Faculty + Learners
Meet Our Faculty + Learners
SANDHIYA BALADHANDAPANI, LPC
Sandhiya (Sun.thee.ya) Baladhandapani is a Licensed Professional Counselor, providing psychotherapy for children, teens, young adults and adults. Sandhiya has recently started work in a group private practice at Squirrel Hill location. Sandhiya provides treatment for people who struggle with neurodevelopmental disorders, anxiety, social anxiety, self-esteem, grief and loss, family and relationship stressors, school stressors, learning disabilities, and transitional stressors. Sandhiya graduated with Masters in Counseling Psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in 2019, and have clinical experience from working in school and office settings with children and caregivers, adolescents, young adults, and adults. Sandhiya speaks English and Tamil. Contact: sandhiya@eastendtherapists.com
Sandhiya(Sun.thee.ya) Baladhandapani
PA Licensed Professional Counselor
Sharon Bernstein, PH.D.
Sharon Bernstein is a licensed private practice psychotherapist in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Sharon has been practicing psychotherapy for 40 years with people of all ages. Beginning in 1976 at St Francis Community Mental Health Center as a consultant and mental health educator to parents and teachers as part of the National Institute of Mental Health growth grant, where she spent 23 years in various roles, Sharon has evolved into an analytically oriented therapist for children, adolescents, and adults.
JAMES NOSEGAY BOWEN, MSW, LSW
James Nosegay Bowen is a clinical social worker, somatic practitioner, and herbalist in Pittsburgh, PA who is committed to individual and collective resilience and joy.
They see clinical practice as a way of deepening relationship to bodies, land, purpose, and each other.
BILL CORNELL, M.A., TSTA (P)
William F. Cornell, M.A., TSTA (P), has maintained an independent private practice of psychotherapy and consultation in Pittsburgh, PA for over 40 years. Having studied behavioral psychology at Reed College in Portland, Oregon and phenomenological psychology at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he followed his graduate program with training in transactional analysis and body-centered psychotherapy and has studied with several mentors and consultants within diverse psychoanalytic perspectives.
Miriam DeRiso, Ph.D.
Miriam DeRiso, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice. She supervises psychiatric residents in the Clinic Without Walls program for low-fee patients engaged in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Dr. DeRiso taught and supervised psychology interns and psychiatric residents for almost 20 years as an assistant professor in the Child and Adolescent Division of the Department of Psychiatry of the Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
PATRICIA DONOHUE, PH.D.
Patricia Donohue, Ph.D.: I think, teach, and learn at the intersections of feminist philosophy, gender studies, and psychology. I am preoccupied with themes of embodiment, social location, and enactments of power, and the ways these inform, enable, constrict, and deform knowing and feeling.
Mario Fischetti, Ph.D.
Dr. Fischetti received his Ph.D. from Purdue University. He completed an American Psychological Association approved Internship in Clinical Psychology at Brown University Medical School in Providence, RI, followed by a National Institute of Mental Health Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in the Epidemiology of Alcoholism at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. In 2003 he graduated as a fully qualified Adult Psychoanalyst from the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center, a training center affiliated with the American Psychoanalytic Association and the International Psychoanalytic Association.
ADAM HAGLUND, LCSW
Adam Haglund is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker currently practicing in Pittsburgh within a private setting. He earned his bachelor's degree in Creative Writing and Religious Studies from The New School University in New York City.
George Herrity, Psy.D., MSW
George Herrity, PsyD, MSW is a licensed psychologist in private practice in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh providing individual psychotherapy to late adolescents and adults. Dr. Herrity received his MSW from the Smith College School for Social Work and his PsyD from Carlow University. Some of Dr. Herrity’s training background includes wilderness therapy, combat-related PTSD, and college counseling.
KATIE KEARNS, LCSW
Katie Kearns is a licensed clinical social worker in private practice at 3Rivers Therapists in Squirrel Hill. She earned her Master of Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh. Katie has a true passion for treating eating disorders and helping individuals develop a healthy, normalized relationship with food, weight, and shape.
