Holiday Parenting Q&A: Coping With Stress and Anxiety

Dr. Cummings (she/her) is a licensed psychologist, specializing in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and depressive disorders in children, adolescents, and adults. She has extensive experience providing parenting training for parents/caregivers of youth with disruptive behavior and anxiety disorders. She recognizes the importance of implementing evidence-based treatments with cultural humility and acceptance of all client identities. Dr. Cummings is the Director of Research at Alvord, Baker & Associates, a Research Fellow at the nonprofit organization Resilience Across Borders, and a psychiatry resident therapy supervisor at Georgetown University. She has published journal articles and book chapters on topics including CBT for anxiety, mood disorders, and dissemination of effective treatments to the community. Dr. Cummings earned her doctorate in clinical psychology at Ohio State University and her predoctoral internship at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. She has specialist training in CBT for youth anxiety disorders, which she pursued during her postdoctoral fellowship at the Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders Clinic at Temple University. She is clinician certified in the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in children and adolescents (UP-C/A)—a form of CBT that teaches clients new ways of responding to uncomfortable emotions. She is also certified in Kazdin Parent Management Training (KPMT) and has been trained to administer Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE).

Licensed psychologist, Dr. Susan Wilson earned a double doctoral degree in Clinical and Applied Social Psychology from Vanderbilt University, where she worked with children, teens and adults in outpatient, inpatient and school settings. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at Children's National Medical Center. Dr. Wilson pursued post-doctoral training in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for children and adolescents and family therapy at the George Mason University Center for Psychological Services. She also received training in neuropsychological assessment and therapy with children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder at the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Children's National Health System. Dr. Wilson utilizes evidence-based therapies in a neurodiversity-affirming, gender affirming approach in her work with children, adolescents, and adults. She uses CBT, including Exposure with Response Prevention (E/RP), Habit Reversal Training (HRT) and CBT for Insomnia (CBT-I) and systems frameworks in treatment of a range of anxiety, depression, mood dysregulation, behavioral problems, and autism spectrum disorders. In addition, she has extensive experience providing parenting strategies including behavioral parent management training, collaborative problem solving, Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE), and Integrated Parenting for children with ADHD.

Licensed psychologist, Dr. Shiffrin has experience treating children, adolescents, and adults with a range of clinical presentations including behavioral difficulties, mood and anxiety disorders, and difficulties regulating emotions.  Dr. Shiffrin earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from Yale University. While at Yale she received her certification in Kazdin Parent Management Training (KPMT), an evidence-based treatment for children with behavior problems, under the supervision of Dr. Alan Kazdin. She also received her certification in dialectical-behavior therapy for children (DBT-C) with emotion dysregulation and was trained in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for adults with anxiety and mood disorders at the Yale Center for Anxiety and Mood Disorders. Dr. Shiffrin completed her predoctoral internship at Temple University under the supervision of Dr. Philip Kendall, where she gained experience providing the Coping Cat treatment, a cognitive-behavioral therapy program for children and adolescents with anxiety disorders. She has provided individual, family based, and group therapy in a variety of clinical settings including outpatient, school, and intensive outpatient programs utilizing empirically supported treatments.