Dr. Berel works with adults and adolescents and provides individual, couples, and family counseling. She specializes in women’s issues and eating disorders and has extensive training treating individuals struggling with anorexia, bulimia, compulsive eating, and body image concerns. While almost half of her clinical practice is comprised of adults and adolescents struggling with these issues, the majority of her clients are men, women, and couples facing other difficulties including anxiety, depression, and relationship problems. Dr. Berel sees both heterosexual as well as same-sex couples. She also enjoys working with adolescents with anxiety and mood issues.

Dr. Berel’s approach in working with clients is one that tends to de-emphasize psychological problems as illnesses. She views eating problems, for example, as generated in part, from our culture’s emphasis on appearance, and has published articles based on this perspective. Although recognizing that certain psychological problems have a biological basis, she assumes that people develop various ways of being in the world based on the context in which they live. Several schools of thought influence her approach to psychotherapy. Where appropriate, Dr. Berel focuses on family and interpersonal influences. With other clients, she emphasizes the development of life skills and solutions to problems. She often uses a combination of these approaches and/or adjusts her therapeutic approach with clients depending on their needs.

Dr. Berel received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Washington State University and completed a predoctoral clinical internship at the University of Chicago Medical Center. She completed a postdoctoral position at Northside Hospital (through the Women's Center) as well as at the Atlanta VA. She sees clients at the Buckhead and Marietta offices.

Elaine Eassa, PhD
770-953-4744 ext. 22

Dr. Eassa has been a practicing psychologist for over twenty years. She worked in private practice in Texas until moving to Atlanta in 1998 to be closer to her extended family.

Dr. Eassa works with older children, adolescents, and adults helping them resolve symptoms of Depression and Anxiety. She helps clients improve their relationship through individual, couples and family therapy. She has a particular interest in working with women’sDr. Eassa has been a practicing psychologist for over twenty years. She worked in private practice in Texas until moving to Atlanta in 1998 to be closer to her extended family.

Dr. Eassa works with older children, adolescents, and adults helping them resolve symptoms of Depression and Anxiety. She helps clients improve their relationship through individual, couples and family therapy. She has a particular interest in working with women’s issues especially as they relate to the transitions in a woman’s life. She also works with individuals and couples experiencing issues related to infertility.

Dr. Eassa describes her approach to therapy as being “influenced by many theoretical orientations therapy,” while centered on developing “a safe, supportive environment to allow my clients to begin to better understand their patterns of thinking and feeling.” She strives to help her clients “find new ways of perceiving and relating in important situations and ultimately become more psychologically and physically healthy.”

Dr. Eassa completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1983. She sees clients at the Marietta and Canton offices.

Martin Fleet, PhD
770-953-4744 ext. 23

Dr. Fleet  moved to Georgia and  has been practicing here since 1986. He conducts Individual Psychotherapy for Anxiety Disorders, including Panic Disorder, Phobias, PTSD, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Dr. Fleet has worked for several years with “Power Over Panic,” assisting group members achieve freedom from debilitating Anxiety. He helps his clients learn to manage stress more effectively. He uses Cognitive-Behavioral therapy to help clients struggling with Anxiety and Depression find relief from self-defeating thoughts and behaviors.

“My primary goal with clients” Dr. Fleet says, “is to provide a safe, collaborative relationship within which they can learn to develop and achieve obtainable therapy goals.  I help clients learn the skills to help athem cope more effectively with the difficulties of life and to build a sense of Self that is strong, resilient and ultimately more effective in the world.”

Dr. Fleet has been an athlete throughout his life and has developed a specialty in Sports and Performance Psychology. He has been a “My primary goal with clients” Dr. Fleet says, “is to provide a safe, collaborative relationship within which they can learn to develop and achieve obtainable therapy goals.  I help clients learn the skills to help athem cope more effectively with the difficulties of life and to build a sense of Self that is strong, resilient and ultimately more effective in the world.”

Dr. Fleet has been an athlete throughout his life and has developed a specialty in Sports and Performance Psychology. He has been a tennis pro and works with athletes in many sports to use psychological principles to improve their performance.

Dr. Fleet received his Doctoral training in Clinical Psychology from Florida State University. He sees clients at the Marietta and Canton offices.

