Theramatch is an interactive directory of mental health specialist services for consumers and professionals. The directory provides consumers with a searchable index of mental health professionals as well as comprehensive information about professionals to help with the decision about choosing the best specialist. Theramatch can help consumers find the right mental health professional with expertise in a variety of areas.
A little about the doctors behind it.
Dr. Tiegerman:
Dr. Ellenmorris Tiegerman received her first and second master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology in 1975 and 1978 and her Ph.D. in 1979 from The City University of New York. She received her third master's degree in special education in 1999 and her fourth in social work in 2004 from Adelphi University. Dr. Tiegerman-Farber has been engaged in extensive research involving child language disorders, parent training, special education advocacy, inclusion and professional collaboration. She has written five books on special education and child development. Language and Communication Intervention in Preschool Children; Collaborative Decision Making: The Pathway to Inclusion; Language and Communication Disorders in Children; Language Disorders in Children: Real Families, Real Issues and Real Interventions and Baby Signals.
In 1985, Dr. Tiegerman started a special education school for children with language and autism spectrum disorders. The School for Language and Communication Development presently serves close to four hundred students and their families on Long Island and New York City (http://slcd.org). Dr. Tiegerman-Farber served as senior faculty and a Professor at Adelphi University in the Departments of Communication Disorders and Psychology from 1982 - 2004.
Dr. Kassinove:
Dr. Kassinove began his career working as a case manager in a large mental health clinic. During his time there he realized the difficulty clients had in receiving quality care. Often clients could not leave their home due to distance or weather and, therefore, did not receive the care needed.
In 1998, to further his understanding of cognitive and behavioral change, he obtained his Ph.D. from Hofstra University in Clinical and School Psychology. He then served as a professor for five years teaching others about clinical practice and conducting research on addictive behaviors, anger and behavior therapy. He left academia in 2003 to focus on more global changes, which led him to co-found Theramatch, Inc. His passion is to create a system of care in which clients can find and access information about mental health professionals.
How They Met:In 1998, Dr. Tiegerman and Dr. Kassinove met as professional colleagues in the Psychology Department at Adelphi University and decided to work together at the School for Language and Communication Development to develop several research and evidenced based clinical programs. During this collaborative period, we launched the American Board of Mental Health Specialists (http://abmhs.org) and decided to develop Theramatch a national healthcare registry. Our mission is to develop a system that will enhance access for individuals and families to healthcare services.
As clinical specialists and advocates the inspiration for this nationwide and eventual international directory came from the hundreds of families and individuals who were desperately searching for high quality professionals and specialists. The time, energy and resources spent on trying to help parents of and individuals with disabilities resulted in the realization that there was a tremendous need for a centralized ONLINE healthcare directory which would replace everyone's "medical blue book."
