Stephanie B. Mattei, Psy.D.

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING and EDUCATION:
I earned my doctoral degree from LaSalle University in 2003. Upon the completion of my doctoral requirements, I was invited to stay as adjunct faculty and graciously accepted. I have had the pleasure of teaching in the Doctoral Program at La Salle University and have taught courses in Abnormal Psychology, Theories of Personality, Group and Family Systems, and an Advanced Topics course on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). In addition to pure academic instruction, I can share my clinical expertise with my students. I have the pleasure of supervising second-, third–, and fourth-year doctoral students in their learning and application of DBT in a clinical setting at La Salle University’s Community Center for Psychological Services (LUCCPS). In addition to this, I also sit on dissertation committees and help students wrestle with questions about regulating emotions, suicidal behaviors, eating disorders, and depression.

After graduation, I completed my post-doctoral training at the Renfrew Center of Philadelphia; I was the psychologist in the Intensive Outpatient Program. I worked with women with various eating disorders, ranging from Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating Disorder, and Eating Disorder N.O.S. While the diagnoses were often different, our work would frequently involve understanding the connection between thoughts, feelings and eating disordered behaviors. While it’s true that eating disorders are often about the body and food, it’s also true that they are about everything else in the individual’s life-namely, the thoughts and feelings about their world.

CONTINUOUS LEARNING:
After leaving Renfrew, I began training and learning about DBT. My love of learning about DBT has been insatiable ever since. In 2008, I was intensively trained by Behavioral Tech, LLC as a DBT clinician. Behavioral Tech is a training organization out of the University of Washington and connected to Marsha Linehan’s lab. They train clinicians internationally; today, it is the only training group directly connected to Marsha Linehan.

I am proud to have earned DBT certification through the Dialectical Behavior Therapy- Linehan Board of Certification (DBT-LBC). The only one of its kind, the DBT-LBC, has taken on the task of identifying what criteria a ‘certified’ DBT clinician would need and then is ensuring that there is a process by which to credential individuals who meet those criteria. This rigorous process is underway, and I am excited to have completed it.

I read as much as I can, attend conferences with my students, and encourage others to learn about this “east meets west” philosophy and practice. This passion for mindfulness-based practices has also led me to expand my cognitive-behaviorally trained practice to include the influences of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP). Most recently, I have attended some mindfulness training, and as such, I have expanded my practice outside the clinical world and into my private life.

I have also been involved in learning about Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and the effects that it has on eating, psychological distress, and mood. I have written a chapter in “The Dietitian’s Guide to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome”, by Angela Grassi, MS, RD, LDN, on the psychological impact of PCOS, and have co-authored “The PCOS Workbook: Your Complete Guide to Physical and Emotional Health”.