The Taconic Counseling Group

Maria Alba-Fisch, Ph.D.

Biography

Maria Alba-Fisch, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist, received her doctorate from Columbia University and received further specialized training in the evaluation of children and their families as Staff Psychologist at Downstate Medical Center, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Alba-Fisch was later Chief Psychologist and Coordinator of the Children's Evaluation Unit at Peninsula Counseling Center in Woodmere, New York. She holds a Certificate of Specialization in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy from New York University Postdoctoral Program and has received training in the use of hypnosis and relaxation techniques.

Although her clinical practice is her primary focus, Dr. Alba-Fisch has worked with lawyers, financial planners and other mental health practitioners to develop the Collaborative Divorce Team of the Hudson Valley, making this non-adversarial process available to divorcing families in Dutchess County. She is a founding member of the Collaborative Divorce Training Consortium, offering advanced training for professionals in collaborative divorce interdisciplinary teams, divorce coaching and child specialist work.

Dr. Alba-Fisch has her psychotherapy practice in Mount Kisco and continues to meet with people from Dutchess County and beyond, as well as via TeleHealth. She works on collaborative teams in Dutchess and Westchester Counties. She has done collaborative trainings in Manhattan, Westchester and Dutchess Counties, NY, Hartford, Connecticut and Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel.

She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the New York State Psychological Association, the Hudson Valley Psychological Association, the Westchester County Psychological Association, the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration, and the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals. Dr. Alba-Fisch is also an active and founding member of the Hudson Valley Collaborative Divorce and Dispute Resolution Association.

Current Interests

In my work with individuals and families, I have always understood that early experience can train people to handle conflict and distress in particular ways that are not always constructive in their current lives. Currently, I also focus on how important it is for a person to appreciate their own, their children's and their spouse's temperament in their search for new, more constructive ways to understand and solve current challenges. Everyone comes into this world with particular ways of responding, with different rhythms and with different reactivity speeds. These inborn temperamental qualities affect both the way they interact with, and the ways they take in the world around them. Each temperamental style has advantages and presents limitations. Understanding our own temperament and that of our children, friends, and partners can help open the way to new attitudes and more workable solutions to current life challenges.

Most of my clinical work is devoted to helping marriages, families, and individuals thrive. In recent years, I do specific work with divorcing families, as well, to reduce the negative effects of divorce. First, as part of a team of lawyers, financial planners, and mental health professionals, I function either as a divorce coach or a child specialist, offering a new model for divorce and family reorganization: collaborative divorce. Many know that the adversarial divorce process itself can be damaging. Collaborative Divorce is a new way for couples to divorce and solve the problems that arise without court appearances and with less damage to themselves, their children, and their pocketbooks. Secondly, I, also, assist couples who are engaged in mediation for their divorces but are getting derailed by old conflicts, or need input on the specific needs of their children. Third, once families are divorced, they often face new challenges as their children get older or circumstances change and need my help to resolve those challenges effectively. This is exciting work that can offer hope and help that is attuned to the needs of divorced and divorcing families.

© Taconic Counseling Group 2024.