Dr. Ginger Martin

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Services

Childhood Diagnostic Evaluations

• Autism
  
• ADHD
• Learning Concerns
• Gifted testing
• Developmental Delay
• Behavioral Concerns
  

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for kids

• Parent & Child Therapy
• Consultation
  

Supportive therapy for women/moms

• CBT and mindfulness
  
• Stress management
• Coping with a child’s disability or diagnosis
  

412-979-0262

email mbhschedule@gmail.com

In-person and telehealth available

The Mindful Approach to Evaluation

Dr. Martin takes a comprehensive, collaborative, and thorough approach to evaluations. Each child is unique and each family has different needs. The end goal of the assessment is to better understand your child and to help create a roadmap of supports and next steps to help your child thrive.

Evaluations are completed in three sessions:

Intake meeting: a one hour meeting to gather background information and discuss current concerns.

Evaluation session: a two hour session to meet with you and your child for a casual, play-based assessment.

Feedback meeting: a one-and-a-half hour meeting to discuss outcomes, answer questions, and discuss recommendations.

Child Therapy Services

Dr. Martin offers therapy services for kids ages 3-18 with a mindfulness-based and cognitive-behavioral approach. Sessions with younger children may include play-based techniques, parent involvement, and education.

Sessions for older children involve learning about emotions, discovering the mind-body connection, learning how to manage feelings, mindfulness, and hands-on techniques they can use through a lifetime!

Common presenting concerns might include: anxiety, adjustment issues, and emotional or behavioral concerns in toddlers.

In-person and telehealth are both available.

Women’s Therapy Services

As women, we tend to do it all...and then some. We are often mothers, partners, wives, employees, stay at home warriors, bosses, and household managers. We take very little time to care for ourselves. Stressors can add up, anxiety is at a peak, and you may not know where to go or how to support yourself as well as you do everyone else. Learning self-care, mindfulness, and working one-on-one with Dr. Martin can help restore balance in your life.

In-person and telehealth are both available.

Ginger Martin, Psy.D.

As a clinical psychologist, I specialize in working with and treating children and parents. I have been working in private practice for over sixteen years and have developed a personalized and mindful practice. I have benefited from training with some of the best providers in early childhood and autism/developmental disorders. Prior to moving from Pennsylvania to Florida, I had a busy practice and have been providing therapy, consultation, autism and diagnostic/developmental assessments.

A primary specialty of my practice is evaluation of children ages 2-18 for Autism Spectrum Disorder and other developmental concerns. I have a passion for working with this community and families and helping children to access the services they need to fully succeed. The evaluation process is thorough and personalized to your child and involves three sessions. I believe that taking the time to truly get to know your family and your child will allow me to better assess strengths and weaknesses. The evaluation is a collaborative and supportive process. I love working with you and your children!

I also specialize in therapy with children with anxiety, adjustment difficulties, or preschoolers with emotional/behavioral concerns in my practice. I love creating a specific treatment plan for your child and working closely with parents, making sessions meaningful and fun and utilizing a mindful approach.

As a mother myself, I enjoy working with mothers and women to manage anxiety, stress, and to cope with a child’s behavior or diagnosis, Helping support women to find balance and to prioritize their own mental health has been a passion of mine. Introducing CBT concepts, mindfulness, and self-care are part of the process.

Fees

All sessions are self-pay

*Superbills are provided for insurance reimbursement

Intake meeting $200

50-60 minute therapy session $200

Evaluation session, scoring, & report writing $1000

Feedback meeting $300

Location

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When To Bring Your Toddler in for an Evaluation

By Ginger Martin, Psy.D.

When you have concerns about your young child’s development, you can be unsure of where to turn. Should you google it? Talk to the pediatrician? Get an evaluation for early intervention? It’s a stressful time and the wait-and-see approach can feel frustrating. I always tell parents to trust their gut. You know your child best and you know when what you are seeing is of concern. You’re not expected to be a child development expert and it can be difficult to compare your child to others including siblings and friends or family members’ children. Each child is unique and on their own path! So why evaluate at all? The evaluation process helps us to better understand your child. Whether a diagnosis is made or not, getting support and discussing your concerns with a clinician can give you invaluable information to move forward. It may be reassurance that everything is on track, it may be recommendations for supporting your child’s unique strengths and weaknesses, and it may be discussing a diagnosis that both helps explain your concerns and directs the treatment team in a specific direction.

