Who We Are

Mark Pesner, Ph.D, 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 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. 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.

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. 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.

Patricia Einbender, Grad. Cert. Autism, has been certified as an RDI® Program Consultant since 2005. Using this relationship-based, developmental methodology, she partners with parents of children on the autism spectrum to help them understand their child’s challenges and strengthen their own relationship with their child. Parents become active agents in improving their child’s ability to manage and engage his/her environment, thereby setting the stage for real world success.

Patricia also co-leads a number of our social skills groups. She brings her expertise on developmental competencies and relationship building to the group process, helping the children to experience successful peer interactions and forge meaningful friendships.

Michael Greene, LCSW, worked in the field of information technology for over twenty years before returning to school for his Masters in Social Work. At Therapeutic Options, Mr. Greene primarily works with adolescents and young adults who have Apergers syndrome or face other social skills challenges. He leads groups, sees individual clients and works with their families using a cognitive behavioral approach to develop social skills and greater self awareness. Mr. Greene has worked as an adoption specialist, helping parents better understand some of the family dynamics they might encounter. Currently, he also works in a community mental health setting, where he sees a variety of clients representing a wide range of ages and backgrounds.

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 is also co-founder of Positive Planet, a non-profit organization linking schools in the US with those in Uganda in order to promote increased cultural understanding and improve educational conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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.

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. Prior to 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.

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.