Alyson Kepple, M.D.
Dr. Alyson Kepple earned her medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine and completed her psychiatry residency at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh where she served as Chief Resident for Psychotherapy Training supervising and teaching psychiatry residents and medical students.
She is completing her psychoanalytic training at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis (ICP+P) in Washington, DC and is a recipient of the 2021 Early Career Professional Award presented by The International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology (IAPSP).
Aedamar Grant, Ph.D.
Dr. Grant is a licensed psychologist and psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapist who has been in private practice in the Pittsburgh area for more than 25 years. She received her undergraduate degree at University College Dublin, her post graduate teaching degree at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland and her doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. She has previously worked in several of the counseling centers at local universities in Pittsburgh. She was also a supervising clinician at the outpatient Eating Disorders outpatient at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic for some years.
Dr. Grant has received training in Jungian psychoanalysis and in more recent years has participated in training seminars and clinical consultation groups at the International Psychotherapy Institute in Washington, DC in object relations focused psychotherapy. Her work is also influenced by some trainings in Buddhist meditation practices and more specifically by the work of Thich Nhat Hanh. She also engages in various other trainings (Restorative Justice seminars, mindfulness trainings) related to her own personal development and to inform her clinical work.
She is very pleased to join the Western PA Community for Psychoanalytic Therapies and, in particular, to have the opportunity to offer a clinical group supervision given that her many years of personal experience in clinical consultation groups have been foundational in the growth and development of her own clinical understanding and skill.
Catherine Maihoefer, LPC
Catherine Maihoefer, LPC is a licensed professional counselor in private practice. She earned her degree in Counseling Psychology from Chatham University. She is a graduate analyst and faculty member at the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center. She has been a full-time clinician for over 20 years and has worked in a variety of clinical settings: research (evaluations and therapies), community mental health, university counseling, and consulting.
Steven Hesky, Ph.D.
Steven Hesky, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist in private practice with 50 years of experiences in psychoanalytic approaches to psychotherapy. He has trained in Freudian psychoanalysis, Jungian psychoanalysis, Existential psychoanalysis, and Object Relations approaches. At Point Park College, he taught Theories of Personality, Theories of Psychotherapy, Techniques of Psychotherapy, and Psychological Research. He graduated from Lake Forest College in 1972 with a degree in Philosophy and a minor in religion. In 1984, he graduated from the clinical track in Existential Phenomenological Psychology at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. His dissertation was on Effective and Ineffective Insight. Though he started out working with children and adolescents, his current work is entirely in psychotherapy with adults and supervision of other psychotherapists.
José Mantilla-Rivas, M.D.
Dr. José Mantilla-Rivas is a combined adult and child and adolescent psychiatry resident at UPMC. He graduated from the School of Medicine at Universidad de Los Andes. His main interests include psychoanalysis, group psychotherapy, psychosomatic medicine, and neuroscience.
Matt Markon, LCSW
Matt Markon is a psychoanalyst in private practice. In the mid 1990’s, Matt began providing group treatment to violent male offenders. Since then, Matt has worked with diverse populations providing both group and individual psychotherapy in a number different treatment modalities. He has worked in state hospitals, community mental health clinics, and private practice. A licensed clinical social worker, Matt has provided mobile crisis services and been involved in critical incident stress debriefings.
Christen Shiber Nichols, LCSW
Christen Shiber Nichols, LCSW, is a psychodynamically-oriented psychotherapist in private practice. She earned her Master of Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh where she also completed a fellowship in geriatric mental health care sponsored by the John A Hartford Foundation. Christen has worked at UPMC Western Psych in the emergency department and inpatient units and in community mental health prior to starting her independent practice.
David Silvasy, Psy.D.
Dr. David Silvasy is a licensed psychologist. He received his Doctoral degree from Carlow University in Counseling Psychology where he also received his Master of Science degree in Professional Counseling. Dr. Silvasy completed his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science from the University of Pittsburgh in Philosophy and Psychology, and he completed his doctoral internship at the University of Pittsburgh Counseling Center.
David V. Orbison, Ph.D.
