hello! and welcome!
abbey psychological services
children's mental health monterey & saratoga ca
accurately, compassionately, dependably delivered by highly experienced, Ph.D. psychologists -
we are twenty- and thirty year clinicians, professors, researchers, doctoral instructors and supervisers, Special Ed teacher, developers and directors of Clinical psychology training and treatment programs for children and adults in schools, community clinics and psychiatric hospital, current US and global humanitarians working with gifted indigenous leaders at twelve country borders to assess and treat unaccompanied minors who are forcibly displaced by war/armed conflict - the world's "traveling children". We have recognized scholarship, specialized expertise, and extensive experience treating "children exposed and affected" by the very worst of challenges, adversities; traumas, including generational poverty and abandonment unlikely to be seen in the US.
What IS very similar across borders is continues to be one of our psychological and treatment specialities -- by default -- high, unresolved interparental conflict, exposed to domestic and community violence.
we are expert at addressing and providing treatment for children and teens and families saturated by violence, whether in the family, or by being kidnapped in village and refugee camps and coerced into being child soldiers.
The caveat here is that we continually consult, research, and study violence effects in the specific areas of the world from which we accept children and families. (We have been immensely fortunate to have been trained in the treatment of survivors of torture, children, adolescents and adults, by Gerald Gray and Dr. Carlos Gonsalves since the inception of the Center for Survivors of Torture San Jose many years ago.
we have greatly extended what we learned of the nature, effects, psychological assessment of, integrative approaches and precision treatment for children neglected, traumatized, many/most who have not ever received even minimum protection and supportive psychological services due them, some born into circumstances of high, poly-risk and adversity which eventually became intermingled with adverse childhood experiences as they grew. . .
we work, specifically, with children exposed, affected - to high unremitting conflict, divorce, gender-based harassment, bullying, parent/caregiver instability.
we address the nature, effects of impoverishment, untreated mental illness of parents, pervasive criminal activity, substance abuse . . the effects on children of being reared in the antisocial subculture of meth . . .
we frequently address the effects of parenting failures: harsh/inconsistent "discipline", abandonment; lack of supervision; lack of understanding of "what is normal child development", almost always a "strong belief in corporal punishment" . . . no conception of the "human rights of the child" or of "conscious parenting", or of the neurobiological development of young children - and the role of the adult to maintain emotional regulation when the child cannot . . . many adult, many parents, benefit from learning about the processes of Attachment and Loss . . . have truly never been the recipient of dependable, warm, caregiving, Secure Base parenting themselves, and find "shelter" in therapy before they can understand and implement generous, positive caregiving to their children. eventually,
we frequent address complications relating to (failures in) identifying learning difficulties and false expectations regarding physical/academic challenges, confusion regarding special ed status & rights of special ed students, a history of difficulties coordinating with IEP processes, pronounced problems educating parents about the needs of their children, etc.
because of our work in the field of survivors of torture, we have always worked with adolescents and children
regarding the nature, effects, psychological assessment and precision treatment of the trauma sustained by children of war: today, in the US, this has become much more pertinent.
war, fleeing, loss, bereavement -- these are issues for children and adults who have had no time or place to grieve, often live with chronic terror, effects of witnessing parental or other homicide, suicide, bear witness to repeated violent crime, effects of disfigurement, and, in the case of child migrants, refugees, being witness to or subjected to detainment and torture.
let's define some terms
persecuted/tortured individuals have, by international law, the right to seek asylum in any country (though if they enter illegally, it is harder to obtain and keep. In the US, at least until recently, once an individual has applied for asylum they have a legal status in this country until their case is adjudicated - should they lose their case, they will be deported.
refugees individuals approved outside of the US to enter
asylum status can be sought after an individual enters the US e.g. for business, as a student, tourist, or illegally, etc. Once they have applied and been granted asylum status, they have the same status as refugees
resettlement Both refugees and asylees are being resettled in the US, by definition.
We work extensively within the US with migrant children and families (assessment, treatment, addressing loss and acculturation issues, post-migration, resettlement issues, grief, psycho-spiritual reckoning -- grieving their very personal, individual, immense losses, changes, health issues, and ongoing adjustment issues (loss of their "mother tongue", etc.
at abbey, we conduct
asylum evaluations, assist with integration into US schools, society in general, employment, prep asylum seekers for Immigration Court, provide forensic Reports, prepare the individual to give Testimony, prepare our own Testimony and defense as to why they qualify for asylum status, the path to citizenship.
treatment:
from research, evidence- and research-based precision & integrative perspectives, from the Testimony and Sanctuary literature, from the growing torture literature (see Torture Journal, free online)derived from trauma research & performance-based assessment findings -
children and youth are treated along with their families and wider caregiving environments -- unless those are violent, perpetrating, threatening.
follow
our partnering global humanitarian work with forcibly displaced unaccompanied children and youth fleeing certain death at the borders of twelve countries ---- find us at
always be listening global initiative (alwaysbelisteningglobal.com)
(an independent nonprofit thoughtfully created and registered in the US, 501 (c)(3) alwaysbelisteningglobal.com
a sampling of our international partners includes:
Human Health Aid Burundi, Support the Children Uganda South Sudan, SUTCO, NEAR Humanitarian Network, for Subsaharan Africa; Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection, Geneva
abbey psychological services
children's mental health monterey & saratoga ca
accurately, compassionately, dependably delivered by highly experienced, Ph.D. psychologists -
we are twenty- and thirty year clinicians, professors, researchers, doctoral instructors and supervisers, Special Ed teacher, developers and directors of Clinical psychology training and treatment programs for children and adults in schools, community clinics and psychiatric hospital, current US and global humanitarians working with gifted indigenous leaders at twelve country borders to assess and treat unaccompanied minors who are forcibly displaced by war/armed conflict - the world's "traveling children". We have recognized scholarship, specialized expertise, and extensive experience treating "children exposed and affected" by the very worst of challenges, adversities; traumas, including generational poverty and abandonment unlikely to be seen in the US.
What IS very similar across borders is continues to be one of our psychological and treatment specialities -- by default -- high, unresolved interparental conflict, exposed to domestic and community violence.
we are expert at addressing and providing treatment for children and teens and families saturated by violence, whether in the family, or by being kidnapped in village and refugee camps and coerced into being child soldiers.
The caveat here is that we continually consult, research, and study violence effects in the specific areas of the world from which we accept children and families. (We have been immensely fortunate to have been trained in the treatment of survivors of torture, children, adolescents and adults, by Gerald Gray and Dr. Carlos Gonsalves since the inception of the Center for Survivors of Torture San Jose many years ago.
we have greatly extended what we learned of the nature, effects, psychological assessment of, integrative approaches and precision treatment for children neglected, traumatized, many/most who have not ever received even minimum protection and supportive psychological services due them, some born into circumstances of high, poly-risk and adversity which eventually became intermingled with adverse childhood experiences as they grew. . .
we work, specifically, with children exposed, affected - to high unremitting conflict, divorce, gender-based harassment, bullying, parent/caregiver instability.
we address the nature, effects of impoverishment, untreated mental illness of parents, pervasive criminal activity, substance abuse . . the effects on children of being reared in the antisocial subculture of meth . . .
we frequently address the effects of parenting failures: harsh/inconsistent "discipline", abandonment; lack of supervision; lack of understanding of "what is normal child development", almost always a "strong belief in corporal punishment" . . . no conception of the "human rights of the child" or of "conscious parenting", or of the neurobiological development of young children - and the role of the adult to maintain emotional regulation when the child cannot . . . many adult, many parents, benefit from learning about the processes of Attachment and Loss . . . have truly never been the recipient of dependable, warm, caregiving, Secure Base parenting themselves, and find "shelter" in therapy before they can understand and implement generous, positive caregiving to their children. eventually,
we frequent address complications relating to (failures in) identifying learning difficulties and false expectations regarding physical/academic challenges, confusion regarding special ed status & rights of special ed students, a history of difficulties coordinating with IEP processes, pronounced problems educating parents about the needs of their children, etc.
