Meet Member Douglas Rugh

Interview by Nancy Wachtenheim

Please welcome Douglas Rugh, PhD, a new member to ICP+P.

Douglas recently moved back to Washington, DC, and has a private practice on P Street in Dupont Circle. He also has what he calls a “more integrated group practice” on Capitol Hill.

Douglas has spent a while overseas, specifically in Yangon, Myanmar and Tbilisi, Georgia for two and a half years each. He worked with individuals, couples and families that had moved from other countries and were transitioning into new and different cultures.  As the only therapist, he also saw older adolescents dealing with separation issues and eating disorders. Prior to Douglas’s international endeavors he worked for NIH as a Scientific Administrator at NIDA, National Institute on Drug Abuse. He also worked with Diabetes and Hurricane Katrina and consulted with the State Department. Douglas moved overseas when his wife became re-engaged with the Peace Corps.
Douglas received his PhD in social welfare from Florida International University and his MSW from Barry University. He was the Clinical Director of St. Lukes Addiction Treatment, a dual diagnosis residential program, for four years, and a doctoral intern at the University of Miami’s Center for Family Studies for two years.
As you can see, Douglas has a wide array of interests and experiences. He believes his best learning has been experiential, and he uses a “mind/body, approach” as a clinician. He describes himself as creative and theatrical, and he appreciates performance as an emotional expression for the meaning of life. Douglas considers himself eclectic, using both psychodynamic and cognitive/behavioral approaches to treatment. He differentiates the American culture’s focus on shorter term therapy and the utilization of cognitive approaches, with that of the European culture’s use of a more psychodynamic focus on personality, spirituality, and relationships. He works with individual adults, couples, families, and older adolescents. Many of his referrals come from the U.N., State Department, Department of Defense, and USAID.

Douglas is looking for support and professional groups to be affiliated with, as this is his first time in private practice in Washington DC. He is in the Couples Therapy Training Study Group and is looking forward to being a part of ICP+P. He is married and likes to read, bike, cook, travel, and get out into nature.

Please join me in welcoming Douglas as a new member to ICP+P. If you see him at any of the many ICP+P events, please don’t hesitate to introduce yourself.

Meet Member Erin Gelzer

Interview by Alexandra Kaghan

In August, I had the pleasure of talking with Erin Gelzer about her practice and how she became interested in becoming a psychotherapist. Erin joined ICP+P a year ago, as she was beginning her post doc at Georgetown University Counseling Center. She got her Doctorate in Psychology from George Washington University in 2017. About 10 years earlier, she obtained an MBA from the Wharton School and worked in the real estate development business. With time, she discovered that real estate development was not an ideal fit with her values. It was then that she switched to pursuing a career in psychology.

Part of what drew Erin to the world of psychotherapy was her experience in a leadership training program at Wharton where group dynamics were experienced and explored. The group opened her eyes to how the unconscious influences and affects behaviors. Throughout her training in psychology, she was able to continue her passion for studying group dynamics by co-leading process groups in both inpatient and outpatient settings. In addition, across her post doc, graduate internship and externships, Erin gained extensive experience working with individuals.

Erin currently has a private practice near Dupont Circle. She sees older adolescents and adults of all ages. She works with individuals, couples and groups. Her specialties include mood disorders, trauma, relationship issues, life transitions, and grief. She is particularly interested in working with clients who have identity concerns around sexuality, gender, race or profession. Erin also continues to consult with companies on how to improve their internal and external functioning. Besides daytime hours, Erin also offers evening and weekend appointments.

Erin appreciates the warm welcome she has gotten from ICP+P members and enjoys being part of our professional community. She has taken advantage of the many opportunities our organization has to offer. She has been in several study groups and has completed the fellowship program. With all of her business acumen, we are delighted that she will be serving on the Board as treasurer starting this fall.

Erin is from Atlanta but has lived in the Washington DC area for several years and now calls DC home. In her free time, she enjoys kayaking on the Potomac, going to museums and dancing. She loves all types of dancing including swing, ballet, jazz and hip hop.

Meet Our New Member, Avi Margolies

Interview by Nancy Wachtenheim

Avi is building a practice and this year will be in the Fellowship Program with ICP+P. He learned about ICP+P while he was in the PsyD program at George Washington University where he graduated in 2017.

