Dr. Erika Stapert is a New York State licensed psychologist (#019279) who received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan and went on to earn her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the The Chicago School, an APA accredited program.
In the midst of the current COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Stapert has transitioned her practice to telehealth, which has been an effective way of providing essential mental health services to children and families during this stressful time. Dr. Stapert specializes in two particular interventions, Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)) and Parent Child Interaction Therapy for Toddlers (PCIT-T), that are particularly amenable to telehealth as they focus on teaching parents home-based skills that improve their children’s emotional and behavioral regulation and enhance the parent-child relationship. Given the stress that many parents and children are experiencing at this time, these interventions are essential in making the household run more smoothly and creating more positivity and calm within the home environment. Both interventions are also short-term in nature and very goal focused. For more information, please visit the following pages: Parent Child Interaction Therapy (ages 2-7), Parent Child Interaction Therapy for Toddlers (12-24 months).
Dr. Stapert is a certified PCIT Level I Trainer and she currently both provides PCIT as well as trains and supervises clinical psychology interns and social workers in the use of the modality. Dr. Stapert is confident in the use of PCIT to treat children with issues related to anger/aggression, oppositional behavior, ADHD, social skills delays, and attachment issues, and thoroughly enjoys helping to facilitate the significant changes that her clients make throughout the course of treatment.
Dr. Stapert also has extensive experience in treating school-aged children, young adults, adults, and families with a variety of presenting issues including but not limited to anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship issues, and ADHD. She has provided individual, family and group therapy in a variety of settings including Head Start programming, a therapeutic nursery, and other outpatient clinic settings.
In addition to being formally trained in PCIT and PCIT-T, Dr. Stapert is also trained in play therapy, parent management training, and exposure with response prevention for anxiety disorders. She uses an integrated approach including cognitive-behavioral, solution-focused, psychodynamic, systems and client-centered techniques, and works closely with each of her clients in determining the best treatment approach in addressing their specific needs.