WHAT WORKS: TREATING CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS, AND THEIR PARENTS

Class 1: January 12, 2026 

Pasqual Pantone, Ph.D.   

Developmental Theory and the Interpersonal Psychotherapeutic Approach

Instructor 

Pasqual Pantone, Ph.D., Director Emeritus, William Alanson White Institute.

Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst, Faculty, Psychoanalytic Program, William Alanson White Institute.  Co-Founder, Former Co-Director, Supervisor, Faculty, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Training Program, William Alanson White Institute.   Co-Author, Relational Child Psychotherapy,

Class 2  February 9, 2026     

Danny Gensler, Ph.D.   

Engaging and Beginning Treatment with Children and Adolescents

Learning objectives

1. Students will be able to describe key elements to consider when beginning treatment with children, including assessment and treatment planning
2. Students will be able to discuss engaging the child in the treatment process from an interpersonal perspective

Instructor

Daniel Gensler, Ph.D. is Director of Training and of the Externship at the Child Adolescent Psychotherapy Training Program at the William Alanson White Institute as well as training and supervising analyst at White. He is co-author of Relational Child Psychotherapy (2002) and has published many articles and chapters in the professional literature. He is a clinical psychologist in private practice doing psychotherapy, supervision, and psychoeducational evaluations in Manhattan and Great Neck, NY.

Class 3: March 9 , 2026    

Pascal Sauvayre, Ph.D.       

Adolescence and the Crisis of Identity: Sex, Gender and Sexuality

Learning Objectives:

1. Students  will distinguish the concepts of gender, sex, and sexuality and understand how their interplay informs the formation of one’s sexual identity.
2. Students will explain the pivotal potential of the chumship stage in addressing the developmental challenges of one’s sexual identity.

Pascal Sauvayre, Ph.D. is faculty, supervising and training psychoanalyst at the William Alanson White Institute, New York.  He studies and writes at the disciplinary boundaries of psychoanalysis and has published two books The Unconscious, Contemporary Refractions in Psychoanalysis,” co-edited with David Braucher and “Culture, Politics and Race in the Making of Interpersonal Psychoanalysis,” co-edited with Roger Frie.  Dr. Sauvayre has a private practice in New York City.

Class 4: April 13, 2026  

Joseph Mikulka  LCSW

Working with Children and the Erotic Field

Joseph T. Mikulka, LCSW-R, (aka JT) is a graduate Hunter College School of Social Work and the William Alanson White Institute’s Program in Psychoanalysis and Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Training Program.  He is faculty at IPSS, Adelphi, and the William Alanson White Institute.  He has published and presented his work on play therapy, working with severe pathology, adoption and gender transition, and on helping kids recover from war and armed conflict.  JT is an associate editor for the journals Contemporary Psychoanalysis and the Journal for Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, and President of the board of Section II (Children and Adolescents) of Division 39.  He is in private practice in New York City.

Learning Objectives

1. Students will be able to identify erotic transferences in their work with children. 
2. Students will be able to describe how to make use of different erotic transferences in work with children.

Class 5: May 11 , 2026: 

Tammy Kaminer PHD

Emerging and Ongoing Trends in Social Media Use and its Impact on Psychotherapy with Adolescents

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain ways that social media use has changed adolescent culture in the 21st century.
2. Discuss  how social media has changed adolescent culture impacted the way that adolescent psychotherapists work.

   
   

Tammy Kaminer, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist with 30 years of experience in the treatment of children, adolescents, parents, couples, and families. Dr. Kaminer is a graduate of the William Alanson White’s CAPTP and is currently teaching in the program.  She is in full-time private practice on the Upper Westside in NYC.  Her previous experience includes providing psychotherapy, neuropsychological testing, and supervision in school and hospital settings.

Class 6: June 8, 2026

Lisa Dubinsky, Psy.D. 

The Significance and Meaning of Early Intervention with Children

Learning Objectives

1.  Students will discuss ways to interface with schools and parents to promote support in the initial phase of treatment.
2.  Students will discuss ways to engage young children in the therapy process and assess the young child’s symbolic play skills. 
3. Students will learn about how psychologists initially assess developmental needs, the various specialties that address delays in speech/language and motoric functioning, and the psychological implications of those delays or difficulties.

Instructor:  

Lisa Dubinsky, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist, with a special interest in early childhood and children on the autism spectrum.  She is the Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Program.  She is a consultant with mainstream preschools and works with children of all ages, parents, and adults in psychotherapy.  She is a supervisor, faculty member and Director of the Child, Adolescent Psychotherapy Training Program at the William Alanson White Institute.

Class 7: September 14 

 Susan Rose, Ph.D.         

Working with the Challenges of Neurodiversity in Children

1. Students will explore with a mentalization based approach to treatment and it’s specific application to children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.
   2. Students will learn games, activities and interventions that encourage patients with ASD to mentalize. Participants will learn how an improved capacity for mentalization can positively impact the lives of these patients.

Instructor 

Susan L. Rose, Ph.D.  Faculty and Supervisor, William Alanson White Institute, Psychoanalytic Training Program and Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Training Program.  Director, Child and Family Center, William Alanson White Institute.  Adjunct Clinical Supervisor, Clinical Psychology Program, City College of New York.  Editorial Board, Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy.

Class 8:October 19  

 Jacqueline Ferraro, D.M.H.        

Working with Families in the Midst of High-Conflict Divorce

Instructor
Jacqueline Ferraro, D.M.H. is the former Director, Executive Committee member, faculty and supervisor in both the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Training Program (CAPTP) and in the Eating Disorders, Compulsions and Addictions Service (EDCAS) at the William Alanson White Institute. Dr. Ferraro is in private practice in Manhattan working with children, adolescents, and adults.

Class 9: November 9      

Stacey Nathan-Virga, Ph.D.     

Sibling Relationships:  Developmental and Psychodynamic Aspects

1. Students will develop an appreciation of the sibling bond as impacting a child’s development and their internal psychic world.
2. Students will become familiar with the lateral and vertical transference.

Instructor:

Stacey Nathan-Virga, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst.  She is Director of Clinical Services, Supervisor of Psychotherapy, and Faculty member of the William Alanson White Institute.  She is in private practice in New York City and Westchester, NY treating adults, adolescents, and children. 

 Class  10.  December 14   

 Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D.     

Modes of Therapeutic Action: Reflecting on What Works in Child and Adolescent

Instructor: Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D., ABPP 

Learning Objectives

1. To consider what is clear and not to you about what fosters helpful change in your child psychotherapeutic work.
2. To consider a range of past understanding about therapeutic action in pour work with children and their families.

Instructor:

Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D., ABPP is a practicing child, adolescent and adult psychoanalyst and clinical psychologist.  He has taught as an Adjunct Professor in Psychology and Education, Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University.  He is the author of many papers and books including:  The Psychoanalytic Study of Lives Over Time:  Clinical and Research Perspectives on Children Who Return to Treatment as Adults (Academic Press 1999) and Feeling Safe in School:  Bully and Violence Prevention Around the World (Harvard Educational Press, 2020).