Dr. Deborah Smilovitz Foster

Board Certified Clinical Psychologist and Neuropsychologist

Dr. Deborah Smilovitz Foster, specializes in neuropsychology with a sub-specialty in children, trauma and balance.  These specialties have provided a strong foundation about how physiological, neurological, and psychological processes interact.  Deborah has studied and worked with children for over 20 years, first as an elementary school teacher and then as a nurse.  Her clinical training includes working with gang members and teenage mothers, domestic violence and anger management groups, domestic violence shelters, County Mental Health as a certified member of the crisis team (certified to 5150)/assessment team and working with children and families.  Her research at the internationally acclaimed Reiss-Davis Child Study Center in Los Angeles is part of a group of child study centers that include the Yale and Harvard Child Study Centers.  

Dr. Smilovitz Foster's research focused on balanced internal and external regulation, parent child attachment, recovering from trauma and therapeutic interventions in collaboration with  Dr. Jim Grotstein of UCLA Geffen Medical School.  In addition to a Ph.D., Deborah also has a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Global Peace and Security.  Her undergraduate research on solving child abuse nonviolently in our community, used Gandhi’s notion of satyagraha, the search for truth.

Dr. Smilovitz Foster has given talks and led workshops at schools, Mental Health centers and to parents and professionals for the last several years.  Her work consulting with parents focuses on a healthy, balanced way to relate with their family members and themselves through a deeper understanding of neuropsychological functions.  These skills and tools work toward creating a compassionate, loving and kind relationship that makes each person and situation less stressful and healthier. Her work with Dr. Radhule Weininger focusing on Cultivating Emotional Balance and Mindfulness Meditation.    

Dr. Smilovitz Foster is available for personalized individual sessions, lectures, workshops and consultations.
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