosenman, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker who began her career at the Children's Day Hospital, a day treatment program for emotionally disturbed children that is part of New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. After that, she worked as a staff therapist in the Child and Adolescent division of the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy in New York City. She began a private practice in 1995 and has conducted a variety of parent education workshops, led support groups for parents of children with "different learning styles" and developed and implemented specific theme-based groups for children within a school setting. In addition to working at Therapeutic Options, she has a private practice in Montclair, NJ, working with children, adolescents and adults.