GOC Staff Members
Our Administrative Team
Executive Director
Kenneth Barber, PhD
215-947-8654 ext. 272
Gocenter1@aol.com
In 1974, Kenneth Barber, PhD implemented the vision of Gloria Dei Church Senior Pastor, Ernest Schmidt, when he was asked to develop counseling services that would be of high quality, affordable, and quickly accessible to all people needing help. This vision became the Growth Opportunity Center of Gloria Dei. At that time, Dr. Barber, a member of the church, was a clinical psychologist with eight years of experience at Northeast Community Mental Health Center in Northeast Philadelphia. Later, he became a Senior Staff Psychologist at Friends Hospital and has served as full-time Executive Director of Growth Opportunity Center since 1995.
As Executive Director, Dr. Barber is the functional head of the Growth Opportunity Center. He plans, organizes, operates, and administers the mental health program. Dr. Barber meets regularly with the Administrative Team and facilitates these meetings to develop new programs and review and modify ongoing services. He also delegates, with the consensus of the Administrative Team, administrative responsibilities to managers of specialized ongoing programs (e.g., Autism, Testing, Tutoring) and insures these managers are given supervision and support.
In conjunction with the Clinical Director, Dr. Barber has developed the group of professionals who provide clinical services for the Center, making changes when necessary. He also oversees the files of providers to insure professional standards are met in terms of credentialing, licensing, liability insurance, and clearances.
Dr. Barber received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961 from Dickinson College where he graduated Cum Laude with Honors in Psychology. A Master of Arts degree in psychology and a Doctor of Philosophy degree with specialization in Clinical Psychology followed, respectively, in 1961 and 1966 from Temple University. From 1989-1996, Dr. Barber served as Director of Psychology Internship Training at Friends Hospital, Philadelphia, PA. He also served as a Senior Staff Psychologist at this world-renowned facility from 1981-1989. Concomitantly, from 1981-1989, Dr. Barber was Director of Adult Outpatient Services at Northeast Community Center for MH/MR, Philadelphia, PA, where he previously held the positions of Staff Psychologist, followed by Chief Psychologist, beginning in 1980. As a Senior Clinical Instructor for Hahnemann Medical College (now Drexel University/Hahnemann Medical College), Dr. Barber supervised medical students and taught psychiatric residents.
In addition to providing numerous presentations regarding areas of psychology and faith, Dr. Barber is known for co-founding the Greater Philadelphia Psychology/Spirituality Interest Group with Richard Neville, PhD and Jeffrey Shapiro, PhD. This group, which began in 1980, continues to this day. He has also been highly regarded in the community service area by seeing low-fee clients for over twenty years through the Human Services Center of the Philadelphia Society for Clinical Psychologists. Any fees collected are returned to the Human Services Center to help maintain it. Dr. Barber has served as both the President and Treasurer of the Philadelphia Society of Clinical Psychologists.
Dr. Barber is licensed as a psychologist by the State Board of Psychology Examiners and certified as a school psychologist by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
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Clinical Director
Saul Fisher, PhD
215-947-8654 ext. 258
SaulFisher19006@yahoo.com
Dr. Saul Fisher is the Clinical Director of the Growth Opportunity Center and has been working with the Center for the past 32 years. Dr. Fisher’s responsibilities as the Clinical Director have been to create and develop new programs to meet the needs of the community. As Clinical Director he has taken responsibility to support the quality of services delivered by the Center. To that end he has developed a supervision group structure to support the service providers and insure the quality of services being delivered. Quality of service is a major commitment of the GOC and the supervision groups have run consecutively for the past 25 years.
Dr. Fisher has a PhD from Temple University in Developmental Psychology and has developed an expertise as a family therapist with young children and adolescents. He has developed a model for training family therapists in a practical, solution-oriented, problem-solving, and brief model of family therapy. Dr. Fisher has trained other family therapists in working with families with young children throughout the state in the form of Continuing Professional Education Programs. The providers at the GOC have benefited from Dr. Fisher’s expertise and are practitioners of this same problem-solving model of family therapy. Additionally, Dr. Fisher provides Continuing Education Training for professionals throughout the tri-state area and presents at professional conferences throughout the state.
