Joanna Stern

I am a psychologist with over 15 years of experience in the evaluation and treatment of children and adolescents across a variety of settings, including outpatient psychotherapy, inpatient, residential, and intensive programs. I have a passion for helping families find clear answers about the emotional and behavioral concerns they are facing, and providing them with the very best care and support. I provide evidence-based care and treatment for children, adolescents and young adults who experience challenges with mood, anxiety and relationships among other concerns. I particularly enjoy helping those for whom previous treatment has not fully succeeded, and have a special focus on complex presentations and working with parents. I have advanced training and expertise in a variety of evidence-based treatments and firmly believe that treatment is the most effective when support is provided to the entire family.

I am intensively trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), a multi-modal evidence-based treatment for individuals with chronic challenges in managing their big emotions and big behaviors that can interfere with their ability to meet their goals and sustain relationships. I have been providing comprehensive DBT to children, adolescents and their families for over a decade and am so excited to bring this program to Milestones Psychology. I am also intensively trained in Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO-DBT), which is an adaptation of traditional DBT that focuses on helping people whose tendency to exercise excessive self-control over their emotions causes problems in their relationships and their daily lives. In addition to my highly specialized training, I have strong clinical foundations in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and behavioral parent training for a wide variety of symptoms and diagnoses including anxiety, ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

I am passionate about teaching and training for people who interact with children and adolescents in all capacities, including mental health professionals and those in training to become professionals, educational staff and families and caregivers. I am also dedicated to increasing public awareness about DBT and other empirically supported treatments for mood and anxiety disorders. I have taught and spoken extensively in the New York City and national communities using DBT and RO-DBT skills as a framework through which to help parents and educators provide support to children, teens and young adults who struggle with anxiety and depression. I also enjoy consulting with professional organizations including corporations, schools and summer camps on how to use DBT and RO-DBT skills to support their community members in working together and communicating effectively.