Dr. Katherine C. Andre

I earned my B.A. from The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. I have an M.Ed. from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and a Ph.D. from The University of Georgia, in Athens, Georgia.

Since my first teaching job in 1973, I have worked with children and families in various capacities. Whether as a high-school teacher, counselor, school psychologist, or licensed psychologist I have held to the principle that children have a right to be protected and nurtured by adults.

My awareness of and interest in parental alienation grew as I served as a part-time mediator in a Northern California Superior Court from 1991 to 2001 and again in 2007. As a court-appointed mediator, expert witness, and child advocate in selected custody cases, I observe the debilitating effects on children when their parents hold grudges and manipulating them against the other parent. In working with these children, I have seen how courts and sometimes other agencies unknowingly create and support a system that encourages alienation.

I use a variety of treatment approaches to restore the authentic self and fractured relationships. Reunification therapies and therapy designed to focus on how alienation is affecting development are most successful. Evaluations are consistent with Dr. Joan Kelly’s six step procedure.

Having begun my psychological education in the 1970’s when Dr.Marty Seligman’s Learned Helplessness model of depression was coming into awareness, as was Albert Ellis’ Rational Emotive Therapy, and Dr. Mary Ainsworth’s infant attachment studies, I use a combination of cognitive-behavioral and positive psychology treatments within an attachment context. My Ph.D. studies in child neuropsychology help to ground me in the science of neural development, and has been a tremendous help as more research on attachment, trauma, and neural development becomes available.

I maintain memberships in several professional organizations, including The American Psychological Association, California Psychological Association, Redwood Psychological Association and the American Psychotherapy Association.

I believe that it is important to give back to our communities. I serve as Chairperson of the county Mental Health Board. One of the most rewarding experiences of serving on this Board has been to watch the implementation of changes associated with Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act.