In keeping with the Center’s mission to provide educational programming to the community, Dr. Fisher developed a series of educational programs for parents within the framework of “parent education as prevention.” One of Dr. Fisher’s parent education programs, “The Do’s and Don’ts of Discipline: A Practical Guide to Parenting” was produced in digital format and distributed nationally.
Dr. Fisher also is on staff with the Department of Pediatrics, Holy Redeemer Hospital, Meadowbrook, PA. He is also on the Board of the Family Institute of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, one of the original Family Therapy training institutions in the city, where he has provided training in family therapy for young children in the past.
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Financial Director
Michael Goldberg, LCSW, CPA
215-947-8654 ext. 282
gocenterMG@aol.com
Michael Goldberg holds the unique position of being the Financial Director of the Growth Opportunity Center and a family therapist. He has been working with the Center since 1996. As Financial Director, Michael’s responsibilities include the business and financial operations of this multi-location outpatient mental health facility, including preparation of the annual budget, all insurance billings, and supervision of employee retirement and health plans. Michael is also involved in the overall decision-making process related to administrative and clinical operations and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the administrative staff.
Michael has a Master of Social Work degree from Widener University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Temple University. Prior to joining the Growth Opportunity Center, Michael was the National Tax Director and Executive Financial Manager for Amerimar Realty Company, Philadelphia, PA. He is well known in the Philadelphia/Montgomery County area for creating the Healthy Finances Program, which provides financial counseling to individuals, couples, families, and small businesses where financial issues have reached stressful and damaging levels. Treatment consists of reality-based and solution-focused therapies, in conjunction with sound financial programming.
In addition to his role with the Growth Opportunity Center, Michael is affiliated with The Center for Sport Psychology (http://www.psychologyofsport.com). As a Performance Enhancement Specialist, Michael works traditionally with student athletes participating in programs ranging from youth sports through the collegiate level. Michael has presented on Sport Psychology in a variety of settings including individual, family, team, and organizational.
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Our Program Directors
Director of Autism Spectrum Services
Robert Rosenthal, PhD
215-947-8654 ext. 254
rjrpsych@comcast.net
Dr. Rosenthal joined the Growth Opportunity Center in 2002 as a specialist in developmental disabilities, anxiety/mood disorders, and disruptive behavior disorders. He developed and currently directs our Autism Spectrum Services program. In less than six short years, hundreds of children ages 2-18, and some adults, have been evaluated and treated. Over 85 children participate each semester in social skills groups that address social communication and relationship deficits. Additionally, current techniques are used to identify the unique profile of each child’s functional and developmental capacities, enabling the team to respond with individually tailored treatment recommendations for any child who is evaluated.
In addition to evaluation and social skills groups, Dr. Rosenthal’s treatment team focuses on case management, individual social problem-solving therapy, parent/family training, use of social stories, behavior modification, consultation with schools, and primary care physician and referrals as needed for occupational therapy, speech, and psychiatric services.
Dr. Rosenthal received his Bachelor of Arts in 1987 with a major in Psychology from the University of Rochester. He graduated with honors. Both a Master of Science and Doctorate in Philosophy followed in 1994 and 1999, respectively, at the University of Wisconsin. At Wisconsin, Dr. Rosenthal majored in Educational Psychology in the School Psychology area and minored in Human Development, Family Systems, and Therapy.
Prior to joining Growth Opportunity Center, Dr. Rosenthal served as a School Psychologist at Bancroft NeuroHealth, Haddonfield, NJ, and an Adjunct Professor in the Psychology Department of Arcadia University, Glenside, PA. In addition to his responsibilities at Growth Opportunity Center, Dr. Rosenthal has been a state certified school psychologist in Abington School District, Abington, PA since 1998.
Dr. Rosenthal has presented on various topics dealing with Autism Spectrum Disorders throughout the tri-state area and has been a presenter at many conferences including the annual meetings of the National Association of School Psychologists and the Association for Behavior Analysis.
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Coordinator of Psychological Testing and Educational Services
Director of Student Training
Diane Sizer, Ph.D.
