Audra Langley, Ph.D. is the Director of UCLA TIES for Families. Dr. Langley is a Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Health Sciences at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and the UCLA DGSOM Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Langley also co-directs the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families and is the Child Welfare lead for the DMH UCLA Prevention Center of Excellence. Dr. Langley is an experienced clinician and researcher who specializes in culturally responsive, trauma and resiliency informed care for children and adolescents with post-... more
Our Staff
Director of Clinical Services - Management
Eugenia Hsu Tsao, Ph.D. is the Director of Clinical Services of UCLA TIES for Families and Training Director for our APPIC-approved Postdoctoral Psychology Program. Dr. Tsao is also the Department of Children and Families Services Project Lead at the Department of Mental Health – UCLA Prevention Center of Excellence. Dr. Tsao is a Clinical Psychologist who received her doctorate degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2003 and subsequent specialized training in developmental psychopathology and working... more
Clinical Psychologist, Director of Infant Mental Health - Management
Catherine Lippincott, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist at UCLA TIES for Families and is highly experienced in specialized services for children age 0-5 and children who have experienced interpersonal trauma, including physical and sexual abuse, neglect, and domestic violence. Dr. Lippincott is trained in a number of evidence-based programs, including Child Parent Psychotherapy, Parent Child Interaction Therapy, and Reflective Parenting Program. She is highly involved in the Infant Mental Health program at UCLA TIES for Families and recently completed the Napa Infant-Parent Mental Health... more
Associate Director of Infant Mental Health, Research Consultant - Management
Jill Waterman, Ph.D. was one of the initial developers of TIES for Adoption in 1995 (now UCLA TIES for Families) and currently is the Associate Director of Infant Mental Health, as well as a supervisor of psychology externs and postdoctoral fellows. She is Adjunct Professor Emerita in the UCLA Psychology Department and former Coordinator of the UCLA Psychology Clinic, the training clinic for UCLA’s top-ranked Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. Dr. Waterman’s research involves long-term follow-up of children adopted from foster care and their families (many now adolescents and young adults... more
Program Analyst - Admin
Araceli Barajas has been part of the administrative staff at TIES since 2004. She completes the Department of Mental Health (DMH) billing functions for the TIES program. She is responsible for overseeing a comprehensive internal audit program that ensures effective controls for safeguarding PHI and ensures compliance with applicable federal, state and LACDMH regulations. Araceli manages the integration of custom content updates, including clinician & ancillary staff documentation templates and custom databases/reports, to be used for quality improvement, quality assurance, and research... more
Business Manager - Admin
Paisha Allmendinger received her MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management in 2013 and her BA in Economics from UCLA in 2004. At TIES, Paisha serves as the Business Manager, responsible for the financial and administrative operations of the organization. She has over 15 years of experience in administrative management at UCLA including diverse aspects of executive leadership, operations management, fiscal management, and strategic planning. As a first generation college graduate, Paisha has a great passion for education and volunteers her time with organizations that inspire underserved... more
Program Coordinator
Carlos Zacarias, B.A. received his undergraduate degree from UCLA in Psychology. He is now part of the administrative staff for the UCLA TIES program. He is responsible for a wide variety of administrative support, including answering phone and emails as the first point of contact for TIES clients, facilitating the referral process, updating client charts, monitoring and reporting on contract deliverables, coordinating training sessions, overseeing daily office functions, and supporting quality assurance/quality improvement projects on the Department of Mental Health contract. He is also... more
Staff Therapist
Brenda Pitchford, MSW/ASW received her undergraduate degree from UCLA in African American Studies and her graduate degree from USC School of Social Work. Her areas of interest are infant mental health and the impact of trauma on development and relationships. She received training in the following evidence-based practices: Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Structural Family therapy (SFT), Managing and Adapting Practices (MAP), UCLA TIES adoption-specific manualized treatment (ADAPT), and Seeking Safety. At TIES, she provides individual, collateral, family, and group therapy and conducts... more
Staff Therapist
Belveth Marroquin, LCSW earned a degree of Bachelor of Arts with majors in Law & Society and Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2004 and received her master’s degree from the USC School of Social Work in 2011. She has been a staff therapist at UCLA TIES for Families since 2016, is a part of TIES Infant Mental Health (IMH) Team and is the Adoption Promotion Support Services (APSS) Mentoring Coordinator since 2018. She is experienced in trauma, including physical and sexual abuse,... more
Psychiatrist
Melita Daley, M.D. is a full-time faculty member and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute and graduated from the UCLA child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship program in 2002. Dr. Daley has extensive experience in the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents from high risk backgrounds, and worked for several years in an underserved area in California with children who had been placed in group homes, the foster care system, as well as Juvenile Hall. Dr. Daley also serves as the Medical Director of the UCLA Center for the Assessment and Prevention of... more
Speech and Language Pathologist
