About Dr. Kesselman
Dr. Leah Kesselman (PsyD, ABSNP) Dr. Kesselman comes to the assessment process drawing upon her extensive experience as a therapist, where she has worked closely with families to address the social and emotional needs of children struggling with learning, anxiety, behavioral, executive functioning, and attention related challenges.
She believes in understanding the whole child. Dr. Kesselman is passionate about highlighting a child’s strengths, while pinpointing specific areas of growth to build highly individualized and meaningful interventions. Dr. Kesselman strongly believes in tailoring interventions to best address the reasons families and children are seeking support. She wants strategies to be meaningful, realistic and most importantly, doable. Dr. Kesselman’s experience with parent coaching and executive functioning coaching allows her to create and implement solution-focused approaches that yield effective and long lasting change.
One of Dr. Kesselman’s greatest strengths is her respectful collaboration with those who are central to a child’s daily well-being. This includes, but not limited to teachers, outside professionals, sports coaches, extracurricular staff, camp counselors, and other ancillary supports when appropriate. She firmly believes this collaboration is essential to growth.
Outside of her clinical work, Dr. Kesselman enjoys baking and cooking, reading, being at the beach and spending time with her husband and two kids. In the spirit of strengths and areas of growth, Dr. Kesselman’s strength is packing a mean snack bento box, usually filled with a treat or two. She does not know how to ride a bike, though she is open to the possibility of learning!
Experience & Training
Dr. Kesselman has trained and worked in private practice, schools, community mental health centers, and in hospitals, including a NICU and primary care pediatric departments. Dr. Kesselman is certified in Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT, for children 2-7 years old) and Parent Child Interaction Therapy for Toddlers (PCIT-T). These interventions teach parents skills to improve their child’s emotional and behavioral functioning, reduce problematic behaviors, encourage children to follow directions and improve parent child relationships. She is also certified in SPACE, an evidenced based approach to treating childhood anxiety. In addition to her therapy and coaching work, Dr. Kesselman also works for the Committee for Preschool Special Education (CPSE) conducting evaluations for children 3-5 years.
Recognizing the need for practically driven assessments with utility at home and school, Dr. Kesselman pursued advanced training in school focused neuropsychological assessment. She is a Board Certified Diplomate in School Neuropsychology, with the American Board of School Neuropsychology. Dr. Kesselman’s advanced training allows her to conduct comprehensive evaluations that take a deep dive into the nuances of how the child’s brain work.
