CAP Profiles

Bio

Clinical Focus

  • Child Clinical Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychology

Academic Appointments

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

  • Member, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (2007 - Present)
  • Member, Association for Psychological Science (2012 - Present)

Professional Education

  • PhD Training: University of California-Los Angeles (2012) CA
  • PhD, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Clinical Psychology (2012)
  • MA, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Clinical Psychology (2010)
  • BA, University of Pennsylvania, Psychology (2003)

Contact

  • Psychiatry Clinic 401 Quarry Rd MC 5718 Stanford, CA 94305
    • Tel: (650) 723-5511
    Fax: (650) 725-3762

Research & Scholarship

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

My mission is to increase access to evidence based psychotherapy. The main problem areas I treat are Anxiety, OCD, Tic Disorders/Tourette's, PTSD and Trauma, Depression, Oppositional Behavior in children, and Bipolar Disorder. I work primarily with children, teens, young adults, families, and parents. I founded the Time Limited Care Clinic and co-founded the Crisis Clinic in Stanford's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division. I train clinicians across the US in evidence based interventions.

Projects

  • Founder and Director: Time Limited Care Clinic, Stanford University (July 2017)

    I developed this clinic to increase access to evidence based interventions in the Bay Area. We currently provide evidence based interventions for youth with anxiety, depression, oppositional/disruptive behavior, and traumatic stress.

    Location

    401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA

  • Co-Founder and Assistant Director: Crisis Clinic, Stanford University (May 2016)

    We founded this clinic to increase access to evidence based interventions for youth with suicidal and self-injuring behaviors in the Bay Area.

    Location

    401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA

Teaching

Graduate and Fellowship Programs

Publications

All Publications

  • Implementation of Dialectical Behavior Therapy with Suicidal and Self-Harming Adolescents in a Community Clinic Archives of Suicide Research Berk, M. S., Starace, N. K., Black, V. P., Avina, C. 2018: 64–81

    Abstract

    The object of this research was to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) with suicidal and self-harming adolescents treated in a community clinic. A group of 24 adolescents at high risk for suicide were enrolled in 6 months of comprehensive DBT, provided by therapists and trainees at a county-run outpatient mental health clinic serving disadvantaged, ethnic minority clients. Results showed significant pre/post-treatment decreases in suicide attempts, non-suicidal self-injury behaviors (NSSI), and suicidal ideation. Results also showed significant decreases in other suicide risk factors, including emotion dysregulation, depression, impulsivity, BPD symptoms, psychopathology, PTSD symptoms, and substance use, as well as increases in family expressiveness and reasons for living. Treatment retention and satisfaction rates were high. As many youth at risk for suicide will be treated in community settings, findings showing that receiving DBT in a community clinic resulted in significant improvements across a range of suicide risk factors are an important contribution to the adolescent suicide prevention literature.

    View details for DOI 10.1080/13811118.2018.1509750

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