Dr. Elise Pilchak completed her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium. She completed her APA-accredited internship program at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services in Grand Rapids, Michigan with a focus on autism spectrum disorders treatment and assessment and neuropsychological assessments.

Throughout graduate school, she developed a passion for conducting child assessments and has worked with a wide range of ages, backgrounds, and populations in a variety of settings including the Stanford University School of Medicine Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Kaiser Permanente Autism Assessment Clinic, the Stanford Autism Research Program, and at the Pine Rest Psychological Consultation Clinic. She has had extensive experience in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of neurodevelopmental, mood, anxiety, ADHD, ASD, ODD, and trauma-related disorders using a broad range of interventions and assessments. Dr. Pilchak also hold extensive experience in providing Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) to children with autism spectrum disorder, enhancing their communication, social skills, and behavioral development. In addition, Dr. Pilchak conducted the “A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Motivation-Based Social Skills Group Treatment with Parent Training,” which demonstrated significant improvements in peer initiations among children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, highlighting the efficacy of integrating parent education with social skills groups.

She is passionate about working with children and families with neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder, learning disabilities, and ADHD. She specializes in parent training and believes that empowering parents to become active participants in their child’s treatment will lead to the greatest prognosis and treatment outcomes. She takes a client-centered strengths-based approach to treatment utilizing a myriad of evidence-based interventions. She believes that families need a safe place to be understood and held when confronting a neurodevelopmental diagnosis and strives to provide a warm environment for all her clients.