FAMILY COMPASS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Social Worker
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Abigail McAlister has worked as a Social Worker since 2009 and received her Clinical License in 2019. She earned both her Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Abigail has over 10 years of experience working in early intervention supporting families with children with developmental delays, complex diagnoses and/or challenging behaviors. She implements a variety of strategies including parent-coaching, play therapy and attachment-based therapy with parents and their young children. Abigail is a certified therapist in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). She is passionate about supporting the social emotional development of children and building family capacity.
Abigail's work has also supported various local childcare centers and federal and state childcare programs (Head Start, Early Head Start and Virginia Preschool Initiative) by providing training in early childhood social emotional development and coaching teachers to support children with challenging behaviors in the classroom.
Ms. McAlister works in early intervention supporting children with developmental delays and challenging behaviors.
Job Titles:
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Bethany Cook earned an MSW from Virginia Commonwealth University and has worked as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker since 2006. Ms. Cook has worked in a variety of clinical settings, including school systems and college counseling centers, where she realized her love for working with adolescents and families.
Ms. Cook is very open about having two "differently wired" children. Since the birth and subsequent diagnoses of her children, Ms. Cook has become passionate about educating and supporting neurodiverse families. In 2018, Ms. Cook received intensive training at the Social Thinking clinic with Michelle Garcia Winner. She is excited to combine her therapeutic background and this specialized training to help children and families.
Ms. Harber is a SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) provider, has received training in ADHD, and is a certified Zero to Three Trainer in The Growing Brain. Ms. Harber has experience working directly with children, adolescents, and young adults with autism as well as supervising one-on-one ABA therapy in the home environment. As a clinician, she works extensively with children and parents of children with ADHD, autism, anxiety, and behavior challenges.
Ms. Harber is a board certified behavior analyst and also holds a master's degree in Social Work.
Brandi Gordon earned her Master in Social Work from George Mason University with a concentration on children and adolescents. Brandi is pursuing clinical social work licensure and has experience assisting adolescents with life transitions, grief, anxiety, depression, stress, interpersonal relationships, communication challenges, emotion regulation, and time management. Her therapeutic approach incorporates evidence-based practices including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and mindfulness. Brandi's focus is on helping adolescents build self-confidence, increase self-awareness, and reach their full potential through goal setting and skill development. She has also worked as a teacher for adolescents and is the mother of a teen and tween.
Ms. Gordon's focus is on helping adolescents build self-confidence, increase self-awareness, and reach their full potential through goal setting and skill development.
Colleen Lagasse earned an MSW from the University of Pennsylvania and her B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John's College in Annapolis, Md. She has been a licensed Social Worker in Virginia since 2001.
Ms. Lagasse has worked in various capacities in both clinical and psycho-educational settings providing individual, group and family therapy sessions in addition to training other clinicians. At Zero to Three (ZTT), a national nonprofit focused on the needs of young children, Ms. Lagasse developed content and provided training to other professionals. Of note, she collaborated with the Department of Defense on "Coming Together Around Military Families," a multi-year project designed to strengthen the resilience of young children and their families coping with trauma, grief, and loss. In addition to her primary clinical focus supporting children and their families, Ms. Lagasse has also provided therapy to homeless women and families in crisis.
Throughout her career, Ms. Lagasse has lived and worked abroad, providing counseling to her clients- from Peace Corps volunteers to other expat families- utilizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, play therapy, and mindfulness-based tools. Ms. Lagasse's professional interests include brain development, infant mental health, and family systems. Currently, Ms. Lagasse is pursuing licensure in Clinical Social Work through a Clinical Residency at Family Compass.
Ms. Lagasse has worked in both clinical and psycho-educational settings providing family therapy.
Job Titles:
- Licensed Clinical Psychologist
For the past 20 years Dr. Dinsmoor has provided neurofeedback services to a variety of clinical populations.
Job Titles:
- Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Dinsmoor received his B.A. in psychology from Oberlin College, and his Ph. D. from the American University in Washington D.C. During the early 70s, Dr. Dinsmoor created an outpatient program for young autistic children at the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents in Baltimore.
During the early 1980's Dr. Dinsmoor completed extensive post doctoral work in family therapy at the Georgetown Family Center, Georgetown University Dept. of Psychiatry.
From 1983-1993 he was the Coordinator of Child and Adolescent Mental Health for Charles County Maryland. He was also the staff psychologist for the Community Mental Health Program at Liberty Hospital in Baltimore.
