Dr. Jill Bressler has been a psychotherapist for 42 years, and still finds the process thrilling, instructive, and creative. She received degrees in Social Work first and then Psychology from Bryn Mawr Graduate School, Columbia University, and did her doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania. Her undergraduate degree was in Literature, and the unfolding complexity of human stories is still at the heart of her work.
Her theoretical orientation is eclectic, combining Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, short-term behavioral therapy, problem-centered approaches, mindfulness, trauma treatment, and a systems view of all interactions. She was fortunate to work first as a trainee and then as a staff member and Supervisor at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic, learning there from the family therapy greats…Sal Minuchin, Jay Haley, Harry Aponte, and Carl Whitaker. She was the Psychiatric Liaison to the Department of Allergy and Immunology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for many years, training medical students and residents and participating as a full member of the clinical teams treating children. She was a consultant to USHealthcare, one of the original HMO’s, piloting a project putting psychologists in Primary Care physicians’ practices, as integral team members. She is committed to work in Behavioral Medicine and in coordinating with Physicians in their patient care.
She particularly enjoys working with children and their families, and uses Family Therapy and Play Therapy along with other interventions. She does Psycho-Educational Assessments as well as Social-Behavioral-Emotional evaluations when necessary, and works closely with schools to construct Individual Education Plans (IEP’s) and Individual Intervention Plans. She has worked with many Gifted children and their families, and is expert at their particular needs.
A large part of Dr. Bressler’s practice involved the development of innovative forensic solutions, attempting to develop new approaches to Parenting Plans and time-sharing, step- parenting, parent-education, and mediation in the resolution of marital and custody disputes. She is a trained and certified in Collaborative Divorce, and works to encourage divorcing couples to use this alternative to litigation. She has been involved in hundreds of cases and has written and spoken extensively to attorneys, parent groups, physicians, and children of divorce.
Jill Bressler lives in Sarasota, Florida. She is an avid tennis player, gardener, reader, and community volunteer