Welcome
I am a licensed psychologist providing psychotherapy to children, teens and adults, as well as parent counseling for more than 25 years in Englewood, N.J. and specializing in work with those living with ADHD, school-related and/or parenting issues, anxiety, and depression.
I believe that the best results are achieved when clients are provided with a combination of useable tools for change and mindfulness approaches for shifting their relationship to the stories and automatic thoughts and behaviors that make their lives challenging. I integrate mindfulness practices into my clinical work which has helped many clients to reduce their struggles with negativity, worried thoughts, and self-doubt which can lead to anxiety and depression.
My style is warm, open and curious, with an attitude of acceptance and non-judgment, creating a safe environment. I am described as a combination of laid back and energetic. Throughout my practice, I tailor evidence-based therapeutic approaches to client’s individual needs. Some of these methods include cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), mindfulness practices, psychodynamic psychotherapy, art therapy, and strategies to improve executive functioning and to address other ADHD-related issues. With youngsters who experience school-related issues, I make school visits and offer consultation to teachers, school personnel and parents.
Available Services
Therapy
Mindfulness Training
ADHD Coaching
Adult ADHD Evaluations
Expertise
Anxiety
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)
Depression
Executive functioning skills
Learning issues
Parenting
Poor self-esteem
Relationship issues
About Me
Ellen J. Schwartz, PhD
Before working as a psychologist, I worked as an art therapist, providing individual and group therapies first at Queens Children's Psychiatric Center and then at Bronx Psychiatric Center for adults as the On-Site Field Supervisor the NYU's masters level students in Art Therapy program. During both those jobs, I was part of an occupational therapy/creative arts therapies department where we worked as a team, including dance therapists, music therapists and O.T.'s specializing in Sensory Integration to help the in-patient psychiatric populations. While there, I received 2 years of additional training in Family Therapy sponsored by Einstein College of Medicine and Bronx Psychiatric Center.
While in graduate school my externship at Pelham Public schools was consultation with junior high school and elementary school teachers. were at schools where I saw youngsters for counseling and consulted with classroom teachers. The year I spent as an extern at Westchester Jewish Community Services I provided psychological testing as well as individual dynamic psychotherapy with children, collateral family therapy and parent counseling. My internship, at Brooklyn Psychiatric Center, Inc. and clinics .
After graduating from New York University with a PhD in psychology, specializing, in school psychology, I worked doing child neuropsychological evaluations for Long Island Jewish Hospital, and later worked for North Shore University Hospital's Preschool Development Program evaluating preschoolers with language delays and language impairments. Here too, we worked as a team of evaluators which included speech and language therapists, special education teachers and neuropsychologists and for a while coordinated for an ongoing nosology study.
Before developing a private practice, I worked as a psychotherapist at Institute for Counseling and Psychotherapy in Englewood providing psychotherapy for adults, adolescents and children as well as parent counseling, with weekly supervision. Although I no longer offer psychological testing for youngsters, I do offer a thorough evaluation for adults who suspect they may have ADHD. Through all these experiences, my focus and main interest has been in working with people dealing with anxiety and/or depression, ADHD/ADD and learning issues. In 2009, I began training to become a yoga teacher, completing both a 200 hour and 500 hour trainings. Along with learning yoga, my interest in studying meditation grew, as did earning about Jon Kabat-Zinn's Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program.
When parents contact me about a youngster who is having school-related issues, I offer to make a classroom observation and talk with teacher(s). In this way, I get to see first hand what are often the teacher's concerns as well as the interactions and to hear the teacher's concerns.