Tara Levinson, Ph.D

Tara Levinson, Ph.D. Dr. Tara S. Levinson has been working in the field of child development, education, and mental health for the past 20 years. She holds a doctoral degree in pediatric and school psychology and a masters degree in Special Education from Lehigh University. She is a licensed psychologist and a Nationally Certified School Psychologist. Dr. Levinson has extensive training in assessment and intervention with children and works therapeutically using a cognitive-behavioral therapy approach to treatment. She has expertise with children with developmental and learning differences, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Executive Functioning differences as well as social, emotional and behavioral issues including anxiety, depression, and OCD. Her personal and hands-on approach with families has earned her international respect.

Dr. Levinson is a published author in her field, presents to families, schools, and communities on best practices and is regular contributor to magazines on issues related to child development, parenting, and youth mental health. She currently has an active private practice in Westport, CT and continues to consult with families, schools and foundations in Asia, Australia, and the UK. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband and three active and spirited school-aged children.

Jamie Roach-Murray, M.D.

Dr. Jamie Murray practiced primary care pediatrics in Darien for seven years before turning to her passion for public health and health policy. She is currently a candidate for her masters in public health/healthcare administration at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and the co-founder of PEACH Advisors, a consulting business working towards improving the implementation of evidence-based health policy in child-serving programs and schools. She has been actively involved in the Darien community as a volunteer on the Board of Directors at the Darien YMCA since 2013, a member of the Thriving Youth Task Force since 2009, and a regular contributor to health talks with the Darien Library, YWCA Parent Awareness, the Thriving Youth Task Force, and Stamford Hospital.

Dr. Murray graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in Religion. She received her medical degree from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and completed her residency in Pediatrics at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Murray previously served on the faculty of New York Medical College where she was a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics. More recently, Dr. Murray was a regional finalist for the White House Fellows, a fellowship program in the executive branch of the federal government. She is the mother to three inquisitive children, and the wife of a busy entrepreneur. Dr. Murray is dedicated to science-based approaches and evidence-based care and hopes that her ongoing pursuits can improve the health of her family, her community and beyond.

Debi Boccanfuso, Ed.D.

Dr. Debi Boccanfuso is the parent of 4 grown children ages 26, 25, 23, and 21. In 2003, she wrote and self-published "11 Easy Steps to Raising a Brat: Paying Attention to your parenting decisions even when you are too busy to pay attention! It Matters!" She has been a teacher and administrator at Middlesex Middle School for 30 years. Parenting, by far, has been her favorite job ever!!

Tracey Masella, LCSW

Tracey Masella, LCSW, received her MSW from the Graduate School of Social Work at Fordham University. Ms. Masella has worked at Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, CT, for seven years, most recently as the Social Worker for the Adolescent Transitional Living Program, a Dialectical Behavior Therapy-based program. While at Silver Hill, Tracey has worked with both adults and adolescents as part of a multi- disciplinary team, treating patients with a full range of diagnoses, including mood disorders, substance use disorders, borderline personality disorder, narcissism, psychosis, and bipolar disorder. She is intensively trained in DBT and has additional training in DBT-S for substance use disorder treatment and DBT for adolescents.

Prior to Silver Hill Hospital, Tracey worked at the New Haven Family Alliance developing an adolescent court diversion program, working with adolescents and families in the community through mediation, family therapy, and case management. Ms. Masella consults for the Westport Public Schools, training school guidance counselors, social workers, and nurses on integrating DBT skills into their student support. Tracey has a private practice in Westport at the Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Health and in New Canaan.

Vince Benevento, LPC

Vince Benevento, LPC, is the Founder and Director of Causeway Collaborative. Located in Westport, CT, Causeway’s mission is to help students bridge the gap between potential and outcome. Causeway’s programs help foster fruitful transitions to adulthood. Through clinical support and Futures Planning, Vince and his team hand young men the brick and mortar they need to build their own bridges. List of Resources for parents:

 Girls will be Girls: Raising Confident and Courageous Daughters, by Joann Deak

 How Girls Thrive. By JoAnn Deak with Dory Adams

 How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, by Paul Tough

 Mindset, by Carol Dweck

 Real Boys, by William Pollack

 Raising Cain, by Michael Thompson and Dan Kindlon

 Raising Our Daughters, by Kathy Masarie, Judy Scheer, and Kathy Jones

 Raising Our Sons, by Kathy Masarie, Judy Scheer,MD, and Kathy Jones

 Queenbees and Wantabees, by Rosalind Wiseman

 Teach Your Children Well: Why Values and Coping Skills Matter More Than Grades, Trophies, or "Fat Envelopes", by Madeline Levine

 Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers, by Michael Riera

 Masterminds and Wingmen, by Rosalind Wiseman

 How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success, by Julie Lythcott-Haims  The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults, by Frances E. Jensen  How to Raise a Self-Reliant Child in a Self-Indulgent World: Seven Building Blocks for Developing Capable Young People, by H. Stephen Glenn and Jane Nelsen  11 Easy Steps to Raise a Brat: Paying Attention to Your Parenting Decisions Even When Life is Too Busy to Pay Attention- It Matters. by, Dr. Deborah Boccanfuso  Cliques: Eight Steps to Help your Child Survive the Social Jungle, by Charlene Giannetti and Margaret Sagarese

Questions Parents Can Ask Themselves

While trying to address an immediate or short-term problem regarding our kids, we often forget to consider the longer-term consequences of how we approach it. Although there’s no roadmap for how to handle each parenting issue we face, here are some clarifying questions we can ask ourselves as we problem solve. By doing so we’re more likely to make decisions that move our kids toward independence, inner strength, self- responsibility and moral character.

Does this step or decision:

 Further help my child understand the connection between choice and consequence?

 Improve my child’s ability to delay gratification?

 Move my child another step in the direction of sound, independent, problem-solving and decision making?

 Help my child to develop the strength and character that only come from tackling adversity and overcoming it?

 Encourage my child to become an independent thinker?  Give my child an opportunity to practice self-advocacy skills?

 Support my child in becoming more of who they are and less of who I want them to be?

 Demonstrate healthy parental role-modeling?