While majoring in Psychology as an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University, Avi was able to intern at Sheppard Pratt Hospital’s Inpatient Child Psychiatric Unit, which helped him realize he had a keen interest in the field. After graduating, he moved back to New York City, where he had grown up, and was a “community worker” for close to six years in Brooklyn. His work involved taking histories from Holocaust Survivors, an emotional and interpersonal process for him. He identified the importance of being a listener for this population that needed to “have their stories heard.”

Avi then returned to D.C. in 2012 to begin the Psy.D. program at George Washington University. In his second year he worked at the GWU center clinic, a low fee clinic providing psychodynamic therapy in the community. He completed externships at the Washington School of Psychiatry, George Mason University’s Counseling and Psychological Services, and the Lodge Program at the Frost School, formerly part of Chestnut Lodge Hospital. The Lodge Program is a therapeutic day school with a focus on milieu therapy and Avi worked with adolescents with mood disorders and psychosis and ran a group as well.

During the final year of his doctoral program, Avi moved to Philadelphia for one year for an Internship at Pennsylvania Hospital, formerly the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, which focused on psychoanalytic and psychodynamic treatment. He specifically worked on 2 inpatient units that included a population of homeless and psychotic patients, as well as suicidal and “borderline” patients. He was also able to do a rotation in Psycho Oncology at the Abramson Cancer Center where he worked with individuals and couples with a cancer diagnosis. Avi expanded his training by also working with the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, evaluating patients’ readiness for Bariatric Surgery. He enjoyed very much working with medical students and the staff of Psychiatry.

After his year in Pennsylvania, Avi moved back to D.C. and has just finished a Post Doc at Georgetown University’s Counseling and Psychiatric Service where he did individual and group therapy with students as well as outreach to late adolescents and young adults. Avi will soon be fully licensed, and is very excited to begin his practice. He uses a psychodynamic/psychoanalytic and relational approach and enjoys working with patients with trauma, personality disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, identity concerns, and people with severe medical diagnoses. Avi is interested as well in couples and group therapies. He is comfortable with adolescents, adults, and couples.

Avi describes himself as “approachable and open,” and wants to be part of the ICP+P community. He is a member of some of ICP+P’s study groups.

Avi is married, and has a 3-year-old daughter. He played baseball through college, which continues to be of interest to him, and he likes working with student athletes.

You will most likely see Avi at many of ICP+P’s upcoming activities, so please do not hesitate to introduce yourself and say hello.

Please welcome Laurie Paul!

Dr. Laurie Paul, originally from Montgomery County, is very excited to be back in this area. Laurie graduated in 2014 with her Ph.D. from the New School in New York City. She was a Post Doc for two years, learning psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapy at the Karen Horney Clinic. While in graduate school, part of Laurie’s training was her participation in a psychotherapy research study. The study was testing the effectiveness of various types of treatment for clients with Cluster C Personality Disorders.

Laurie works in private practices in both Arlington and Chevy Chase. She enjoys being a “generalist” with specialization in relationship issues, multicultural issues, and OCD. She is an Adjunct Professor at American University, George Washington University, and the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She has specific interest in research methods, multicultural psychology, and the psychology of gender and sex differences.

Most importantly, Laurie is very glad to have returned to the area to be near her family. She has a twin brother who lives three blocks away and Laurie says it’s “fun to be an aunt” to her two nephews. Laurie likes vegetarian cooking, and going on bike rides with her partner.

Please don’t hesitate to introduce yourself to Laurie if you see her at any of the ICP+P events.

by Nancy Wachtenheim

Welcome Paul Kellett van Leer!

I enjoyed meeting Paul Kellet Van Leer, who recently moved to Washington, DC from London, England. From 2003 to 2016 he had a private practice there offering individual, group and couples psychotherapy. He came to Washington to join his husband, who moved here earlier for a job. Paul currently practices in two locations in downtown DC and treats adults and adolescents who have mood disorders, sexual identity issues, and/or trauma.

Paul is not new to living in the USA. In his twenties, he spent time at the University of Southern California as a Fulbright Scholar. Returning to England was difficult, as Paul left behind a close knit group of friends and had to support himself for the first time in his life. Finding work turned out well as he was hired as a professional cellist and went on tour. However, to help him with these major life transitions, Paul sought out psychotherapy. His experience in psychotherapy laid a foundation for his interest in becoming a psychotherapist.