One question I get a lot is what age is too young? I evaluate children beginning around age two and up. By this developmental stage, certain social, communication, and play-based milestones can alert us to concern. It is old enough that we are not rushing judgment and young enough that early intervention can work its magic. Waiting-and-seeing can waste precious time in getting your child the support they may need! Some symptoms you may look out for in your toddler are delayed language, not using words or gestures to make requests (overly independent toddlers who will go and get what they want rather than asking you for it), inconsistent eye contact (maybe they look at you when they initiate an interaction but less often when you initiate it), preferring to play alone, unusual or highly rigid play, sensory concerns (sensory seeking behavior and sensory sensitivities), unusual behaviors or mannerisms (quirky interests, repetitive behaviors), and intense tantrums (particularly during transition times or those that seem to be unpredictable). If any of these behaviors are occurring, call for a consultation. Going through the comprehensive and supportive evaluation process with me can ease your mind, leave you with a better understanding of your child, and empower you with a plan to support your unique and wonderful toddler!

The Mindful Evaluation Process

By Ginger Martin, Psy.D.

I have been conducting autism evaluations for over fifteen years and have seen every way to do it. I have worked in clinics where time was short and evaluations were rushed, I have worked in settings where detail and the process were valued, and I have even seen some clinics who offer diagnoses via telehealth. In my journey working with this wonderful population, the most meaningful experiences for the child, the family, and myself have been found when the time is taken to truly understand each person’s perspective, concerns, needs, and especially their strengths. I always strive to listen to parents, to honor their concerns, to observe the child and note their most special qualities, to include the providers who work so hard and so closely with the child and family, and to provide feedback that is kind, respectful, thoughtful, and positive. I have told countless families that a diagnosis does not change anything about how wonderful the child is; it simply helps us understand them better and to guide the next steps for support.

Years ago, when I began to cultivate my practice and determined how I wanted to offer the gold standard in autism evaluations, I determined that it cannot be a rushed process and that all people need to be heard. That is why I sit with the child and family for a detailed intake process, asking specific questions, allowing parents to share stories and examples, and paying attention to what they need as a parent during this process. Allowing the child to play, explore the office, interact with their parents and myself, and become comfortable is an essential part of the evaluation as well. It allows me to start to get to know them, observe nuances of their interactions, and start to build rapport. When the child and parent return for the evaluation session, both are more comfortable and relaxed which offers more opportunity to truly see both strengths and weaknesses during the assessment. I enjoy the playful process of the evaluation, a chance to be silly with your child, and to put everyone at ease. I want to see each child at their best and may even ask mom or dad to join us on the floor; often you can get more from your child and I want to see what they are truly capable of! I always include developmental or cognitive testing as well so that I can get a full picture of your child and their needs.

Combined with our intake discussion, parent and teacher forms, and all my observations and assessments I have plenty of information to pour through and compile into a detailed and thorough evaluation report. My goal is to look at all the information with a microscope and then to pull back and look at the big picture and patterns. This allows me to formulate the diagnosis that most truly fits. No one is feeling particularly hopeful when scheduling an autism evaluation for their child and my goal is to put parents’ minds at ease, to allow them to trust my process, and to support them in the journey. The outcome is that most parents leave feedback sessions feeling grateful, relieved, and hopeful about their child’s next steps. We take our time during the feedback meeting, discussing details of the data, offering explanations of my observations, and educating the parent about the diagnosis. Parents are free to ask questions, challenge the data, and to indicate if they feel I truly saw their child. I always provide detailed next steps, a roadmap individualized for your child, and offer continued consultation as needed after the evaluation. My goal is for your child to succeed, for you to know how to best understand and support them, and for everyone to see the gifts each child has to offer.

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