because of our work in the field of survivors of torture, we have always worked with adolescents and children
regarding the nature, effects, psychological assessment and precision treatment of the trauma sustained by children of war: today, in the US, this has become much more pertinent.
war, fleeing, loss, bereavement -- these are issues for children and adults who have had no time or place to grieve, often live with chronic terror, effects of witnessing parental or other homicide, suicide, bear witness to repeated violent crime, effects of disfigurement, and, in the case of child migrants, refugees, being witness to or subjected to detainment and torture.
let's define some terms
persecuted/tortured individuals have, by international law, the right to seek asylum in any country (though if they enter illegally, it is harder to obtain and keep. In the US, at least until recently, once an individual has applied for asylum they have a legal status in this country until their case is adjudicated - should they lose their case, they will be deported.
refugees individuals approved outside of the US to enter
asylum status can be sought after an individual enters the US e.g. for business, as a student, tourist, or illegally, etc. Once they have applied and been granted asylum status, they have the same status as refugees
resettlement Both refugees and asylees are being resettled in the US, by definition.
We work extensively within the US with migrant children and families (assessment, treatment, addressing loss and acculturation issues, post-migration, resettlement issues, grief, psycho-spiritual reckoning -- grieving their very personal, individual, immense losses, changes, health issues, and ongoing adjustment issues (loss of their "mother tongue", etc.
at abbey, we conduct
asylum evaluations, assist with integration into US schools, society in general, employment, prep asylum seekers for Immigration Court, provide forensic Reports, prepare the individual to give Testimony, prepare our own Testimony and defense as to why they qualify for asylum status, the path to citizenship.
treatment:
from research, evidence- and research-based precision & integrative perspectives, from the Testimony and Sanctuary literature, from the growing torture literature (see Torture Journal, free online)derived from trauma research & performance-based assessment findings -
children and youth are treated along with their families and wider caregiving environments -- unless those are violent, perpetrating, threatening.
follow
our partnering global humanitarian work with forcibly displaced unaccompanied children and youth fleeing certain death at the borders of twelve countries ---- find us at
always be listening global initiative (alwaysbelisteningglobal.com)
(an independent nonprofit thoughtfully created and registered in the US, 501 (c)(3) alwaysbelisteningglobal.com
a sampling of our international partners includes:
Human Health Aid Burundi, Support the Children Uganda South Sudan, SUTCO, NEAR Humanitarian Network, for Subsaharan Africa; Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection, Geneva
dr. marilee ruebsamen, ph.d., founding exec. dir., abbey psychological services. Child, Family, Adult Trauma; Psychological Assessment, Trauma Assessment, Refugee/Asylum Psychology. Clinical/Forensic; US, Global Humanitarian
Professionals for Humanitarian Assistance & Protection, Geneva. Physicians for Human Rights; HealthRight International; MEDAIR International; Physicians for Human Rights. JED Foundation; Care for Calais, Human Health Aid Burundi, NEAR Humanitarian NETWORK. Support the Children South Sudan SUTCO. SAVE THE CHILDREN USA. |
,dr. james "jay” livingston, ph.d., senior psychologist, assessment, abbey psychological services.
Child, Adult, Teen, Family, Trauma; Psychological Assessment, Trauma Assessment, Refugee/Asylum Psychology, Clinical/Forensic; US and Global Humanitarian. Fellow, Society for Personality Assessment, Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection, Geneva, Physicians for Human Rights |
what, exactly, are child trauma psychologists doing in the US & globally?
we are often methodically listening to unspeakably wrenching stories of children in unrelenting, terrorizing, settings. Globally or here in the US, they are often alone, as all or most family members have been abducted, tortured; killed - or collude with perpetrators in dysfunction families or gangs, so their narratives are told in bits and pieces, occasionally, though, in coherent tales, in poems, songs and drawings, paintings, models made of clay- these mediums all a part of the symbolic expressive languages of children - who sometimes simply write and speak despite the chaos and horror they've experienced. The common thread is nearly always the desire to "TELL!" others what they have endured. In the case of refugees in the camps, and in crowded temporary living conditions here in the US, they want to tell the world how much they love their countries of origin, and that they will always "want to go HOME!"
migrating children, as well as the sometimes-victimized children referred to as from "broken" homes in the US, kids in single family homes post-divorce, or youth in foster care, some kids who have endured multiple out of home placements, children who live in what we refer to as "reconstituted families" - (*and we acknowledge that in many blended families child members eventually adjust well) - but some children new to blended families either lack the interpersonal skills to find their way into the new family, may simply be harassed, bullied, targeted by the other children or parents, parent-figures, until it is clear they are not welcomed - or for a host of other dynamics, come to believe they have been "obliterated" from any meaningful family presence (though still physically present.) They believe they are Not Seen. No longer exist. They have become desolate, numb. And sometimes, suicidal. Kids tell us there isa very delicate balance of Belongingness vs. feeling Burdensome, or Invisible.
a hallmark of many children in tremendous pain is their longing to be Heard, Seen, Listened to, Remembered, Touched, within their families. And many, particularly the children of war and migration, children exposed to domestic violence, or unrelenting interparental conflict, and those who have seen or experienced torture, lost family members - those in refugee camps who have begun to realize that years living there will likely stretch on and on, children who no longer have living family members . . . those with little hope of returning to their homes - 1) want the Entire World to know the extent of their their pain, distress and suffering, and 2) still really want to go to that "home", and still want the outside world to know that, despite knowing it is an unrealistic wish.
As clinicians, It becomes part of our complex job, among many other clinical tasks, such as listening deeply, validating clarifying, comforting and sustaining, assisting them with expressing thoughts and feelings, and of course being Consistently Present for wounded kids, -- it is on us to help them methodically, painstakingly, piece together their memories of Home, perhaps idealized Home, and those who loved them - assisting them to do so in great detail,
in order to have and hold that HOME, in completeness, internally "in their hearts" forever ("internalizing" "holding in Memory") to draw on as support for their identity and Personhood.
It is also our responsibility to help them put the energy of their tremendous Hope to use as they look forward, imagine their potential new lives, imagine "what lies ahead".
We have refined our expertise, spent decades with colleagues, doctoral students, young people/their parents, researching, teaching, supervising, collaborating with psychologists and those in other disciplines in the US and globally, developing and fine-tuning assessment protocols and treatment programs (for example, created school and community based grant-funded programs for at-risk kids to address the needs of as many children and youth as possible using performance based psychological testing and brief, conversational need- and evidence-based interviewing to inform specific, personalized treatments: art, mindfulness, movement, for young children who are among the most recently and severely traumatized and endangered (at border regions to which they've fled.) Globally, these youngsters are young, utterly vulnerable, poor, often injured and starving - who do not comprehend the languages spoken around them- find themselves in the world's most fertile preying ground for traffickers of every kind, predators, kidnappers, soldiers, outlaws, terrorist recruiters.
the UN calls them the world's "Traveling Children"
In the years we have worked with asylum-seeking, torture surviving families,we have allowed ourselves to be shattered and rebuilt along with the children and families on the run . . . in some way empathizing with them on a deep, unspoken, level, the best, perhaps, only way to be of any possible use to the increasing numbers of these forcibly displaced youth. As well, we We've come to identify with the painful experiences of children torn by abandonment and family fracture, separation, divorce, with the deepest respect for their raw courage, their willingness to trust us, their determination to find places of fairness between parents, and the individualized and group strengths they display.