Abby Friedman, PhD
770-953-4744 ext. 15

Dr. Friedman works with children, ages 3 and older, adolescents, and adults. She has a special interest in helping children, adolescents, and adults adjust to divorce and other experiences of loss. She helps clients process and negotiate to the normal difficulties that occur with loss, as well as other developmental changes that are difficult to adjust to, such as beginning school, becoming a teenager, starting to date, beginning young adulthood, etc. She strongly believes that, regardless of age, each person must develop an understanding of their own identity in order to manage the challenges of everyday life. To accomplish this she conducts Individual, Family, and Couples Therapy.

Dr. Friedman has extensive training in family systems therapy and child development and believes that the family in which the client lives or grew up greatly influences his or her psychological makeup. She borrows from a variety of theoretical models of psychotherapy including Psychodynamic and Cognitive/Behavioral Therapy to help clients achieve their goals. “With all my clients,” she says, “I begin therapy with an assessment of the client’s family system since our family is the “blueprint” for our relationships. I provide a safe and open environment to help clients understand themselves better and change in ways that enhance their lives.”

Dr. Friedman got her Doctoral training in Clinical Psychology at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. She sees clients at the Marietta office.

Steven Perlow, Ph.D.
770-953-4744 ext. 14

Dr. Perlow was in private practice in the Chicago area for seven years before moving to Atlanta. He became a partner at PFPA in 1992 providing specialized Assessment and Psychotherapy services for Children & Adolescents, and Adults. He works with children from age 5 and older providing assessment and treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), learning problems, oppositional behavior, and problems relating to peers.

Dr. Perlow has published articles and worked extensively helping couples improve their communication as partners and parents. He conducts individual, family, and couples therapy to help with relationship problems, parenting of children and adolescents, depression, anxiety, and adult ADHD. He has extensive work experience with gay adolescents and adults.

Dr. Perlow says that he “appoaches psychological problems by looking at the way a person’s environment influences them emotionally.” He notes that he likes to “include whoever is relevant to the problem in sessions when possible and appropriate.” He describes himself as “solution-oriented” and most influenced by family systems and cognitive-behavioral theorists.

Dr. Perlow graduated from Depaul University in 1985 with a PhD in Clinical Psychology. He sees clients at the Marietta office.

Allyn St. Lifer, LCSW
770-953-4744 ext 16.

Allyn St. Lifer joined Powers Ferry Psychological Associates in July 2008 after moving from Boston where she had a successful private practice for 29 years. Utilizing a positive, collaborative approach while providing a safe, nurturing environment, she helps individuals and couples to heal old wounds and patterns which often stem from unresolved issues and/or traumas from childhood and can also result from the type of parenting they received. Furthermore, she teaches people new ways of coping with past traumas and daily stresses of everyday life. As a result, clients not only develop a stronger sense of self, but they also feel more empowered to take charge of their lives and make healthy, thoughtful decisions enabling them to reach their full potential.

Believing that individuals respond differently to different types of treatment, she utilizes a wide variety of modalities- cognitive behavioral methods, family systems theory, body/mind techniques as well as an ego state model known as the Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy or DNMS (www.dmnsinstitute.com). Ego state models are helpful in addressing the different parts of the self that contribute to one’s inability to move forward in one’s life or “stuckness” and help an individual to break through old blocks and change patterns of thinking and behaving, thereby enabling one to live life fully. Allyn specializes in working with people who struggle with issues around relationship/intimacy, divorce, blended families, eating problems and related body image and self esteem difficulties, depression, anxiety, stress management, grief/loss and women’s issues, particularly transitioning into midlife.

While in Boston, Allyn developed, owned, and directed Slimworks, a comprehensive weight management program from a non-diet approach for nearly 30 years. Now in Atlanta she offers her knowledge, expertise, and support to individuals and groups by helping them to address and resolve the underlying emotional reasons for their overeating, improve their self esteem and body image, and develop healthy eating, exercise, and life plans to fit their lifestyles. New techniques and strategies for effectively dealing with life stresses are also taught. Using this multi-faceted approach, people learn to successfully lose weight, maintain it, and break free from the diet-deprivation-binge cycle.

Taking her experience and expertise from Slimworks. Allyn also sees patients who have had or are contemplating bariatric surgery. With her guidance patients examine and learn to manage the complexity of issues that they will be or are currently coping with post surgery including relationships, body and self image, emotions, stress and the many other changes they are facing. Patients are seen individually or in small groups.

