Mental Health Support and Evaluations for Children, Adolescents, and Families
We provide compassionate, evidence-based support and evaluations for children and adolescents—guiding families through the process with understanding and expertise.
Our Services
Therapy Services
Evidence-based, collaborative, individualized therapy for preschoolers, children, and adolescents experiencing anxiety, emotion regulation challenges, autism, and ADHD.
Parent support programs to help caregivers feel confident and supported along the way.
Group Therapy
Research-based, parent-supported group therapies that help children and teens build lasting friendships, improve emotional regulation, and increase flexibility.
Each program combines engaging group activities for children and teens with practical parent coaching, so skills are carried over into everyday life.
Evaluations
Comprehensive and individualized evaluations to help families understand their child’s development, learning, and mental health.
Our evaluations identify strengths and challenges, providing clear recommendations for school planning, therapy, and long-term support.
Our evaluation services include:
Psychoeducational Evaluation
Toddler & Preschool Developmental Evaluations
Autism Evaluations
Therapy Services
We specialize in supporting preschool-aged children, school-aged children, and adolescents who are navigating a range of challenges, including anxiety, emotion dysregulation, autism, social pragmatic challenges, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Our approach is warm, supportive, and nonjudgmental, creating a safe space where children, teens, and families feel understood and empowered. We provide compassionate, evidence-based care that is tailored to meet the unique needs of each child and family. We frequently collaborate with schools and other providers to maximize treatment outcomes and support children across all areas of their life. Through this approach, we strive to help children and families develop practical strategies, strengthen relationships, and achieve meaningful growth.
Therapy for Children & Adolescents
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CBT is a structured, goal-oriented therapy that helps children and teens understand how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are connected. We teach practical coping strategies to reduce anxiety, manage stress, and build emotional resilience.text goes here
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Designed for children with autism and ADHD, this program improves flexibility, planning, and problem-solving skills. Children learn how to adapt to changes and stay on track, while parents are coached to support these skills in daily routinescription text goes here
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This program supports youth and their caregivers in learning effective tools to manage strong emotions. Families work together to strengthen emotional awareness, improve communication, and build healthy regulation strategies
Parent Support & Training
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Helps parents strengthen positive behaviors and reduce challenging ones using effective, evidence-based parenting techniques.text goes here
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AIM HI is an evidence-based treatment designed specifically for children with autism who experience challenging behaviors. This structured, individualized approach focuses on teaching caregivers practical strategies to manage challenging behaviors, build positive communication, and support skill development in everyday settings.
The intervention is highly collaborative, with caregivers and clinicians working together to set goals, use step-by-step strategies, and track progress. AIM HI empowers families to create positive changes at home and in the community while supporting the child’s emotional and behavioral growth.tem description
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Specialized training for caregivers of children with autism, focusing on managing challenging behaviors and supporting skill development at home
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A parent-based approach for reducing childhood anxiety. Parents learn supportive responses to help their child face fears and build confidence without increasing anxiety
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Project ImPACT is an evidence-based parent training program designed for young children with autism or social communication delays. It teaches parents practical strategies to support their child’s communication, play, social engagement, and imitation skills during everyday routines and interactions.
Using a developmental and naturalistic approach, parents learn how to embed teaching moments into playtime, meals, and daily activities—helping children generalize new skills across settings. This coaching model empowers caregivers to become confident, effective partners in their child’s early development.
Group Therapy Programs
Building Friendships, Flexibility & Emotional Resilience
At Dyson Psychology, we offer evidence-based, parent-mediated group therapies designed to help children and adolescents build meaningful peer connections, develop flexibility, and strengthen emotional regulation skills. These programs are research-backed and focus on practical, real-world strategies that children and families can immediately apply at home, at school, and in the community.
We believe in collaborative learning—caregivers are active participants, receiving coaching and support to help their child generalize new skills beyond group sessions. Each program includes engaging activities, guided practice, and take-home assignments to promote lasting growth and confidence
Group Therapy Offerings
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A parent-assisted, play-based social skills program for children ages 4–6 developed at UCLA by Dr. Laugeson. Designed to build the foundational social-emotional skills needed for early friendships and school readiness, this program uses structured play, puppet show lessons, modeling, and guided practice to teach essential social behaviors in a fun and nurturing environment.