Rebecca Luce James, M.A., CCC-SLP received her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Northwestern University in December of 1999. She has worked in a variety of settings including independent non-profit special education schools for students with emotional disturbance, multidisciplinary clinics, and private practice. Her areas of special interest include the evaluation and treatment of childhood communication disorders including: speech delays/disorders, language delays/disorders, language-based learning disabilities and fluency disorders. At UCLA TIES for Families, Rebecca... more
Research Coordinator
Ana Berman received her B.A. in Psychology from UCLA in 2023, where she graduated magna cum laude and in the honors college. She now works as the Research Coordinator at UCLA TIES for Families. Previously, Ana worked in multiple labs as a research assistant and a project coordinator. Her projects have been presented at various UCLA Undergraduate Research Conferences, the APA Division 45 Research Conference, and the Western Psychological Association Conference. Ana's primary research interests include exploring how being interracially adopted and race/ethnicity affects outcomes for youth in... more
Clinical Psychologist
Natalie Bencuya, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with expertise in the areas of early childhood behavior problems and attachment, trauma and loss, and treatment of child anxiety. She received her doctorate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Bencuya received training in trauma-informed care during her doctoral internship at Children’s Institute, Inc. and her postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA TIES for Families. Prior to rejoining the TIES staff in 2020, she worked in a group mental health practice in Santa Monica. At TIES, she currently provides individual, collateral... more
Clinical Psychologist
Alycia Davis, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist at UCLA TIES for Families. Dr. Davis received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University. Dr. Davis completed her predoctoral clinical internship at St. John’s Child and Family Development Center in Santa Monica, where she worked with children, teens, and families in a school-based and community mental health setting. Dr. Davis specializes in providing trauma informed, empirically supported... more
Staff Therapist
Ahab Liskin, LCSW, earned a BA in psychology from UC Berkeley, an MSW from USC, and has been licensed since 2000. He has been a staff therapist and clinical supervisor at UCLA TIES for Families since 2007. He has worked with children and families in multiple settings, including Seneca Center (residential treatment in the Bay Area), DCFS Adoptions Division, LA Child Guidance Clinic Day Treatment and Early Intervention programs, and JFSLA. At TIES, he provides psychotherapy to children, families, parents, and groups. He is certified in multiple evidence based practices, including Child... more
Clinical Psychologist
Victor Rico, Ph.D. received his doctoral degree from The University of Texas -Austin in 2011. Dr. Rico completed his APA approved clinical psychology internship with Children’s Institute Inc., providing bilingual (English and Spanish) evidence-based outpatient mental health services to children and families, behavioral consultation in pre-school settings, and group therapy for men under the Project Fatherhood program. Dr. Rico continued his work in community mental health with Pacific Clinics East -Monrovia and Didi Hirsch Outpatient Mental Health -Inglewood, providing evidence-based... more
Clinical Psychologist
Danielle Perryman, Psy.D. received her doctoral degree in Clinical Forensic Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology- Los Angeles, CA in 2014. Dr. Perryman completed her pre-doctoral internship from Child and Family Center in Santa Clarita, CA where she was trained in early childhood mental health, preschool consultation, psychoeducational assessments, intake assessments, and outpatient mental health therapy for children and families. Dr. Perryman continued her career within the community mental health field, providing services at Children’s Institute, Inc as a... more
Rehabilitation Specialist, Educational Consultant
Lori Waldinger, M.A. is an Educational Consultant with UCLA TIES. She has worked with our project since 1998. She has a Master’s Degree and holds California teaching credentials in General Education and Special Education. She has special education teaching experiences in both public and in a non-public school setting. Since leaving the classroom in 1980, Ms. Waldinger has been in private practice as an advocate and educational consultant. In addition to her private practice, she provides direct educational and mental health support, consultation and advocacy services to the families and... more
Rehabilitation Specialist, Educational Consultant
Los Angeles native Tanisha Tatum received her undergraduate degree from Loyola Marymount University. She continued her education at California State University- Los Angeles, where she received a Master of Science in Counseling with an emphasis in School Psychology in early 2013. She also has her P.P.S. and Child and Welfare Attendance credentials. Tanisha is licensed as a Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP) which is certified by the Board of Behavioral Sciences in California and as a Board Certified Behavioral Analyst (BCBA). Additionally, Tanisha has been working in the school... more
Pediatrician
Claudia Wang, M.D. is an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at UCLA and our TIES healthcare consultant. At TIES, she provides medical consultation for referred cases by reviewing available medical records, identifying possible additional medical information which may be sought in order to assist in the evaluation, providing a medical summary, and giving feedback to the providers. The pediatrician may be requested to attend a child's developmental assessment in order to see the child and discuss the caregiver's medical concerns. Dr. Wang's other interest is in child... more
Research and Program Development Manager
Matthew Ruderman, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist who specializes in early childhood mental health, research and evaluation, bullying and victimization, preschool mental health consultation, and trauma-informed care. He received his doctorate in Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Ruderman completed his doctoral internship at St. John's Child and Family Development Center and his postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA TIES for Families. Before rejoining the TIES staff, he served as staff psychologist, supervisor, and trainer at a... more