Allyn has her Bachelors degree from Boston University in Psychology and English Literature. She received a Masters in Education from The Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and her Masters in Social Work from the Boston University School of Social Work. Allyn maintains dual clinical social work licenses in both Massachusetts and Georgia. She sees clients in the Marietta office.

Kimberly Smiley, PsyD
770-953-4744 ext. 25

Dr. Smiley joined PFPA in September 2003.  She has a broad base of clinical skills obtained through her experiences in private practice, university counseling centers, and community mental health settings.  In addition, she has obtained further training in multi-cultural counseling, group therapy, career counseling, working with survivors of abuse, crisis interventions, and outreach programming (e.g., stress management, diversity training, and career development workshops).

Dr. Smiley provides individual, couples, and family therapy to adults and adolescents.  Her areas of interest include depression, anxiety and stress management, relationship difficulties, divorce issues, grief and loss, and women’s issues.  Working from a cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal approach, the goal of her therapeutic work is to help individuals identify and change maladaptive life patterns, develop more balanced attitudes towards themselves and others, develop more satisfying relationships, and improve their ability to manage stress and anxiety.  In addition, Dr. Smiley also provides coaching for individuals with struggling with issues such as ADHD, career development, college and graduate student growth and development, and obesity and/or weight concerns.  Dr. Smiley also conducts psychological evaluations for ADHD and learning disabilities, as well as other mood or anxiety disorders. 

In addition to her general practice, Dr. Smiley has created a group for children and adolescents who are overweight.  The goal of this group is to help young people become more knowledgeable of weight and nutrition, more physically active in their daily life, and better at managing the emotions that may lead to unhealthy eating patterns.  For more information about this group, please refer to her brochure located under the “Healthy Body, Healthy Mind” tab located in the left column of your web page.

As a native of southeast Georgia, Dr. Smiley obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Georgia.  She obtained her Master and Doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology at the Georgia School of Professional Psychology. She sees clients at the Marietta office.

Jennifer Spring, PhD
770-953-4744 ext. 11

Dr. Spring provides Individual, couples, and family therapy working with adolescents and adults. Dr. Spring affiliated with PFPA in 2001. She has a master’s degree in Family and Marital therapy, offering a unique perspective on problems facing adolescents and young adults, as well as excellent training in Marital therapy.

She also does individual therapy with clients with women’s issues, childhood trauma, eating disorders, and mood and anxiety disorders. She says that she provides a supportive, interactive relationship where her clients learn to “identify problematic patterns in their life and access their strengths to bring about positive change, personal growth and evolve into healthy relationships.”

Dr. Spring completed her PhD in Counseling Psycholgy at Indiana State University 1998. She sees clients at the Marietta office.

Jennifer Swales, PhD
770-953-4744 ext. 41

Dr. Swales is a Licensed Psychologist who specializes in providing therapy and assessment services with children, adolescents and adults. Common reasons for seeking an assessment include problems with attention and concentration, learning difficulties and academic concerns, delays in attaining developmental milestones, emotional and behavioral problems, and relationship difficulties. Dr. Swales provides comprehensive evaluations specifically tailored to address an individual’s concerns and utilizes information from collateral sources, such as teachers, parents, and significant others. She provides the client with an assessment report that includes specific recommendations for improvement, and these reports are appropriate for application in academic, medical, and forensic settings.

In her therapy practice, Dr. Swales provides both individual and group services, as well as family-based interventions. Common reasons for seeking therapy include difficulty adjusting to life changes and transitions, coping with traumatic life experiences, and difficulty managing feelings, such as depression, stress, anxiety and anger. Other common issues include dissatisfaction in significant relationships, parenting challenges, and issues related to body image and unhealthy eating patterns. Dr. Swales focuses on increasing a client’s self-awareness and assists them in establishing new ways to cope with their difficulties that are consistent with the client’s personal values and beliefs. Dr. Swales also leads social skills and parenting groups, as well as workshops for individuals (children and adults) who have been diagnosed with attention problems.

Dr. Swales received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Auburn University. She has been in private practice in Texas since 2004, and recently relocated to the Atlanta area. Dr. Swales is in the process of becoming a preferred provider for several insurance companies. In the interim, she is willing to provide services on a sliding-fee schedule, such that psychological services are more accessible and affordable for those seeking assistance. Dr. Swales is available to see clients in the Marietta, Buckhead, and Canton offices.

