Kenneth L. Herman, Ph.D.: Professional Website

Licensed Psychologist: PSY10916

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist: LMFT24462

Email: admin@docherman.com

Business Office: 1137 Huntington Drive, Building A South Pasadena, CA 91030 323.344.0123

Santa Clarita/Valencia Office: 27201 Tourney Road, Suite 201-U Valencia, CA 91355 661.286.1200

Dr. Herman's Info

Dr. Ken Herman graduated from the University of Southern California with his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology in 1987. He is licensed by the State of California as a Psychologist (#PSY10916, since 1989) and as a Marriage and Family Therapist (#MN24462, in 1988). Dr. Herman is the founder and CEO of Herman & Associates and has been in private practice in South Pasadena since 1988. He has extensive experience in psychodiagnostic assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of learning disabilities (LD) and attention disorders (ADHD). He has many publications in peer review professional journals, and has presented at numerous local, national, and international conferences.

Dr. Herman offers expertise in working with individuals who have:

Learning Disabilities/Differences

Dyslexia/Reading Disorders
Dyscalculia/Math Disorders
Disorders of Written Expression
Problems with processing speed impacting note-taking

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD, Inattentive Presentation
ADHD, Hyperactive-Impulsive Presentation
ADHD, Combined Presentation

Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder.
Asperger's Syndrome.
High Functioning Autism.
Nonverbal Learning Disabiliy.
Other High Functioning Developmental Disorders

Other Disorders

Depressive Disorders (Dysthymia, Major Depressive Disorders)
Bipolar Disorders
Anxiety Disorders (OCD, Social Anxiety, Generalized Anxiety)

Therapeutic Orientation

My theoretical orientation is not easy to describe because it is a culmination of all my readings and experiences in psychology, research, education, child development, and philosophy. At the heart, I am a developmentalist who works with children, adolescents, and adults. I tend to conceptualize cases from a complex model that incorporates family history, birth and developmental history, psychosocial history, academic history, medical history, and psychiatric history. I believe in the premise of the psychodynamic model that early childhood relationship experiences are very powerful and initially shape who we are and how we approach the world. I believe that chronic unstable or inconsistent parenting greatly impacts an individual's ability to trust themselves and others, and form deep meaningful interpersonal connections with others. While parents have the greatest impact on the formulation of self and object relations, I have seen that healing and stabilizing experiences can come from a variety of other sources (e.g., other family members, teachers, mentors, coaches, significant others, therapists).

Working in Psychotherapy

My therapy and interventions commonly involve simultaneous processing of content and process, the resolution of inner conflicts and unprocessed emotions, and the aligning of both thoughts and emotions. I believe in forming strong working relationships with clients, encouraging insight and self-awareness, validating the client's beliefs and perceptions, and working together to understand how change needs to occur from an empathic, but sometimes confronting position. As clients evolve through this process and gain greater confidence and independence, I work to encourage their transition and emotional independence. I promote the success attributes described in our, and others' research.

In working with children, I believe that the most powerful interventions come from a team approach. I usually prefer working in a multidisciplinary team model and often collaborate with other professionals. For example, when working with children I may initially conduct a classroom observation and teacher interview to gain a first-hand understanding of my client's functioning in the classroom. I work with clients to choose the best therapeutic format (e.g., individual, family, conjoint) to match client's particular needs and goals.

Diagnostics

Visit our Diagnostic Assessment website for more information.

Comprehensive psychodiagnostic testing for children, adolescents, and adults.

Psychological Testing
Assessments for:
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).
- Learning Disabilities in reading (dyslexia), math, writing, processing speed, fine-motor coordination, etc.
- Intellectually Gifted
- Twice Exceptional (2E).
- Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder.
- Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD), such as Asperger's Syndrome (AS) and High Functioning Autism (HFA).
- Substance Abuse Disorders.
- Affect Regulation, Anger Management, and Other Emotional Issues (e.g., depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, OCD, generalized anxiety disorder).
Our psychoeducational assessments meet or exceed the testing criteria for most professional review boards (e.g., the College board, SAT, ACT, GRE, LSAT, California State Bar Exam, MCAT, among others).

If you are outside southern California, please click on this line and inquire about our "fly-in/fly-out" assessments (https://www.docherman.com).

Counseling and Psychotherapy

Visit our Counseling Center web-page for more information.

The Counseling Center provides individual, couple, family, and group psychotherapy services to children, adolescents, and adults. Our counseling is guided by a line of research that identified a number of characteristics correlated with adult success. These are termed the "Success Attributes" and the published papers are available for download on our research web page.

We believe in the team concept and frequently consult with other professionals (e.g., psychiatrists, working with our clients). For more information, please see our Research and Theoretical Orientation pages. Our services include:

Individual counseling and psychotherapy
Family counseling
Parent education (The "Parent Challenge" program).
ADHD counseling to improve self-discipline, organization, and time management.

Professional Consultations

Team Approach: We strongly believe in a team approach and we invite clients to include significant others (parent, partner, therapist, psychiatrist, etc.) when appropriate. During assessments, we invite referring professionals to join our team for our internal case conferences. We consult regularly with other professionals that include:

Physicians.
Psychologists.
Attorneys.
Speech and Language therapists.
Educational therapists.
Occupational therapists.
Physical therapists.
School districts staff (we are available to attend 504 Plan meetings, IEP meetings, and we partner with the school districts and parents to complete "Independent Educational Evaluations - IEE").
Educational Advocates.

ADHD Counseling

Visit our home page (www.executive-functioning.com) for more information.

Herman & Associates has developed an expertise in working with clients who are struggling with Executive Functioning (EF), which are commonly seen in individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), or the Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Herman & Associates has over 25 years of experience in assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals who have problems with organization, time management, and self-discipline.

Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Visit our ASD home page (www.autisticspectrums.com) for more information.

Herman & Associates has developed an expertise in working with clients who have Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD). We have over 25 years of experience in assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals who have an Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder, Asperger's Syndrome, and Nonverbal Learning Disorder. Herman & Associates provides the following services:

Executive Functioning/
Study Skills

Visit our home page (www.studyskillclasses.com) for more information.

Improve affect regulation and coping skills.
Increase the ability to initiate an appropriate task while inhibiting off-task behaviors.
Improve organization, time management, and self-discipline abilities.
Improve social/relationship skills.
Job counseling, interviewing and monitoring of employment.
Independent living skills (e.g., grooming, cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping).
Appropriate recreational activities (there is more to life besides gaming!)
Self-monitoring skills.
Life-balance skills (regulating basic biology - eating, sleeping, exercise).