Dr. Stephanie
Stephanie Adams Svendez, PhD, NCSP, NRCHSP
Hi there!
I’m Dr. Stephanie Adams Svendez (she/her), a clinical psychologist licensed in the states of California (PSY31678), Washington, DC (DC, PSY200001513), Maine (PS2539), New Jersey (35SI00728800), New York (025991), Oregon (3777), and Vermont (048.0134528TELE), a Nationally Certified School Psychologist, and National Register Credentialed Health Service Psychologist. I have provided therapy, behavior, and assessment services to children and adults across school, community mental health, and hospital settings for 10+ years. I utilize my combined Ph.D. Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology training from University of California, Santa Barbara to empower and bridge the gap between individuals, families, schools, and health providers.
I provide therapy and assessment services that help clients better understand themselves and how to advocate for their needs in an ableist, difficult world.
I utilize a neurodiversity affirming approach to helping clients ages 5 through adulthood. The vast majority of my clients have overlapping neurodivergent identities and diagnoses (Autism, ADHD, OCD). I proudly represent lived experience as a queer, Latina ADHDer.
Utilizing my education, training, and ongoing learning for client empowerment.
About My Work with Families
It takes a village. I help you form one.
Children spend the majority of their lives at home and school, not with their psychologist (or pediatrician or behaviorist or social worker)! And yet, a lot of professionals overestimate their role in your child’s life. They forget to collaborate with other providers to see the whole picture. As a parent, it can be exhausting trying to make sense of all the services and people your child needs. My years of work as a school psychologist equip me with the knowledge you need to understand and access different resources for your child.
More about my experience.
Throughout my work as a school psychologist in Santa Barbara and LA County, I coordinated mental health services, led IEP teams, conducted functional behavior assessments, trained school staff, and conducted psychoeducational assessments. During my APA-accredited internship at the community mental health clinic Momentous Institute, I utilized systemic, multicultural, CBT, and psychodynamic frameworks to help children and families reach their goals and heal from trauma. In my APA-accredited two-year postdoctoral training with Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, I led interprofessional medication management teams, evidence-based child and parent groups, and provided clinical supervision.
LGBTQIA+ youth light up my life.
I thrive in clinical work that enables me to build up queer and gender questioning youth while supporting their families through the sometimes complicated process of acceptance. I know I am successful when I have brought kids and their families closer. I have also focused my advocacy work on promoting support for LGBTQIA+ youth, including providing trainings for hospitals, schools, and universities across the nation.