Dr. Orbison is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst who has been a full-time clinician in Pittsburgh for 44 years. After graduating from Yale in philosophy and psychology, he completed his doctorate in clinical psychology from the Duquesne University program in existential phenomenology. He completed his psychoanalytic training at the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Institute, where he started the writing program and served as Education Committee Chair.
Colleen Peddycord, LCSW
Colleen Peddycord is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with experience working with adults, children, and families from diverse backgrounds. Colleen has worked with sexual assault survivors through Oregon’s Sexual Assault Resource Center, in community and school based behavioral health with children and families through The Matilda Theiss Childhood Trauma Treatment Center, with adults with chronic health conditions in various integrated healthcare settings and more recently with adults and children in private practice.
Lorrie Rabin, Ph.D.
Dr. Rabin is a psychodynamic psychotherapist and consultant in private practice. She previously worked as director of the Counseling and Psychological Services at Carnegie Mellon University, Senior Clinician at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Adjunct Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at CMU, and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Counseling Psychology Department at the University of Pittsburgh.
Noah Rahm, Psy.D., FIPA
Dr. Rahm is a psychoanalyst in private practice, with over 20 years of clinical experience. He has experience working in community mental health, university counseling, adult psychiatric inpatient and outpatient, disability determination services of state government, providing health psychology consultations for patient care, and teaching graduate-level courses in clinical psychology and psychoanalysis.
Whitney Sigall, LCSW
Whitney Sigall is a licensed clinical social worker who recently started a private practice in Squirrel Hill. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Florida State University and her master’s in Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh.
Kevin R. Smith, Ph.D.
Dr. Smith is a psychodynamic psychotherapist in independent practice and Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychology at Duquesne University. He has worked in a variety of clinical settings, including as a therapist in multi-site studies on the efficacy of psychotherapy. He currently supervises the psychotherapy training of psychiatry residents and doctoral students in clinical psychology.
Loren Sobel, M.D.
Dr. Loren Sobel earned his medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and completed his psychiatry residency at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh where he served as Chief Resident for Psychotherapy Training. He is a Faculty-by-Invitation at the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Center, volunteer Clinical Faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh, and an active Faculty member at the Western Pennsylvania Community for Psychoanalytic Therapies where he teaches psychoanalytic theory and technique.
Laure Swearingen, PH.D.
Laure Swearingen is a 67-year-old woman who returned to school at 35 and has been practicing since 2002, first as an LPC and then as a psychologist. Interested in the puzzles of treating trauma, including the continuous traumatic stress experienced by refugees and residents of dangerous communities here. Lives with her husband of 38 years (!) and another old dog. Enjoys swimming and seeing grandchildren (5) and children (3). Vegetarian.
Tova Tarr, PH.D.
Dr. Tova Tarr is licensed psychologist in private practice working in Pittsburgh for over 40 years. She studied art history and geography at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and then she received a Master’s Degree in Development and Educational Psychology from New York University and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. She began her psychology career as a child and family psychologist working at the child development unit of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Jewish Family and Children’s Services, and she worked with adults on the psychiatric unit of Forbes Regional Hospital while starting her private practice.
Michael Mervosh, Ph.D.
Michael Mervosh is a licensed clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, and founder of MGM Psychological Associates, located in Pittsburgh, PA. He has been devoted to full-time private practice, providing intensive individual and group psychotherapy for 30 years.
Heather Walker, LPC
Heather Walker, LPC, is a licensed professional counselor currently in private practice. She has experience working with diverse clients in a variety of mental health settings including residential facilities, UPMC Center for Eating Disorders, Allegheny County Jail, in-home family based services, and Penn Avenue Place Clubhouse.
Jay Wiggin, LSW
Jay Wiggin, LSW is a social worker and psychotherapist working for the University of Pittsburgh Counseling Center. Jay provides individual and group therapy to undergraduate and graduate students at the university while he prepares for clinical licensure. He is in his third year of working as a therapist and has worked in many different settings including at a crisis line, in a residential treatment facility, and for college counseling centers.
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