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Developed by Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson at the UCLA Semel Institute, PEERS® for Adolescents is an internationally recognized, evidence-based program that teaches teens the skills to make and keep friends. Teens learn ecologically valid strategies through structured lessons, role-playing, and real-world practice.
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An evidence-based social skills program for elementary-aged children who have difficulty making or keeping friends.
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A cognitive-behavioral group program for children with autism and/or ADHD, focused on flexibility, planning, and problem-solving. Children, teens and caregivers participate in parellel sessions to learn and practice strategies together.
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An evidence-based group program for youth ages 8–18 and their caregivers, designed to help youth and families manage strong emotions and improve communication and emotional regulation skills.
Evaluations
We provide comprehensive, individualized evaluations to help families understand and support their child’s development, learning, and mental health. Our evaluations are designed to give a full picture of strengths and challenges, leading to clear recommendations for intervention, educational planning, and long-term support.
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Comprehensive assessments for emotional and behavioral health concerns, including anxiety, depression, ADHD, and mood or behavioral challenges. These evaluations integrate clinical interviews, standardized measures, and behavioral observations to provide diagnostic clarity and actionable treatment recommendations.
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Identify learning profiles, academic achievement, and cognitive functioning to support individualized education plans (IEPs), 504 Plans, or enrichment needs. These evaluations clarify learning strengths and challenges, helping guide educational placement and supports.
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Designed for young children with developmental concerns, these evaluations examine early cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional functioning. The results guide early intervention planning, preschool placement, and strategies to support developmental progress during critical early years.
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We use gold-standard measures such as the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2) to assess social communication, behavior, and developmental history. These assessments are available for toddlers, school-age children, adolescents, and adults seeking clarity around autism and related conditions.
Types of Evaluations We Offer
Meet Our Team
Margaret Dyson, PhD
Dr. Dyson is a licensed clinical psychologist with a deep commitment to providing warm, compassionate, and evidence-based care to children, adolescents, and their families. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from Stony Brook University and completed her APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship in the child clinical track at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD)/VA. She went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSD and the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center (CASRC), where she contributed to a large NIMH-funded study evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention (AIM HI) for youth with autism and co-occurring mental health challenges.
Prior to joining the Autism Center at the Child Mind Institute, Dr. Dyson served as a psychologist and clinical supervisor at the Healthy Brain Network, a groundbreaking initiative providing no-cost mental health and learning evaluations to children and adolescents across New York City. There, she conducted comprehensive evaluations for a wide range of neurodevelopmental and emotional concerns, helping to ensure that children from diverse backgrounds had access to high-quality, individualized care.
Before founding Dyson Psychology, Dr. Dyson served as the Director of the Social Group Therapy Program, Training Coordinator, and an attending psychologist at the Autism Center at the Child Mind Institute. She brings extensive experience in both individual and group-based interventions and is a certified provider of PEERS® for Preschoolers, PEERS® for Adolescents, and the Parents as Friendship Coaches (PFC) program for children with ADHD. A strong focus of her clinical and research work has involved fostering social-emotional development and helping youth build meaningful relationships and self-confidence through evidence-based, neurodiversity-affirming practices.
Dr. Dyson has worked in a variety of research and clinical settings, including as a staff psychologist and clinical supervisor at Rady Children’s Hospital of San Diego’s Outpatient Psychiatry clinics. She is highly trained in a broad range of evidence-based treatments, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), An Individualized Mental Health Intervention for Autism (AIM HI), Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Parent Management Training (PMT), Research Units on Behavioral Intervention (RUBI) Autism Network, Improving Parents as Communication Teachers (Project ImPACT), and Unstuck and On Target!.
In addition to her intervention expertise, Dr. Dyson has extensive experience conducting comprehensive psychological and neurodevelopmental assessments across the lifespan. (i.e., toddlers through young adults). She has achieved research reliability in the gold-standard diagnostic tools for autism spectrum disorder, including the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2), across all modules--Toddler Module through Module 4. Her assessment work is developmentally sensitive, strengths-based, and deeply attuned to the unique needs and lived experiences of neurodiverse individuals and their families.
Dr. Dyson has authored peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and has presented her research at numerous national and international conferences. Her approach to both evaluation and intervention is rooted in the belief that every child deserves to feel understood, supported, and empowered.
When she’s not working, Dr. Dyson enjoys exploring Brooklyn with her husband and young son—seeking out neighborhood parks, local bakeries and bagel shops, and all the little adventures the city has to offer.
Contact Us
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