About Grace Berman

Background & Approach

I've spent the past 15 years working with adolescents and their families, primarily in school-based settings and private practice. My work focuses on helping teens navigate anxiety, depression, identity questions, and the unique pressures of growing up in a digital age.

If you're a parent, you'll find that I take a collaborative approach. I don't believe in keeping you in the dark about your teen's treatment. Instead, I work to create transparency and partnership while respecting your teen's need for confidentiality and autonomy.

If you're a teen, you'll find that I'm direct, honest, and won't talk down to you. I respect your intelligence and your capacity to understand what's happening in your own life. My job is to help you build skills and insight, not to fix you or tell you who to be.

Clinical Philosophy

I'm trained in multiple therapeutic approaches because different people need different tools. Here's how I decide what to use:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) works well when you're dealing with anxiety, depression, or thought patterns that aren't serving you. If you're stuck in catastrophic thinking or avoidance, we'll use CBT to challenge those patterns.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is especially helpful if you're experiencing intense emotions, struggling with relationships, or engaging in self-harm. DBT teaches concrete skills for managing distress and regulating emotions.

Family Systems work comes into play when individual therapy isn't enough. Sometimes the patterns that maintain problems are happening at a family level, and we need to address those dynamics together.

Trauma-Informed approaches guide everything I do. If you've experienced trauma, I understand how it shapes your nervous system, your relationships, and your sense of safety. We'll work at your pace to build stability before processing difficult experiences.

School-Based Mental Health

Much of my career has been spent in schools, where I've designed and implemented mental health programs, trained teachers, and worked with administrators to create supportive environments for students.

I know how schools work. I understand IEPs, 504 plans, and how to navigate bureaucracy to get students the support they need. If you're a parent trying to advocate for your child in a school setting, I can help you understand the system and communicate effectively with school personnel.

If you're a school professional, I provide consultation on program design, crisis response, and building sustainable mental health support systems within educational settings.

AI Ethics in Mental Health

As AI tools become more prevalent in mental health care, I'm committed to thinking critically about their ethical use. I believe AI can be a valuable tool for certain tasks, but it cannot replace human judgment, therapeutic relationships, or clinical expertise.

I'm developing frameworks to help clinicians evaluate AI tools through the lenses of privacy, transparency, and therapeutic integrity. If you're a mental health professional trying to navigate this landscape, I offer consultation and training on ethical AI integration.

Current Focus

Right now, I'm focused on creating accessible resources for parents and teens. Too much mental health information is either oversimplified or buried in academic language. I'm working to bridge that gap with practical, evidence-based content that's actually useful.

I'm also training mental health professionals who want to specialize in adolescent work, with particular emphasis on school-based practice and family systems approaches.