Fred Frankel, Ph.D., ABPP is Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA. 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. Full Profile...

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, which have been translated into nine languages. In addition to her UCLA group classes, Ms. Whitham gives presentations on parenting children, parent-teen conflict, and peer relations for schools, organizations, and businesses. In 2000, she was honored to be invited to spend a month in Tokyo, training clinicians at the National Institute of Mental Health of Japan. Ms. Whitham is the mother of two happy, healthy, and (relatively) well-behaved children, ages 21 and 24, and figures that may be the best credential of all.

Robert Myatt Ph.D. is the 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. He was Associate Director of Clinical Psychology Training at the Olive view/UCLA Medical Center. He has been Grant Administrator for the Developmental Disability Awareness Education Program. He received his doctorate from the University of Mississippi and completed his clinical training at UCLA.

Liz Laugeson, Psy.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA.  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. Full profile...

Ms. Gorospe is the Clinic Coordinator for the UCLA Parenting & Children's Friendship Program and the Project Coordinator for the CART Study Parent-Assisted Friendship Training for Children with Social Communication Disorders. She received her undergraduate degree in Cognitive Science from UCLA in 2002.

Ms. Chang is a research assistant for the UCLA Parenting & Children's Friendship Program and the CART Study Parent-Assisted Friendship Training for Children with Social Communication Disorders. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology with a minor in Education from UCLA in 2005.

Ms. Ellingsen is the Senior Research Associate for PEERS and a Childcare Specialist in the UCLA Early Childhood Clubhouse Program, which is a social recreational program for preschool children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.  Ms. Ellingsen’s previous research experience includes investigating parents’ and adolescents’ beliefs about the adolescent period and how these beliefs influence parenting strategies and adolescent risk-taking behaviors.  Her clinical and research interests include promoting positive socio-emotional development and improving socialization skills for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders.  Ms. Ellingsen received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Wake Forest University in 2008.

Ms. Sanderson is 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. She also works as a Childcare Specialist in the UCLA Early Childhood Clubhouse Program. Ms. Sanderson earned her M.S. in clinical psychology and is completing her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Nova Southeastern University. She completed a predoctoral psychology internship at the UCLA Semel Institute in 2008, specializing in developmental disabilities. Ms. Sanderson’s clinical and research interests include promoting early intervention and improving socialization skills for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and related developmental disabilities.