This includes using neurofeedback to treat children, adolescents and adults with Attention Deficit Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Depression, Bipolar disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and other psychiatric challenges, first at Arlington County Department of Human Services and for the last 15 years with Family Compass.
Job Titles:
- Licensed Professional Counselor
Ms. Berhan has 15 years of experience working directly with children, adolescents, young adults and family systems with complex diagnoses, behavioral challenges and educational needs. She has worked in various capacities in clinical, school and hospital settings. As a clinician, Ms. Berhan has worked with a variety of children, staff and clinicians to develop curriculums, facilitate professional developments and individual and group counseling. Ms. Berhan has extensive knowledge in education systems in general and special education (encompassing 504s and IEPs).
Job Titles:
- Clinical Director
- Clinical Psychologist
- Director
- Founder
- Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Clinical Director
Dr. Moshe Shtuhl is the founder and director of Family Compass since 1996. He is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Clinical Psychology at George Washington University.
Dr. Shtuhl worked as an army psychologist in his native Israel before arriving in the U.S. to pursue doctoral studies in 1987. During a three year internship at the University of California in San Francisco, he specialized in working with children and families.
In 1990 he was one of fifteen health professionals nationwide to be recognized for exceptional work with children by Zero to Three, a Washington, D.C. based organization focusing on the needs of young children. In 1992, Dr. Shtuhl founded the Early Childhood Mental Health Certificate Program, a training program for mental health professionals at the Washington School of Psychiatry in Washington, D.C.
He served as its chairman until 1998, when he stepped down to pursue concentrated studies in neuropsychology at the Fielding Institute, which he completed in 2000. He was also on the Faculty of the Interdisciplinary Council of Learning and Developmental Disorders from 2003 to 2010.
Dr. Orth completed his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Miami University. Dr. Orth's post-doctoral training included completion of a two-year infancy and early childhood mental health program at the Washington School of Psychiatry. He is Board Certified in the specialty of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (ABPP). Dr. Orth's career has focused upon services for children and adolescents and their families in diverse settings including hospitals, clinics, private practice, and in-home programs.
Dr. Orth's current specialization is the provision of comprehensive psychological and neuropsychological testing services for children, adolescents, and young adults. Dr. Orth draws upon more than thirty years of experience evaluating children and adolescents with complex presentations, many of whom have received multiple evaluations and interventions yet continue to have difficulties functioning in various aspects of their lives.
Jarred Sharar is an impassioned advocate for child development and education. In his current role as the resident drama therapist at the Family Compass clinic, he delivers creative therapeutic experiences informed by the power of art as a vehicle for mental health and wellness. He also instructs an arts curriculum for children with special needs at the River Terrace Education Campus of the District of Columbia Public Schools.
Prior to his work in the District of Columbia, Jarred pioneered drama therapy for over 10 years at the Cooke Center for Learning and Development in New York City, growing to establish the school's formal art based therapies curriculum. In addition to his professional activities, he continues his volunteer advocacy work as a drama therapist with Jacob's Color Link Initiative in Haiti, a vice president of his local chapter of the North American Drama Therapy Association, and has served as a co-chair of the 38th annual NADTA conference. Jarred is a graduate of the master of the arts program in drama therapy at New York University, and holds a bachelor of arts from the University of Central Florida.
Ms. Jeannie Waters received an MA in Mindfulness-based Transpersonal Counseling from Naropa University, Colorado, in May 2023. She also has an MA in Educational Leadership from George Mason University and a BS from St. Norbert's College, Wisconsin, in Elementary Education.
Ms. Waters has worked as a teacher, intervention specialist, and administrator in various educational settings, including public, special education, and the Department of Education. She uses many interventions and is trained in Transpersonal Psychology, Gestalt therapy, Person-centered therapy, mindfulness, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Internal Family Systems techniques, and other creative and somatic methods to assist with wellness practices. She is excited to combine her child development and education background with mental health counseling to help children and families.
Ms. Waters has worked as an intervention specialist, instructional coach, and school principal.
Job Titles:
- Member of the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association
Rachel has experience with crisis and trauma counseling, with focus on grief and loss due to suicide. She has also led substance abuse treatment groups, and counseled individuals and families impacted by drug and alcohol addiction for Virginia ASAP (Alcohol Safety Action Program). Additionally, Rachel has been providing childbirth education and support as a birth doula for over 18 years. She utilizes tools of mindfulness, expressive arts, and play to support the growth and development of her clients in an atmosphere of warmth and acceptance.
Ms. O'Neill is a clinical social worker specializing in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.