traumatized US children we serve are similar but clearly different than the world's "Traveling Children"
In many ways less obviously traumatized than the world's migrating children, the US-born children are, however, also children who can be more deeply wounded than they appear to be. Some are children who are driving the US rates for completed pediatric suicides up . . . some are children who are rarely brought to treatment unless they commit a serious crime, or unless the family is impoverished, or there are extreme or multiple incidents of child abuse or substance related crime . . . and depending on whether or not they become involved with Social Services. Other than that, they may come to mental health attention far too late, or not at all.
treating the youngest US children -
is far less recognized and publicized, far less funded, than mental health treatment for adults . . . noticing
these children are hurting is also less obvious, considered more challenging to therapists (as children may
express themselves more symbolically than verbally, the clinician may worry that they must deal with
parents or caregivers, knows there are continual, confounding developmental issues, that children are quite
mobile,tend to disappear from treatment. To walk the rough road with a fractured US family, or part of a
family,where,as an example, infants may have been born into various kinds of early, pervasive, compromised
configurations of "toxic stress" which damage the architecture of the developing brain - is serious, demanding
business. It may well lead to discovering the manner in which that early adversity has been intermingled with
ongoing "severe stress and trauma" along the way -- uncoveringexposure to parental domestic violence,
unremitting, unresolved "High interparental conflict",which has a deadly effect on a child's developing internal representations of Self, Other, Relationships, the wider World, and the Future.
Right Here! Right Now! services
in Monterey and Saratoga, with compassion, mindfulness, caring . . .we've created and are
attempting to live. the following 7 tenets -
1. we believe all children - every child, deserve rapid, affordable,safe access to quality mental health
services as needed regardless of a family's ability to pay suggested fees.and all means all. all children.
2. we utilize a range of respectfully co-created, low/fee no/fee agreements so no children are ever turned
away on the basis of financial insecurity.
3. we do our best to listen to, learn from and along with, parentsand otherswho mean a great deal to
each child.
4. our aspiration is to give "right here, right now!" support,provided the reasonfor presenting your child
for treatment falls clearly within our expertise mission (and the constraints of working in two cities.
5. where appropriate, we give thoughtful, carefully curated referrals, including the approximate waiting times
the receiving provider quotes.
6. we do NOT believe in, nor maintain, "waiting lists" for children.kids live in the present. they often need
immediate support and treatment. Insteadwe will assist you to find an appropriate referral. (and there may be timesvwhen we may we ask you to cooperate with triaging an urgent child caseinto the schedule ahead of your child. but rarely!
7. Because we face a grave and growing mental health crisis (child suicidality) in the US involving
younger and younger children,we have ensure thatour parents and caregivers now have basic
EMERGENCY SUPPORT and CRISIS referral tet and phone numbers here (See CRISIS Section,
Resources Section).
PLEASE familiarize yourself with the info at CRISIS and RESOURCES Tab info, teach your
child/children
how to call or text for help (and how to help a child friend!)
in an Emergency or CRISIS situation, appropriate to their age and development.
Learn to distinguish between Emergency and CRISIS!!
importance of getting children emotional support when hurting
1. Research shows that suicides are prevented more often when prevention resources are used
earlier rather than later, that is, when a child or adult is aware they are hurting and
distressed and feel the need for emotional support (rather than waiting until they feel "suicidal").
2. Research also shows those who use prevention hotlines for support when hurting tend not to take
suicidal action.
children, adolescents, teens, families; caring others
Adults and Families - Various types of Psychological Assessment & Treatment
Refugee/Asylum Psychology, Asylum Evaluations & Testimony
US and Global Children's Wellbeing: Refugee and Global Humanitarian Issues
Resettlement, Relocation, Child Detainment (is illegal worldwide)
Safe space, Safe Access, to Quality Mental Health Services and
quality education, attention to school adjustment, social issues, linkage to support, etc.
We treat torture survivors (victims of political torture, gender based violence, etc.) & their children
through Center for Survivors of Torture (CST), San Jose, CA and through the nonprofit we founded,
always be listening global initiative (alwaysbelisteningglobal.com) in twelve country borders:
we strongly promote the human rights of mothers & infants,
children and families around the world
we are longtime providers of REFUGEE/ASYLEE (asylum seeker) child/familycmental health services,
particularly invested in promoting/supporting theInternational Rights of Forcibly Displaced Children/Youth,
unaccompanied minors who are flooding geopolitically unsafe Border Regions seeking shelter,
"traveling children", per the United Nations.
child psychological assessment, and precision ,
assessment-informed treatment
The full range of Psychological Assessments and Treatments we conduct can be described both as
"precision",cper Obama, 2015, (research and/or evidence-based, and personalized)
and integrative (consistent with, integrated into children and family's "social cradle",
-- consonant with their religio-cultural, linguistic identity, other aspects of their emerging personhood.
clinical and forensic focus
we continually study, collaborate, incorporate our research into our work, and train others on clinical,
forensic, human rights and humanitarian issues. we assist colleagues, attorneys, judges, other personnel
in family, juvenile, dependency, DV, immigration, probate, and mitigation Courts.
We have significant, ongoing experience researching and applying our findings regarding
the effects of parental violence and high unresolved ongoing conflict on the formation of internal
representations of children of various ages and developmental stages -- what that looks like in terms
of performance-based assessment and clinical work, and how best to treat it.
pediatric suicidality
the cognitive/mood/disruptive behavioral state young and older children sometimes
find themselves in during crisis, or sometimes live with chronically when under duress over time
- we are concerned with how to recognize, measure, and treat it effectively, as we now observe suicidal ideation, disturbed mood, and disrupted behavior increasing at alarming rates in younger and younger children.
and, always, we deal with the nature & effects of early adversity, poly-victimization intermingled with current severe stress - we work hard to understand the effects on children of being doubly stressed.
healing, recovery and hope; resilience
most consistently, we are treating a subset of youth who are found isolated, withdrawn, excluded,
abandoned, who feel obliterated, bereaved children, etc.
refugee/asylum psychology; asylum evaluations & testimony
We are active in global activities supporting the International Human Rights of the Child Global nature
and effects of Gender-Based Harassment and VIOLENCE, Child Refugees, and Child detainment (ILLEGAL!)
effects on children of both explicit Interparental Violence, and the effects on children of
perpetual/chronic UNRESOLVEDHigh Conflict between Parents
Our research and clinical experience, and that of others, demonstrates: through Performance Testing,
- highly distorted, depressed, at times angry, hopeless, internal representations of Self, Others,
Relationships, the Wide World, and the Future
that children repeatedly indicate they have absorbed as their best understanding of theirinternal world and the
external world, -- given the unpredictable and dangerous interpersonalemotional climate in which they are being
reared.
Forensics, Second Opinion Review; Clinical Services; Attorney, Educational, Medical Consultation
Early Childhood Screening for Children potentially on the Autism Spectrum
we are often methodically listening to unspeakably wrenching stories of children in unrelenting, terrorizing, settings. Globally or here in the US, they are often alone, as all or most family members have been abducted, tortured; killed - or collude with perpetrators in dysfunction families or gangs, so their narratives are told in bits and pieces, occasionally, though, in coherent tales, in poems, songs and drawings, paintings, models made of clay- these mediums all a part of the symbolic expressive languages of children - who sometimes simply write and speak despite the chaos and horror they've experienced. The common thread is nearly always the desire to "TELL!" others what they have endured. In the case of refugees in the camps, and in crowded temporary living conditions here in the US, they want to tell the world how much they love their countries of origin, and that they will always "want to go HOME!"
migrating children, as well as the sometimes-victimized children referred to as from "broken" homes in the US, kids in single family homes post-divorce, or youth in foster care, some kids who have endured multiple out of home placements, children who live in what we refer to as "reconstituted families" - (*and we acknowledge that in many blended families child members eventually adjust well) - but some children new to blended families either lack the interpersonal skills to find their way into the new family, may simply be harassed, bullied, targeted by the other children or parents, parent-figures, until it is clear they are not welcomed - or for a host of other dynamics, come to believe they have been "obliterated" from any meaningful family presence (though still physically present.) They believe they are Not Seen. No longer exist. They have become desolate, numb. And sometimes, suicidal. Kids tell us there isa very delicate balance of Belongingness vs. feeling Burdensome, or Invisible.
a hallmark of many children in tremendous pain is their longing to be Heard, Seen, Listened to, Remembered, Touched, within their families. And many, particularly the children of war and migration, children exposed to domestic violence, or unrelenting interparental conflict, and those who have seen or experienced torture, lost family members - those in refugee camps who have begun to realize that years living there will likely stretch on and on, children who no longer have living family members . . . those with little hope of returning to their homes - 1) want the Entire World to know the extent of their their pain, distress and suffering, and 2) still really want to go to that "home", and still want the outside world to know that, despite knowing it is an unrealistic wish.
