Dr. Hoffman

Dr. Valerie Hoffman is a licensed psychologist in the state of Arizona. Currently, she serves as the president-elect for the Scottsdale Psychological Society, as the secretary for the Children's Services Network of Arizona, and she is a member of the advisory board for Lexis Preparatory School. She collaborates with several local agencies that serve children and families, including Arizonans for Children, RISE Family Services, and Aid to the Adoption of Special Kids. Early in her career, Dr. Hoffman received training from the state of California to deliver early intervention services for children with developmental disorders, including diagnosis and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders and developmental delays. As a former pre-school teacher, she enjoys collaborating with teachers to help facilitate improved classroom behaviors and performance. Dr. Hoffman enjoys working with families and has been particularly successful working with parents and teens to improve communication, reduce conflicts, and improve parent-child relationships. She also counsels adolescents individually, and as a former counselor for children in the juvenile detention center, she has experience working with challenging teens. Dr. Hoffman has a special interest in working with families with foster and adopted children, and completed her doctoral dissertation researching successful characteristics of families with children adopted post-infancy. Dr. Hoffman specializes in evaluating toddlers, children and adolescents with educational developmental, behavioral, and social-emotional needs.

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Dr. Lebovitz

Dr. Christina Lebovitz is a licensed psychologist in the state of Arizona. As a clinical psychologist, she serves infants to adults and provides evaluations, therapy and consultation, in addition to training in mental health issues. Identification of learning, developmental and clinical conditions is done in conjunction with school and primary care liaisons. Health care consultation is geared to building resilience and a positive outlook, with improvement of medical compliance and self-monitoring for chronic conditions, including weight loss and management. She emphasizes how people can thrive by building on strengths and uses cognitive behavioral approaches as well as play therapy and trauma processing (EMDR). Dr. Lebovitz has over 26 years of practice in Arizona, including hospital-based and community programs, plus independent practice. On the personal side, Dr. Lebovitz has gained invaluable insight by raising three children and enjoying a long marriage. Serving as co-founder and President of the Children's Services Network (www.csn-az.org) and as President of the Arizona Psychological Foundation broadens her awareness of public issues and facilitates multidisciplinary collaboration.

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Dr. Nicholls

Dr. Chris Nicholls is a licensed psychologist in the state of Arizona, is a diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology and the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Clinical Psychology. Throughout his career, he has worked with several children's and adult hospitals and medical centers. He has worked in the areas of acute and chronic illness, neonatal intensive care, burns and trauma, general pediatrics and surgery. He has consulted with child protective service agencies, school districts, the Social Security Administration's Disability Determination Services Administration, and has performed forensic evaluations in personal injury, competency, and educational due process arenas. Dr. Nicholls has been on the clinical faculty of several major universities and graduate programs.

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Dr. Ristich  

Dr. Tracy Ristich is a licensed psychologist in the state of Arizona. She is the chair of the Early Career Psychologist Committee and is a Consortium Board Member, both sub-committees of the Arizona Psychological Association. Dr. Ristich is experienced in the treatment and evaluation of adults/older adults who have traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, and acute and chronic medical illnesses. Other areas of specialty include diabetes, dementia, cancer, fibromyalgia, amputation, chronic pain, and substance abuse. Dr. Ristich also enjoys working with adults and older adults who are facing life transitions, including retirement, changes in life roles, the loss of a loved one, and end of life issues. She also works with adults who are experiencing depression and/or stress. Dr. Ristich’s therapeutic focus is on helping individuals gain perspective into their current difficulties and process their experience. Her goal is to provide assistance in adopting healthy coping skills to increase each individual’s quality of life.

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Ms. Kucera

Amanda Kucera is a trained psychometrist at The Nicholls Group and holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Arizona State University. Ms. Kucera is trained in test administration for children, adolescents and adults, and works in conjunction with members of The Nicholls Group when seeing clients.

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Ms. Mahrer

Nicole Mahrer is a doctoral student in psychology at Arizona State University. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego and a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology from Arizona State University. Ms. Mahrer has worked in medical, community and private practice settings and has received clinical training in test administration and interpretation as well as individual, family, and group psychotherapy. Ms. Mahrer's primary interests include child and adolescent assessments as well as the role of parenting and family in child physical and mental health.

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Ms. McCarthy

Cathleen McCarthy has been affiliated with The Nicholls Group since 2006 as the Cogmed working memory training coach. She has undergone specialized Cogmed training to administer the Cogmed working memory training to children, adolescents and adults. In addition, she has maintained the position of Community College adjunct professor of art, design and technology for 18 years, while establishing McCarthy Consulting, a collaborative organization supplying creative and technology solutions for business and academia.  