215-947-8654 ext.269
GOCenter1@aol.com
Dr. Sizer received her PhD.from Bryn Mawr College in 1993 in Clinical Developmental Psychology. This was preceded by a Master of Science from Villanova University in General/Experimental Psychology and a Bachelor of Science (Cum Laude) from La Salle University. Dr. Sizer joined the Growth Opportunity Center family in 1996 as a specialist in family therapy for children with disruptive behavior disorders. She also specializes in psychological assessment and learning disorders. As a result of her extraordinary expertise, enthusiasm, and keen interest in helping others, in 2000 Dr. Sizer emerged as the Coordinator of Psychological Testing and Educational Services. Today her responsibilities include all telephone intakes for assessment services, determining assessment protocols, and assignment of cases to our various expert providers. She also coordinates all services for those children needing multiple services including testing, psychotherapy, speech therapy, and tutoring, among others. At about the same time, Dr. Sizer initiated the psychological testing practicum for training graduate students from colleges in the tri-state area. Because of her commitment and passion for excellence in the field of psychology, her training program has expanded to including a clinical practicum, and a predoctoral internship for PsyD students in testing and therapy. Many of the students Dr. Sizer supervises are asked to remain on staff at the Growth Opportunity Center upon receiving their degree because of their excellence and enthusiasm.
Dr. Sizer currently supervises and oversees the work of several doctoral level psychologists and master’s level counselors. Many of the psychologists are also state certified school psychologists. In addition, she works intensively to train three graduate students in psychological assessment and therapy. She insures that the assessments provided are comprehensive in nature and include information obtained from all aspects of the child’s life including parents, teachers, therapists, and physicians. As one of the largest non-profit mental health centers in the region, psychologists at the Growth Opportunity Center provide psychological assessment services to over 100 clients a year.
Prior to working at Growth Opportunity Center, Dr. Sizer was a psychologist at Catholic Social Services, providing testing and therapy within the counseling and foster care departments. Her predoctoral internship was conducted at Eastern State School and Hospital where she provided psychological assessments and individual and family therapy to inpatient adolescents with psychiatric disorders. Other pre-doctoral experiences included work at CORA Services, Abington Friends School, and Episcopal Academy.
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Our Office Manager
Lisa Cattell
215-947-8654 ext. 102
Gocenter1@aol.com
As all GOC staff and clients know, there is always one central person who acts as the "go-to" person. At the Growth Opportunity Center this individual is Lisa Cattell, our Office Manager. Lisa is the right-hand lady to our Administrative Team and sets their requests as priority. As a result, she is given high levels of responsibility including assisting our Executive Director in orienting new independent contract providers in all areas that relate to the GOC process: billing, referrals, scheduling procedures, and required paperwork. All providers appreciate the help and support that Lisa provides in her open-door policy. Lisa supervises a staff of six whom she keeps current on all new policies and procedures, and new implementations for Magellan, IBC, and Advanced Data Systems. She also tracks all vacation, sick, and personal time, and conducts yearly reviews of each office staff member in conjunction with our Financial Director. She also maintains an enormous database for our independent contract providers regarding current status of their license, malpractice insurance, child abuse forms, criminal abuse forms, openings for new patients, room assignments, the vacation board, billing statements, payroll statements, and co-pay collections, When new office staff join GOC, she trains them in their assigned duties. Always energized by her responsibilities and challenges, Lisa is always thinking ahead. With this comes another job for Lisa, which includes requesting authorization from insurance companies and running reports to determine if any claims were denied. Then she puts on her investigative hat! Lisa has developed a system that tracks all clients who contact GOC. This helps her to maintain efficiency in tracking intake reports and billing in a timely manner.
Lisa is a graduate of Abington School District. She previously worked at Fisher and Porter, Inc. and AMI, a semiconductor business where she was secretary for the Vice President. She also worked for Warminster Hospital for 7 years before coming to us. Lisa spent 18 years at home raising four phenomenal children until she joined the GOC staff part time in 1999. In 2003, she was asked to become the new Office Manager. In addition to her responsibilities at GOC, Lisa has her own medical billing service and helps plan special events. When asked what she finds exciting about working at GOC, she states that she “enjoys the challenge of a busy office and there is always something new to learn.” She also notes that “the office staff is magnificent and the Administrative Team makes every day at GOC a pleasure." Interestingly, there is total agreement by all who know her that the words "magnificent and always a pleasure" also refer to her.