As clinicians, It becomes part of our complex job, among many other clinical tasks, such as listening deeply, validating clarifying, comforting and sustaining, assisting them with expressing thoughts and feelings, and of course being Consistently Present for wounded kids, -- it is on us to help them methodically, painstakingly, piece together their memories of Home, perhaps idealized Home, and those who loved them - assisting them to do so in great detail,
in order to have and hold that HOME, in completeness, internally "in their hearts" forever ("internalizing" "holding in Memory") to draw on as support for their identity and Personhood.
It is also our responsibility to help them put the energy of their tremendous Hope to use as they look forward, imagine their potential new lives, imagine "what lies ahead".
We have refined our expertise, spent decades with colleagues, doctoral students, young people/their parents, researching, teaching, supervising, collaborating with psychologists and those in other disciplines in the US and globally, developing and fine-tuning assessment protocols and treatment programs (for example, created school and community based grant-funded programs for at-risk kids to address the needs of as many children and youth as possible using performance based psychological testing and brief, conversational need- and evidence-based interviewing to inform specific, personalized treatments: art, mindfulness, movement, for young children who are among the most recently and severely traumatized and endangered (at border regions to which they've fled.) Globally, these youngsters are young, utterly vulnerable, poor, often injured and starving - who do not comprehend the languages spoken around them- find themselves in the world's most fertile preying ground for traffickers of every kind, predators, kidnappers, soldiers, outlaws, terrorist recruiters.
the UN calls them the world's "Traveling Children"
In the years we have worked with asylum-seeking, torture surviving families,we have allowed ourselves to be shattered and rebuilt along with the children and families on the run . . . in some way empathizing with them on a deep, unspoken, level, the best, perhaps, only way to be of any possible use to the increasing numbers of these forcibly displaced youth. As well, we We've come to identify with the painful experiences of children torn by abandonment and family fracture, separation, divorce, with the deepest respect for their raw courage, their willingness to trust us, their determination to find places of fairness between parents, and the individualized and group strengths they display.
traumatized US children we serve are similar but clearly different than the world's "Traveling Children"
In many ways less obviously traumatized than the world's migrating children, the US-born children are, however, also children who can be more deeply wounded than they appear to be. Some are children who are driving the US rates for completed pediatric suicides up . . . some are children who are rarely brought to treatment unless they commit a serious crime, or unless the family is impoverished, or there are extreme or multiple incidents of child abuse or substance related crime . . . and depending on whether or not they become involved with Social Services. Other than that, they may come to mental health attention far too late, or not at all.
treating the youngest US children -
is far less recognized and publicized, far less funded, than mental health treatment for adults . . . noticing
these children are hurting is also less obvious, considered more challenging to therapists (as children may
express themselves more symbolically than verbally, the clinician may worry that they must deal with
parents or caregivers, knows there are continual, confounding developmental issues, that children are quite
mobile,tend to disappear from treatment. To walk the rough road with a fractured US family, or part of a
family,where,as an example, infants may have been born into various kinds of early, pervasive, compromised
configurations of "toxic stress" which damage the architecture of the developing brain - is serious, demanding
business. It may well lead to discovering the manner in which that early adversity has been intermingled with
ongoing "severe stress and trauma" along the way -- uncoveringexposure to parental domestic violence,
unremitting, unresolved "High interparental conflict",which has a deadly effect on a child's developing internal representations of Self, Other, Relationships, the wider World, and the Future.
Right Here! Right Now! services
in Monterey and Saratoga, with compassion, mindfulness, caring . . .we've created and are
attempting to live. the following 7 tenets -
1. we believe all children - every child, deserve rapid, affordable,safe access to quality mental health
services as needed regardless of a family's ability to pay suggested fees.and all means all. all children.
2. we utilize a range of respectfully co-created, low/fee no/fee agreements so no children are ever turned
away on the basis of financial insecurity.
3. we do our best to listen to, learn from and along with, parentsand otherswho mean a great deal to
each child.
4. our aspiration is to give "right here, right now!" support,provided the reasonfor presenting your child
for treatment falls clearly within our expertise mission (and the constraints of working in two cities.
5. where appropriate, we give thoughtful, carefully curated referrals, including the approximate waiting times
the receiving provider quotes.
6. we do NOT believe in, nor maintain, "waiting lists" for children.kids live in the present. they often need
immediate support and treatment. Insteadwe will assist you to find an appropriate referral. (and there may be timesvwhen we may we ask you to cooperate with triaging an urgent child caseinto the schedule ahead of your child. but rarely!
7. Because we face a grave and growing mental health crisis (child suicidality) in the US involving
younger and younger children,we have ensure thatour parents and caregivers now have basic
EMERGENCY SUPPORT and CRISIS referral tet and phone numbers here (See CRISIS Section,
Resources Section).
PLEASE familiarize yourself with the info at CRISIS and RESOURCES Tab info, teach your
child/children
how to call or text for help (and how to help a child friend!)
in an Emergency or CRISIS situation, appropriate to their age and development.
Learn to distinguish between Emergency and CRISIS!!
importance of getting children emotional support when hurting
1. Research shows that suicides are prevented more often when prevention resources are used
earlier rather than later, that is, when a child or adult is aware they are hurting and
distressed and feel the need for emotional support (rather than waiting until they feel "suicidal").
2. Research also shows those who use prevention hotlines for support when hurting tend not to take
suicidal action.
children, adolescents, teens, families; caring others
Adults and Families - Various types of Psychological Assessment & Treatment
Refugee/Asylum Psychology, Asylum Evaluations & Testimony
US and Global Children's Wellbeing: Refugee and Global Humanitarian Issues
Resettlement, Relocation, Child Detainment (is illegal worldwide)
Safe space, Safe Access, to Quality Mental Health Services and
quality education, attention to school adjustment, social issues, linkage to support, etc.
We treat torture survivors (victims of political torture, gender based violence, etc.) & their children
through Center for Survivors of Torture (CST), San Jose, CA and through the nonprofit we founded,
always be listening global initiative (alwaysbelisteningglobal.com) in twelve country borders:
we strongly promote the human rights of mothers & infants,
children and families around the world
we are longtime providers of REFUGEE/ASYLEE (asylum seeker) child/familycmental health services,
particularly invested in promoting/supporting theInternational Rights of Forcibly Displaced Children/Youth,
unaccompanied minors who are flooding geopolitically unsafe Border Regions seeking shelter,
"traveling children", per the United Nations.
child psychological assessment, and precision ,
assessment-informed treatment
The full range of Psychological Assessments and Treatments we conduct can be described both as
"precision",cper Obama, 2015, (research and/or evidence-based, and personalized)
and integrative (consistent with, integrated into children and family's "social cradle",
-- consonant with their religio-cultural, linguistic identity, other aspects of their emerging personhood.
clinical and forensic focus
we continually study, collaborate, incorporate our research into our work, and train others on clinical,
forensic, human rights and humanitarian issues. we assist colleagues, attorneys, judges, other personnel
in family, juvenile, dependency, DV, immigration, probate, and mitigation Courts.
