The Team

The Parenting and Children's Friendship program is directed by Fred Frankel; Cynthia Whitham, Robert Myatt and Liz Laugeson are Associate Directors.  The Clinic is co-ordinated by Clare Gorospe.

Director

	Frederick Frankel	Since 1982, Dr. Frankel has been the Director of the UCLA Parent Training and Children’s Friendship Programs. His current research interests are in extending his studies of the effectiveness of Children’s Friendship Training to community settings with different populations, including high-functioning autism, childhood obesity, ADHD and fetal alcohol syndrome.

Associate Director

	Elizabeth Laugeson	Dr. Laugeson is Associate Director for the Children's Friendship and Parenting Program and is the co-developer of PEERS, a parent-assisted social skills intervention for teens with developmental disabilities. Her current clinical and research interests are in social skills training for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities
	Robert Myatt	Director of Clinical training at the Life Skills Treatment Program and Program Director of the Life Skills Training Program in San Fernando, California. He is also Co-Director and Co-Founder of the Santa Clara Psychology Group.
	Cynthia Whitham	Cynthia G. Whitham, L.C.S.W., Associate Director of the UCLA Parenting & Children’s Friendship Program, has been training parents for over twenty years. She is the author of two books, Win the Whining War & Other Skirmishes: A family peace plan and The Answer is NO: Saying it & sticking to it

Coordinator/Researcher

	Clarissa Gorospe	Clinic Co-ordinator
	Jennifer Sanderson	PEERS Project Coordinator A predoctoral psychology fellow at the UCLA Semel Institute and Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital. She currently serves as the Project Coordinator for the UCLA PEERS Program and is a Group Leader in the Children’s Friendship Training Program.
	Ruth Ellingsen	PEERS Senior Research Associate
	Jilly Chang	Research Assistant

Fellow

	Alexander Gantman	Post-Doctoral Fellow Dr. Gantman is currently working on adaptation and development of the PEERS program to address unique needs of young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders, using evidence-based caregiver-assisted social skills group intervention format. His current clinical and research interests are in social skills training for adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities.