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Karen Levine, PhD, is a developmental psychologist of 30 years, whose passion for improving the well-being of children who have developmental, social or emotional challenges has been the driving force throughout her career. She incorporates a developmental, relationship-based approach to assessment and treatment, incorporating playfulness and fun into treatment when feasible, as a means of increasing happiness and lowering anxiety and distress. Dr. Levine believes there is not a one size fits all approach to assessment or treatment, and that individual children and families need different kinds of support at different points in their development.

Dr. Levine developed a play-based treatment for children with fears and phobias, integrating the evidenced based behavioral tool of Gradual Exposure within a developmental, relationship-based model. This approach, described in her book, with co-author Naomi Chedd, LMHC, Attacking Anxiety, is currently called Behavior Play Therapy, and is being studied and manualized by Bonnie Klein-Tasman, PhD at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. She is a part time lecturer on psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.