We have significant, ongoing experience researching and applying our findings regarding
the effects of parental violence and high unresolved ongoing conflict on the formation of internal
representations of children of various ages and developmental stages -- what that looks like in terms
of performance-based assessment and clinical work, and how best to treat it.
pediatric suicidality
the cognitive/mood/disruptive behavioral state young and older children sometimes
find themselves in during crisis, or sometimes live with chronically when under duress over time
- we are concerned with how to recognize, measure, and treat it effectively, as we now observe suicidal ideation, disturbed mood, and disrupted behavior increasing at alarming rates in younger and younger children.
and, always, we deal with the nature & effects of early adversity, poly-victimization intermingled with current severe stress - we work hard to understand the effects on children of being doubly stressed.
healing, recovery and hope; resilience
most consistently, we are treating a subset of youth who are found isolated, withdrawn, excluded,
abandoned, who feel obliterated, bereaved children, etc.
refugee/asylum psychology; asylum evaluations & testimony
We are active in global activities supporting the International Human Rights of the Child Global nature
and effects of Gender-Based Harassment and VIOLENCE, Child Refugees, and Child detainment (ILLEGAL!)
effects on children of both explicit Interparental Violence, and the effects on children of
perpetual/chronic UNRESOLVEDHigh Conflict between Parents
Our research and clinical experience, and that of others, demonstrates: through Performance Testing,
- highly distorted, depressed, at times angry, hopeless, internal representations of Self, Others,
Relationships, the Wide World, and the Future
that children repeatedly indicate they have absorbed as their best understanding of theirinternal world and the
external world, -- given the unpredictable and dangerous interpersonalemotional climate in which they are being
reared.
Forensics, Second Opinion Review; Clinical Services; Attorney, Educational, Medical Consultation
Early Childhood Screening for Children potentially on the Autism Spectrum
"the future is hope! and that hope is now! Pope Francis, 2015
abbey
psychological
services
hope-filled, coping, resilience-focused pediatric psychological services
diagnostic clarification; case conceptualization within children's multiple, transactional contexts
bonds of love and attachment; child development; early childhood disorders (autistic spectrum disorder - ASD screening) working from a lifespan perspective
severe stress & trauma psychology; reconfigured family dynamics: potential for pediatric suicidality
forensic evals, treatment; court testimony; parenting as (Spiritual) Practice
Refugee psychology & asylum evaluations; immigration court testimony; family court support
locations/availability
abbey monterey 2100 garden rd., bldg A-104, monterey, ca 93940
(T - F by appmt) 831.275.8260 mobile
abbey saratoga 12850 saratoga avenue saratoga, ca 95070
(sat. by appmt) 831.275.8260 mobile
abbey psychological services
Marilee Ruebsamen, Ph.D., Clin. Psychologist
Founding Director, abbey psychological services
www.abbeypsychservices.com Research and Treatment Themes
*Nature/Effects High Unresolved Inter-parental Conflict
*Pediatric Suicidality; Expendable Child, *Burdensomeness'
*Performance based testing revealing child's Internal Representations
*Effects of early adversity (ace's)(toxic stress) intermingled w/current Adversity
mediated by both Protective (Buffering) Factors & Traumatic Stressors
on Children,
and
Founding Exec. Director, always be listening global initiative,
501(c)(3) (www.alwaysbelisteningglobal.com)
refugee-asylum-torture, detainment of children: global human rights of children
traveling children at borders, children of war/armed conflict,
international humanitarian law pertaining to children and parents
Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection, Geneva
HealthRight International | Doctors of the World
Physicians for Human Rights
James"Jay" Livingston, Ph.D., Clin. Psychologist
Founding Sr. Assessment Psychologist, abbey psychological services
www.abbeypsychservices.com
US/Global Adult/Child Mental Health, Refugee/Asylum/Torture Psychology
Psychological Assessment, Fellow,Society for Personality Assessment
Adolescent Psychology, Trauma, Refugee/Asylum Evaluation
and
Founding Sr. Psychologist, always be Listening global initiative
501(c)(3) (www.alwaysbelisteningglobal.com)
Global Humanitarian, Global Health/Mental Health:
Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection, Geneva
HealthRight International | Doctors of the World
Physicians for Human Rights
US/Global:Pediatric Psychology: Current US Clinical/Forensic Specialty:
Trauma, Refugee/Asylum Psychology:
Nature, Effects. Assessment; Treatment Global Health/Mental Health; Assoc., member.
Prof p/t, former, PGSP/Palo Alto Univ.
Center for Torture Survivors, San Jose, CA
CSPP ALLIANT University
Early Poly- Risk Factors (Toxic Stress, ACEs) intermingled w/current Adversity
mediated by both Protective (Buffering) Factors & Traumatic Stress
** both CLINICIANS experienced refugee psychologists, familiar w/interpreters,
immigration attorneys, immigration court -
each have 15 plus years experience as founding SF Bay Area
asylum evaluators, treatment, providers of court testimony, supervisors,
trainers, supervisors of student trainees. other psychologists, other MH clinicians
(California Psychological Association, law schools) and conference speakers
through our work with the Center for Torture Survivors,
SJ, CA, since its inception. Providers, UN presentations on
children's human rights.
we prioritize
crisis and street youth through our blue canoe division
which we established and maintain
for indigent children & street youth, victims of bullying,
threat, gender-based harassment -
... lost, couch-surfing, car-sleeping, wandering,
US homeless kids
injured, confused, pursued, ill or otherwise in
immediate danger . . . abandoned, threatened. .
children of incarcerated parent(s)
refugee & unaccompanied minor children, youth
children with stark or unusual emergency, chronic,
or life-limiting illnesses;
pending medical treatment or surgeries,
"hard times, hard times,
come again no more ."
we serve children,families experiencing
situational (temporary) hard times
financially through abbey blue canoe,
victim witness services,
open path psychotherapy collective,
Telemental Health (remotely CA/ internationally)
we are out of network providers
applying for specific insurance
panels - ask us
(accepting, by retainer, check, cash; zell)
promoting Safe Space and Rapid, Affordable,
Safe Access to Quality, Precision,
Trauma-Responsive, Evidence-Based M Health Services
current payment options
Private Pay, Fee for Service clients, out of Network, etc.
serving in person and remote clients in CA and globally, outside the US:
Private Pay: in Person, Fee for Service; and Telemental
Health; Healthtap, Open Path Collective
Pending: Medi-Cal, MediCare, Coastal, Beacon; Tri-Care/Tri-West
examples of treatment themes -
nature & effects of severe stress on children.
child coping, & pediatric suicidality (suicidal ideation/thoughts
or behaviors)
assessment of nature, effects, treatment indicators from
perpetual, unresolved interparental high conflict
on children at varying developmental stages
about child trauma - "words matter"
descriptions of child trauma have changed over time.
1980s and earlier . . . referred to traumatized children "exposed "i.e., to
community orfamily violence" - not physically injured, but exposed
to (in atmosphere saturated by) explicit violence,
community or domestic violence.
2016
children described as affected (not injured or exposed
to explicit violence), but strongly changed by conflict, esp. perpetual,
unrelenting,
unresolved conflict between parents
(which has a toxic effect on developing child/s internal representations
of self, others,relationships, the wide world, and the future
(hopeless)"i.e., war-affected" "interpersonal" or "interparental conflict-affected"
2018
we continue to describe kids as conflict-affected, and ask "how are children/youth
"coping" (?) (but we are often unclear as to what coping means -
or what others mean when they use that term)
clinically, we now ask . . .
1. "how best can we assess and intervene for hurting, traumatized, children?"
2. "what works to prevent or reduce later problems?"