Paul received his undergraduate and master’s degrees in psychology at the Open University in the United Kingdom and post graduate training in transactional analysis at the Metanoia Institute (London). Later, he received psychoanalytic training at the SITE for Contemporary Psychoanalysis, which is a training organization and a member of the Council for Psychoanalysis and Jungian Analysis College of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy. He has been a clinical supervisor and teacher at both these training programs.

Paul’s therapeutic approach has been influenced by two French psychoanalysts: Jacques Lacan, who lived in the 20th century, and Jean Laplanche, who died in 2012. Paul is the author of “Variations on a Theme: Handling Transference from Freud to Laplanche,” which appeared in Sitegeist: a Journal of Psychoanalysis and Philosophy (Spring 2015), as well as “Aspects of Selfhood” in Relational Transactional Analysis: Principles in Practice (London: Karnac Books).

In his free time, Paul is enjoying all that Washington, DC has to offer. He especially likes visiting the Hirshhorn Museum and the Portrait Gallery. He enjoys bicycling on the many bike paths that surround the city. He pursues his love of music by attending concerts and playing the cello.

Please join me in welcoming Paul to ICP+P!

by Alexandra Kaghan

Meet Daniela Walder!

I am pleased to introduce Daniela Walder, who recently joined ICP+P. Daniela, her husband and two young children moved to Northern Virginia from Los Angeles last summer. She has spent the last eight months helping her family acclimate to their new home. She recently started her private practice at the Stone House in Falls Church, where she sees adolescents and adults in individual psychotherapy.

In 2001, Daniela obtained her doctorate degree in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in Alhambra California. As a psychology intern and as a post doc student, Daniela became involved in a close knit professional group at the Saturday Center for Psychotherapy. For the past ten years, she was also a clinical supervisor at the Center. The Center’s approach to psychotherapy is based on objects relations, self psychology and intersubjective theory. During her time at the Center as a student as well as a supervisor, Daniela attended a weekly process group where members explored how their individual dynamics affected group process and their interactions with each other. Daniela found this to be a rich experience, where she gained personal and professional growth.

Daniela also maintained a private practice in Los Angeles, treating adolescents and adults. In addition, she obtained extensive experience treating eating disorders as she worked in an inpatient unit at the Eating Disorder Center of California, where she was a primary therapist. She did individual as well as group psychotherapy.

Daniela’s history is culturally rich. She was born in Brazil and moved with her family to Los Angeles when she was nine years old. It was a challenging experience because neither she and her sisters nor her parents spoke English. Her two older sisters, only eleven months apart, were put in the same classroom whereas Daniela was without sisterly help in her classroom. As her parents were Israeli, she grew up in a household where Portuguese, Hebrew and later English were all spoken.

While closing her private practice in Los Angeles was a sacrifice for Daniela, she is loving her new community in Northern Virginia. As a former member of ICP, Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles, Daniela is excited to be a part of our ICP+P community and is looking forward to getting to know our members. She is interested in doing long term psychotherapy with adults and adolescents, who have mood disorders, trauma, and/or eating disorders.

In her free time, Daniela enjoys exercising, learning Italian, dancing and traveling. Please join me in welcoming Daniela to our community.

Interview by Alexandra Kaghan

Meet Diane Reis!
Diane is a Clinical Psychologist, who works with individuals and couples. She practices in 2 locations, in Northwest DC and on Capitol Hill and she talked in our interview about her love for the work she does as she finds it very rewarding.

Diane has been in private practice since 2007. She did her training and externship at Georgetown University’s Counseling Center and at the Women’s Center in Northern Virginia before returning to Georgetown’s University’s Law School campus. Diane was the only clinician on site for the law students and, with these experiences she believes she works well with lawyers and women’s issues. Diane also likes working with couples and believes that through working with the couple, she can add benefit to and improve the functioning of an entire family.

Diane came to the field of clinical psychology in a “circuitous” manner. She is originally from New York, attended Tufts University as a history major, and returned to NY to work as a Special Assistant for the New York State’s Human Rights Commissioner. She subsequently received her Master’s Degree in Journalism at Northwestern University and came to Washington DC with in interest in public policy and politics. Diane worked on Capitol Hill for elected officials before having children.

In the next phase of Diane’s life, while raising her young children, she returned to school at George Washington University for her Doctorate in Psychology. She felt like she “was in the right place” professionally as “a psychodynamic approach spoke to her”, and personally as she has always appreciated being in DC, watching it change, and raising her children here.