Dina Zeckhausen, PhD
770-953-4744 ext. 13

Dr. Zeckhausen began practicing in Atlanta and co-founded PFPA in 1990. She also founded the Eating Disorder Information Network (EDIN) in 1996. She is currently EDIN’s Co-Director leading that organization in providing the greater Atlanta community with prevention and treatment services for Anorexia, Bulimia, and Obesity. Dina began writing and presenting treatment information on Eating Disorders when she was in graduate school and has helped raise awareness of eating disorders throughout the country. She has also written creatively to raise awareness of eating disorders including a play, What’s Eating Katie?, which has been performed by and for teens throughout Atlanta, and a children’s book, Full Mouse, Empty Mouse, which also has a curriculum that serves as part of a prevention package for grade school children.

Dr. Zeckhausen works with Adolescents and Adults, and specializes in Women’s issues, Eating Disorders, Anxiety, Depression, and couples therapy. “I enjoy helping clients to explore the issues from their early family life that may be contributing to their current struggles,” states Dr. Zeckhausen. “However, my goal is to help clients re-write the very limited and limiting stories that they tell themselves about themselves.  I am passionate about helping people discover their strengths and use those strengths to work through the internal blocks which prevent them from living life to their full potential.  Through my work with EDIN, I am able to address the wider cultural issues which contribute to eating disorders.  It is tremendously satisfying to empower people to resist pressures to be other than their authentic selves!” 

Dr. Zeckhausen received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of South Carolina in 1990. She sees clients in Marietta and Buckhead offices.

David M. Schwartz, PhD
770-953-4744, ext 43

Dr. Schwartz enjoys working with children, adolescents, and adults. He has extensive experience in the areas of assessment and treatment. Dr. Schwartz specializes in those areas which impact learning and performance. These areas include ADD/ADHD, Learning Disabilities, Executive Function Disorders, Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI), Concussion and Post-Concussion Syndrome, and Sports Neuropsychology. He utilizes a “consensus building” approach when working with individuals, families, professionals, teams and community resources. He is known for his practical recommendations and his easy accessibility.

Dr. Schwartz consults on local, national and international levels with school districts, state departments of education, provincial school boards, and many clinical settings. He does education and training for educators, administrations, and service providers to improve their effectiveness and abilities. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at Kennesaw State University and currently serves as a professor for the School Neuropsychology Diplomate program.

Dr. Schwartz received a joint doctorate in Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. He completed his predoctoral internship at the University of Kentucky Medical Center and Lexington Veterans Administration Hospitals. Dr. Schwartz completed his postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology at Braintree Hospital and the Harvard Teaching Hospitals, where he had the opportunity to study with outstanding leaders of the fields of Clinical Neuropsychology and Behavioral Neurology. Dr. Schwartz is available to see clients in the Marietta and Canton offices and he does offer a sliding fee scale.

Dr. Higgins provides individual therapy for adults and adolescents. She specializes in anxiety disorders, women’s issues, depression, relationship issues, difficulties adjusting to major life transitions, cultural and/ or sexual identity development, and mother/ daughter relationships. She also works with those struggling with eating disorders and body image concerns.

Dr. Higgins uses an integrative approach, working from interpersonal and psychodynamic theories while applying a wide range of techniques including interpersonal, cognitive behavioral, family systems, and multicultural modalities. She tailors her approach to best fit with each client’s personality, presenting issue, and time frame. Dr. Higgins believes that a warm and trusting therapeutic relationship plays a key role in the success of therapy. She says, “I think it’s important to create a safe and nurturing environment where clients can feel more comfortable taking risks and doing the sometimes difficult work of therapy. I try to help clients achieve greater awareness of self, of their relationships with others, and of the particular culture and environment in which they live as these things relate to their particular concern. Awareness alone is not enough however. I work with clients to translate new awareness into new experiences.”

Dr. Higgins obtained a B.A. in Psychology at Wake Forest University, an M.A. in General/ Experimental Psychology at College of William & Mary, and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Tennessee. In addition, she completed a pre-doctoral internship at the University of California, Berkeley and a post-doctoral fellowship at Boston College. She is available to see clients in the Marietta and Buckhead offices. She is currently in the process of becoming a preferred provider with several insurance companies. Until then, Dr. Higgins is providing services for a sliding scale fee.