3. "what can we do to foster coping and resilience?"
4. "what is the effect on children's mental health behavior when we do
intervene after major disruptive events or abuse, hostile family separations,
disasters, traumatic incidents, and the range of associated adjustment
difficulties children display during and after "hard times"(bereavement, fleeting
distress symptoms,or the full range of posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety,
depression?"
5. "how do we determine degree of "risk" when there are differences in exposure
in each instance, whether the loss or trauma involved a loved one, were there
pre-existing difficulties, a trauma history, was there,is there, family/peer support?"
as parents, grandparents, instructors, professors, and clinicians living n the SF Bay Area /Silicon Valley for many years, we've been incredibly fortunate to study, work, commiserate, and eat, worship, with friends, students, colleagues, neighbors, religious leaders, businessmen and women, artists and musicians from around the world. Over fifteen years ago, we were among the first cohort trained here in the nature and effects of torture, how to evaluate its traumatic effects in order to defend asylees in immigration court, and began treating torture victims from numerous countries, working through interpreters trained in both cultural issues and the extremely sensitive issues surrounding hearing the stories of torture survivors. it would be accurate to say that this highly demanding specialized work became the most demanding, taxing, but also the most gratifying of our professional lives.
we have always welcomed refugees/asylees to our practice. In some settings, we have trained interpreters from many countries available. In Monterey and Saratoga, we do not yet have access to interpreters. Please
notify us if you or a friend you refer require the services of an interpreter. As an ethical principle, we do not use family members as interpreters.
for forcibly displaced children and youth fleeing for their lives at geopolitically unstable border regions in an attempt
to find neutral, compassionate safe space- unfortunately, as more "Traveling Children' (per the UN) pour frantically into unknown pathways each month, injured, ill, starving, confused, and frightened, these routes have filled with every kind of exploitive organization - traffickers,recruiters of child soldiers, abductors for every conceivable motive, . and the children - who likely do not understand any language but their own, fall prey to these individuals -many many kids disappear, never to be seen again . . see our amazing indigenous workers in twelve diverse locations at alwaysbelisteningglobal.com)
we are working to promote
safe spaces, rapid, affordable, safe immediate access to high quality, precision mental health services for children/youth and those who care for them.
**in the US, we provide a comprehensive range of clinical/forensic services and advocacy activities,
trauma-responsive, precision, evidence-based assessment, treatment, advocacy, collaboration
thoughtfully curated referrals/supports always supporting the unique child/parent, "social cradle."
"how beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it!" * through abbey, we provide consistently competent, comprehensive, confidential, respectful precision psychological services. Emphasizing hopefulness, we maintain a compassionate & warm presence, reducing the sources of anxiety & suffering, promoting sources of hope, strength, joy! * we practice precision psychology "the right treatment for the right person at the right time." Obama, 2015 (expert research-informed & evidence-based, accurate, contextual and personalized Psychological Assessment and Case Conceptualization - Trauma Informed & Trauma Responsive Relationship-based, individualized treatment interventions. we conduct research and work effectively with many high-conflict, trauma-affected and interpersonally violence-exposed children & youth, Intervening effectively requires us to persistently research & consult with others who specialize in identifying & fostering children’s protective, buffering factors - factors - which in turn provide enhanced support and promote coping, resilience and hope in children and adults at critical life stages & unique contexts across the lifespan. The range and continuity of services we offer is designed to assist those we serve to perceive interpersonal interactions accurately, ensure and maintain emotional stability, learn how to obtain optimal level of care to support a continued healthy perspective and support wellbeing for children, adolescents & their families, we offer services for very young children within their caregiving units, and for transitioning individuals of any age, focused support for transitions known to be especially challenging, such as moving from secondary school to residential college environments. we work fastidiously with victims of crime, their families/support systems, with adults/older adults, with those who may have unacknowledged or previously unassessed cognitive disabilities. we provide many types of psychological assessment. Including psychological assessments & interventions, psycho-educational consult & assessments for school age and preschoolers, and conduct cognitive/functional evaluations for frail elderly 
|
Integrative Treatment for Parents, Children, Youth, Adults;, Families learning to provide constancy, progressively engendering trust, & facilitating the development of discernment and understanding. Twig by twig. stone by stone, we help each other grow. gretchen schmelzer.com 2016 all rights reserved * we assist children, youth, with their families & caregivers, to address and work through conflicting thoughts, and feelings, challenging relationships, secret-keeping, negative alliances, and, sometimes, confusing, unhealthy, influences. * while every family is unique, & the pace of their change & growth is uniquely theirs. when they are well supported in therapy, the essence of their experiences becomes, in many ways. qualitatively similar. 
as parents, as therapists, helpers, friends of kids, we see ourselves building a nest in the hearts of children follow gretchen schmelzer.com, 2016 
"the active ingredient in
development in the life of a child is the quality of the relationship he has with adults in his life." Jack Shonkoff, M.D. 
it is immensely
rewarding to see families respond, begin to experience relief, repair and healing, locate positive, creative energy within themselves individually and as a family unit - *** become more deeply aware, learn to listen to what is occurring within themselves and their relationships more accurately, and come to parent more positively, less reactively, more bravely, reflectively - with genuine curiosity, insight, respect, and enjoyment - in response to timely, genuine interest, informed examples, modeling & support. 
|
”all things . . .
bright and beautiful . . . 
all creatures - great . . .
great!!
great!!!!!
. . .and small . . .
(. . . . and even smaller. . . !)
all things wise . . . .
and wonderful!!!!
the Lord God made them all.”
continuing bonds & buffer
of attachment exist between people & loved ones who have died, between children & adults who have lost contact, between each of us & the creatures we love & lose -- just exactly as those bonds existed before contact was lost, or between people and those who have passed or with our animal relationships-- just as with relationships between spouses and other close family members. - when a loved one, a person or cherished animal, dies . . bonds of attachment and love between each other may be memorialized, celebrated, & internalized (taken in - made part of us, and brought forward in time) to be drawn on for comfort & support throughout our lives to degree the relationship was healthy, positive, comforting & supportive when the loved object was living, or when the relationship can be transformed after loss. |
Marilee Ruebsamen, Ph.D., M.S., M.A., Licensed Clinical Psychologist
drmarileerueb@gmail.com 831.275.8260
Founding Director, abbey psychological services - present, abbeypsychservices.com
Mindful & Compassionate, Evidence-Based, Precision Psychological Care
TelementalHealth Services
Child, Teen, Family, Adult- Clinical/Forensic Consultation,
Trauma/General Psychological, Assessment & Treatment
drmarileerueb@gmail.com
Fee for Service * Open Path Collective low fee provider *
health tap virtual concierge * Victim Assistance Program
and select insurance panels
abbey BLUE CANOE
(low/no-fee services for at-risk, gender questioning
gender creative, transitioning children & youth
& unaccompanied minor, uprooted, traveling children",
homeless, victimized US street youth, migrant/refugees)
Asylum Evaluations & Treatment
Concierge Psychotherapy * Family, Dependency,
Juvenile Court related or mandated therapies
Founding Executive Dir., Abbey Asylum & Refugee Services,
Engaged Abbey, Abbey Global Consult
Center for Survivors of Torture, SJ, CA
Contracting Community
Psychologist since Center's inception
Founding Executive Director, always be listening
global initiative, 501(c)(3), 2015 - present
alwaysbelisteningglobal.com
global humanitarian project for
"global Traveling Children":
war/armed conflict affected, forcibly displaced,
unaccompanied children & youth at
geopolitically unstable high risk borders
in twelve countries
former
Clinical Director, Intern Training Program,
Sutter Center for Psychiatry, Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, CA
Associate Professor, Pt-time Faculty,
Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, PA, CA
Director, SAFECARE for Children Project, wednesday's child Projects,
Health Trust of SC County, CA
Clinical Director, Dir. Intern Program,
SSPH Therapeutic (Special Ed.) School, SJ, CA
Special Ed. Instructor, Public Schools, twelve yrs.