Diane is excited to be a part of ICP+P and is really looking forward to being involved with our community. She is already a part of a study group and is wanting to attend some of the upcoming conferences. In her free time, Diane likes to travel, read and watch movies.

Please introduce yourself to Diane if you see her at any of the upcoming ICP+P events.

Meet Garth Gillan!

Garth Gillan, DMIN is a therapist and counselor who practices in State College, PA. He is excited to rejoin as a member of ICP+P after a long search for an affiliation with professional psychoanalytic associations that would feel comfortable for him; we are fortunate that he has returned to us. It was apparent to me when talking with Garth that he is passionate about analytic theory and feels that ICP+P provides a foundation for him. He has studied analytic theory ever since he was introduced to it in his first internship with an analytic supervisor; and thus began his journey.

Garth has a very interesting and comprehensive professional background. He holds doctoral degrees in Theology, Clinical Pastoral Counseling, and Philosophy. Garth was a Professor of Philosophy at Southern Illinois University for 30 years after which he became certified as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a Pastoral Counselor (AAPC). He has maintained a private practice in psychotherapy and counseling, and he works with children, adolescents, and adults. Garth has completed several training programs at the Washington School of Psychiatry.

When speaking with Garth, I was glad to hear his enthusiasm about how he spends his personal time. He enjoys fly fishing and reading literature related to his three passions: philosophy, theology, and psychoanalysis. He used to be an avid cyclist but because of time constraints, he has settled for walking 3 miles a day. Garth has been married for 53 years and has 6 children.

If you happen to see Garth at an ICP+P function, please be sure to extend a warm welcome inviting him back into our community.

by Nancy Wachtenheim and Alexandra Kaghan

Meet Jamie Jones!

As she entered my office, Jamie Jones was animated and enthusiastic.  She announced that she is in the dissertation stage of her Social Work Doctorate Program at Fordham University in New York, and the focus of her phenomenological study is the meaning of office space!

As our discussion progressed it was directed to the intention behind the way in which an individual organizes his or her office space, and the meaning of items incorporated in the environment.  An example of this would be clocks…whether or not to include them in the room, and the significance of a timepiece for that individual.  Our dialogue prompted my deliberation of the reasons that I possess two clocks in my office, including one with a pendulum, chiming the hour.  I find this chronometer particularly effective in reminding my patients and myself that sixty minutes has passed.  Even as a child I found comfort in listening to a “tick tock,” so I surmise that an audible clock is most likely one of my resources for self-regulation.

Jamie recently moved to the Friendship Heights area with her husband Michael and their five year old daughter Alexandra (called “Lexi”).  The relocation affords them the opportunity to be near Michael’s family, who live in the area.

Prior to the move Jamie took pleasure in the creation of a private practice in Manhattan, providing individual psychodynamically-informed psychotherapy treatment for adults.  Her office was located in the theater district, enabling her to work with actors and actresses.  Jamie relates that one of the most difficult parts of leaving New York was having to stage the closure of this endeavor.

New York has been Jamie’s home for some time.  She graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts in Individualized Study with a concentration in psychology and creative writing.  Completing a Master of Social Work at Fordham University, Jamie has continued her study there to earn a doctorate.

Engaging in a number of professional experiences while living in New York, Jamie began as a Social Work Intern with the I-Lead Program.  Following this she assumed the role of a family specialist at the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health.  Her next venture was practicing as a psychiatric social worker at Gracie Square Hospital, followed by experience as a psychiatric social worker at Bellevue Hospital.  Before initiating a private practice Jamie was employed as a psychotherapist and intake interviewer at Washington Square Institute.

Research experience prior to her current involvement has also accounted for a portion of Jamie’s professional time, including a qualitative study completed in 2016 while she was the research assistant for a professor at Fordham. In addition, she served as a teaching assistant at Columbia University and worked as an adjunct professor at Fordham.

What is next for Jamie?  She is presently pondering that question, acknowledging that she has found satisfaction in providing psychotherapy for clients emerging into adulthood, experiencing the “quarter life crisis phase” of their lives.  Despite her rigorous schedule, she enjoys watching Lexi play soccer.  As Jamie’s study progresses, I know I will not be alone in eagerly awaiting the results of her dissertation!

by Martha Gibbons