Santa Clara Unified School District, Santa Clara, CA
subject matter focus & expertise, select
Modern & traditional Attachment Theory, Global Child Development
within transactions, across contexts
Nature & Effects, Assessment & Treatment: Unresolved Interparental Conflict
& Violence Exposure on Children
Trauma, Inner Representations & Neuroplasticity;
Effects of Lack of Social Cradle on Mothers & Infants
Contemporary Trauma Theory, Adverse Childhood Experiences,
Parenting, Protective Buffering, Coping; Hope
Promoting Child & Youth Connectedness,
Peer Friendships, Competencies, Coping & Hope
Child Suicidality, Failures of inclusion into Reconstituted Family,
Expendability, Alienation dynamics, Realistic Estrangement
Stressors accompanying Poverty, Effects of multiple moves
& Transitions, & Cyclical Homelessness on Children
Contributions of Psychological Assessment to Diagnosis
and Intervention, Child & Adult Trauma Assessment
Trauma & Refugee, Post-Conflict, Post-Settlement, Asylum Psychology
affiliate, ally, member, rotating memberships
for abbey & always, or following:
Amer Psychological Assoc. Div. 56 (Trauma Psychology)
American Prof. Society on the Abuse of Children
Society of Clin. Child/Adol Psychology
Nat'l Scientific Council on the Developing Child | Harvard Center
on the Developing Child | Child in Mind NYCD
**European Society of Traumatic Stress; Mental Health
& Psychosocial Support Network, International
**Human Health Aid Burundi | **N.E.A.R. Humanitarian
Network | **Art Refuge UK
**UN Committee Against Children
in Armed Conflict | Care4Calais
**International Assoc. of Professionals in Humanitarian
Assistance & Protection, Geneva, Cert'd.
HealthRight International | Doctors of the World
**Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)
World Assoc. of Infant Mental Health | Doctors Without Borders MSF
Preemptive Love Coalition - Love Anyway!
Child Health & Human Rights, Global Health & Pop
., Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard School of Medicine
Yale School of Medicine, Dept. of Child Study (MINDMAP
for first psychosis) Cambridge University Research
for Parents: The Greater Good Science Center, greatergood.
berkeley.edu, Child MIND, The JED Foundation (Suicidality in Youth)
mission
comprehensive, compassionate precision child/family & adult adult
psychological services in the US & globally.
through direct, conversational, need-based and traditional
assessment & art "uprooted", "traveling children"
of global war and children of high inter-parental unresolved
conflict symbolically communicate.
we train ourselves to be fully present, listen to
, understand symbolic communication,
intuit & absorb the experience (nature & effects)
of severe, extreme stress & trauma
of "uprooted" "traveling children" and "expendable"
child of war, death, bereavement, loss, chronic terror
and the unique, unrecognized traumatic stress experience
children of unresolved high conflict domestic situations
such as separations or divorces characterized
by high conflict or domestic violence.
challenge
we continually seek to understand our own
emotional responses for what they are,
"what you see and hear depends a good
deal on where you are standing:
it also depends on what sort of person you are."
C. S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew
understand how they may impede or contribute
to understanding the ways children have coped
while in highly stressful contexts, and, in the US and globally
, when homeless, uprooted, unaccompanied, unprotected,
how their symptoms are presently viewed and maintained,
and how those symptoms can best be diminished.
vision
to rapidly, accurately assess children of stressful contexts
, understand their direct, individual experiences,
and rapidly, accurately differentiate psychosocial
and psychiatric need.
successfully match children with appropriate, accessible,
quality therapeutic interventions,
uniquely drawing directly from what
children themselves reveal.
Where indicated, we may conduct standardized psychological
assessment to answer specific questions.
we ask clarifying questions regarding coping
"how have you managed? coped?
(so well)?" "how, exactly, did you cope?
how are you doing now?"
we listen closely for their exact description -
what is remembered/recalled of their stressful experiences
how they managed to cope, and what painful,
traumatic, or post traumatic symptoms remain.
results obtained inform children's treatment and potential
family, friend, and supportive others' involvement
in treatment.
as we interview and listen, we measure overall wellbeing
skillful, practiced, precise empathic listening
allows us to measure, quantify, children's
a. direct exposure to traumatic experiences
b. ways of coping
c. current wellbeing & mental health status.
We measure their wellbeing in terms of presence
of expressed psychosocial distress
and/or strengths (sturdy, flexible coping & mental health)
vs. the expression of psychiatric symptoms
(anxiety, depression, dissociation, etc.)
(absence of more severe mental health symptoms.)
as a result,
we can knowledgeably make decisions for
precision treatment/interventions.
We are confident that by refining the manner
in which treatment decisions are based,
(grounding them in precise, accurate, measurement),
we maximize the potential for timely, contextualized,
personalized, ("precision") interventions -
providing a rapid, clear, accurate & valid, treatment
pathway for recovery and wellbeing.
Dr. James D. "Jay" Livingston, Ph.D., Senior Clinical Psychologist
abbey psychological services, present
abbeypsychservices.com jamesdlivingstonphd@yahoo.com
Mindful & Compassionate, Evidence-Based, Precision Care
Clinical and Forensic Consultation, Assessment,
Intervention, Training, Supervision
Fellow, Society for Personality Assessment,
American Psychological Association
Founding Executive Board Member, the always project,
always be listening global initiative
Attending Psychologist, Santa Clara County/Monterey
Correctional Facility, present
Center for Torture Survivors, SJ, CA, Contracting Psychologist
former
Center for Survivors of Torture, Senior Staff Psychologist
Asian Americans for Community Involvement
Clinical Psychologist, Children's Behavioral Health, Monterey County CA
Associate Professor, Pacific Graduate School of Psychology
UC Berkeley Extension, University of CA at Berkeley
Adjunct Professor, Psychological Assessmen
t, CSPP at Alliant University, San Francisco, CA
subject matter expertise
Refuge and Trauma Psychology, Asylum psychology
Psychological Assessment; Performance-Based Assessment
The Rorschach Test with Children and Adults
Contributions of Psychological Assessment to Diagnosis
and Intervention, emphasis on Trauma and Child Trauma
Nature, Effects, Measurement, and Treatment of Interpersonal,
Interparental Violence Exposure on Children and Youth
ally, member, rotating memberships
HealthRight International | Doctors of the World
Physicians for Human Rights
UN Committee Against Children in Armed Conflict
RISE Refugee and Immigrant Services
abbey psychological services, present
abbeypsychservices.com jamesdlivingstonphd@yahoo.com
Mindful & Compassionate, Evidence-Based, Precision Care
Clinical and Forensic Consultation, Assessment,
Intervention, Training, Supervision
Fellow, Society for Personality Assessment,
American Psychological Association
Founding Executive Board Member, the always project,
always be listening global initiative
Attending Psychologist, Santa Clara County/Monterey
Correctional Facility, present
Center for Torture Survivors, SJ, CA, Contracting Psychologist
former
Center for Survivors of Torture, Senior Staff Psychologist
Asian Americans for Community Involvement
Clinical Psychologist, Children's Behavioral Health, Monterey County CA
Associate Professor, Pacific Graduate School of Psychology
UC Berkeley Extension, University of CA at Berkeley
Adjunct Professor, Psychological Assessmen
t, CSPP at Alliant University, San Francisco, CA
subject matter expertise
Refuge and Trauma Psychology, Asylum psychology
Psychological Assessment; Performance-Based Assessment
The Rorschach Test with Children and Adults
Contributions of Psychological Assessment to Diagnosis
and Intervention, emphasis on Trauma and Child Trauma
Nature, Effects, Measurement, and Treatment of Interpersonal,
Interparental Violence Exposure on Children and Youth
ally, member, rotating memberships
HealthRight International | Doctors of the World
Physicians for Human Rights
UN Committee Against Children in Armed Conflict
RISE Refugee and Immigrant Services
abbey specializing
experienced serving bereaved children, youth, adults, ,effects of exposure to extreme terror/danger, or have
complex/complicating developmental, injury/medical, psychiatric conditions; life-limiting or disfiguring acute or
chronic conditions.
educational system-involved complicated situations requiring second opinion, consult; support, treatment
children at risk subsequent to difficulty with inclusion in their family, or difficulties with inclusion into reconstituted
family general trauma psychology services, all ages, including for very young children & court-involved cases: review,
second opinion, consult, assessment, treatment , expert testimony.
special expertise & experience in trauma assessment & treatment, instruction at doctoral level,
treatment: very young children & adults effects of exposure to violence - nature, effects, assessment, treatment,
cultural/linguistic/gender issues.
high conflict- exposure to interpersonal, interparental families: nature, effects, assessment, treatment, coping and
hope, recovery. domestic violence: exposure to interpersonal, interparental families: nature, effects, assessment,
treatment, coping and hope, recovery. supporting researcher, and expert testimony
compassionate listening, grief support; credentialed, trained, and co-instructor for twelve years for
hospital chaplaincy training specific parent coaching, connectedness to like-minded professionals as each
situation suggests. we see a number of teens preparing for college, and early career professionals, often family constellations. we enjoy our work with older adults, families who bring frail elders in for assistance
with communicating and decision-making, children and adults with acute,
severe, and chronic stress and illness/disease -- and their families/caregivers.
immediate initial screening by phone, rapid intake attempting to offer next day appointments
for children in distress . . . & weekend appointments where needed, if we
possibly can, or strong referrals275.8260
court-involved situations:
we conduct consultations, forensic assessments, court-ordered individual, child, reunification,
re-connection, and supervised therapies, co-parent counseling, therapeutic visitation,
provide Second Opinion reviews of psychological assessment
we consider every consultation, every connection, every encounter in therapy
a fresh opportunity for relatedness and connectedness and we take opportunities to work
with youth seriously. every referral is carefully curated.
while we practice "modern", research informed, state-of-the-art, evidence-based psychotherapies, we are warmly
relational, theoretically integrative, and flexible, grounded in both original attachment theory and modern attachment
theory, (Alan Schore) and clinical-developmental (psychodynamic) theories, and in the profound, ancient Wisdom traditions and the integrative models of treatment that derive from them, including, for example,
contemporary trauma theories and contemporary attachment, psychodynamic theory, mindfulness-
based theories.
at the core of our work, we offer presence, warmth, empathic atunement, positive regard, deep attention,
deep listening - within a healing space. while we integrate research-informed, evidence-based treatments,
and often usecognitive behavioral interventions, as experienced professors and clinicians,
we are actively conceptualizing as we work, drawing fluidly from a number of theoretical frameworks
as they are indicated clinically. For example, we may move to using pediatric/health psychology
interventions and work primarily from a stress and coping
perspective, using a specific stress-diathesis (stress-"vulnerability") model while treating the
bereaved partner of an individual who has died of a chronic, life-limiting illness, or in the treatment
of a highly ambivalent, suicidal adolescent.
we provide
expert, timely, coherent, 'precision' psychological assessments, a variety of personalized trauma,
psychodiagnostic,personality, trauma, and other types of evaluations and assessments.
Assessments may be primarily clinical, forensic, psychodiagnostic, psychoeducational, parent child relationship
focused. We conduct evaluations for Family Court, Juvenile Dependency Court, Mitigation Court and
Immigration/Asylum Court. As well, we are often asked to conduct Private Evaluations for Physicians,
Parenting Evaluations, IEPs, Placement, Work re-entry, etc. We provide Second Opinion reviews.
we consult to attorneys &
provide expert testimony & evaluations for the courts
Family, Juvenile Dependency, Mitigation, and Immigration/Asylum, and to individual judges, parents,
teachers, social workers, IEP and Student Study Teams (SST) teams, attorneys formally and informally,
agengies, nonprofits. work as expert witnesses, and render Second Opinion reviews for
children, youth and adults, attorneys,
another way of explaining what we do most often -
addressing specific referral questions across many domains, including cognitive, learning, emotional,
interpersonal, coping, issues, etc., and Second Opinion reviews.
we conduct child & adult clinical & psychodiagnostic assessments
psychological assessments directly tied to treatment recommendations
treatment of child and adult grief and loss, severe stress and coping, including treatment of
extreme trauma, victimization: children and youth,
nature, effects, assessment and treatment of exposure to high unresolved conflict
and interpersonal, inter parental violence
inter-parental violence, treatment of children, adults, families, affected others with chronic or
life-limiting illness, psychological support for invasive medical procedures, etc.,
high anxiety and post traumatic stress, pediatric mood disorders and suicidality,
disorienting and distorting attentional issues which contribute to anxiety and behavioral disorders.
we are active in multiple areas of asylum & immigration reform, & continuing our global work
in Refugee Psychology & humanitarian work for uprooted children
we conduct consultations and asylum evaluations for individuals of all ages, speak and consult
internationally on subjects such as refugee safety, shelter and Sanctuary, torture recovery offer
assistance for treatment Catholic Charities of San Jose
and Asian American for Community Involvement, Center for Survivors of Torture - with whom we've
been associated for several decades (Center for Survivors of Torture since its inception).
As well, we have developed our own global humanitarian nonprofit for war- armed conflict
affected children at geopolitically unstable borders (see alwaysbelisteningglobal.com).
we treat young unaccompanied minor children
now living in the US (referred to as "uprooted" "traveling children"
by the United Nations) pro bono
(unless, in the rarest of cases, they have access to funds or qualify for services by a provider
such as Victims of Crime, etc.) and further support them by collaborating with appropriate
human rights agencies through our global humanitarian project for forcibly displaced,
migrating children
at geopolitically unstable borders in ten countries. See our global project,
always be listening global initiative, an independent nonprofit in the US 501(c)(3).
(alwaysbelisteningglobal.com),
an example of our pro bono work: blue canoe
Dr. Ruebsamen has long provided assistance for what are now referred to by the UN as
"uprooted, traveling children" -- street youth, at high risk, without connected ness to family
or friends, endangered, sometimes ill, injured, targeted, harassed, threatened, frequently the victims
of gender-based violence,fleeing or still involved in trafficking . . . in the US,
these are generally youth who find their way to us from the streets by word of mouth
or through buddy referrals - who are, for a number of reasons, unable to locate help,
cannot transport themselves, cannot afford, or feel they cannot trust traditional available
social and medical services in the community.
Through connections to service providers and agencies we have made, and by donating
our services, we are able to engage these youth and quickly evaluate their immediate needs -
sometimes successfully assist
them with immediate concerns such as connections
for transportation, housing, food, and medical services, and, longer term,
help them sort out urgent needs from issues that can wait, call home
if appropriate, begin to be heard and identify areas of trauma,
move them on to appropriate, longer term compassionate professionals and agencies
equipped to address and ameliorate both their obvious further immediate
stabilization and long-term medical, residential, psychiatric, educational and
vocational needs. Currently, 1.8 million children and youth are estimated homeless
on the streets in the US though numbers are almost impossible to verify given
the many ways children learn to be invisible in their often eventually ailed
attempts to remain anonymous and, they hope, remain safe to survive on the streets.
step by step,
as children, teens, and adults and families heal,
we observe increases in empathy, insight, cognitive flexibility, and compassion;
organizing, and maintaining care of the self,
developing reciprocal social engagement support - peer friendships
giving & receiving, sharing with others, displaying kindness, confidence, and hope. . .