Abrams & Associates

Meet the Practice

Scroll down to preview photos and bios of our associates!

We work as a group and collaborate as a team of psychologists in order to be resourceful in addressing your needs and concerns. We take a thorough and thoughtful approach to treatment planning, meeting biweekly as a team to network, enhance our skills and share resources.

Associates in our practice are skilled and experienced licensed psychologists who go out in the field to do speaking events, consultation, classroom observations as well as continued education trainings. Our psychologists work part-time here at Abrams & Associates, as well as with other reputable clinics and agencies such as National Institute for Health [NIH], Childrens Hospital, Walter Reed Medical Center and the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Please check out our blog as well as our Facebook for articles and links relevant to current psychotherapy research and theory as well as practical hands-on advice!

NOTE! To contact your doctor, call our mainline, 301-949-2098 and you can press the extension for your therapist as you hear the greeting!

Staci Mendelson Sarg     Office Assistant/Intake Coordinator  

301-949-2098×1  admin@abramsandassociates.com

Staci Sarg is our part-time Office Manager/ Intake Coordinator.

She has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Psychology from Frostburg State University and a Minor in Marketing and Communications.

She has been working in the Advertising and Marketing world for the past 12 years with Gazette Newspapers and Washington Jewish Week Media Inc. Staci has interned in a Kindergarten class and an Advertising Agency. She has volunteered with Camps, Day Care Centers and most recently, Brookside Gardens Butterfly Exhibit. Her best skills are Customer Service, organization, math and creative thinking.

She is now happy to be using both of her skills and passions with Abrams and Associates.

Susan Priester   Billing Administration/Bookkeeper                                  

301-949-2098×3  billing@abramsandassociates.com

• Submits invoices for patients
• Manages billing, payroll and Quickbooks
• Manages patient accounts

Susan Priester is the Bookkeeper for Abrams and Associates and therefore responsible for all the financial aspects of the practice, including patient billing management, vendor payments, etc.

She lives in Kensington with her husband and three boys, having grown up in New Jersey. She relocated here after graduating from Hofstra University in NY with a BA in Liberal Arts.

Susan’s professional experience over the past two decades has included such varied positions as Professional Photographer at one end of her ability spectrum to Franchise Owner at the other.

Throughout her career, she has carefully balanced a dual trajectory to foster her love of the fine and performing arts and to develop and expand her financial and administrative expertise. Even today, as she supports the Doctors of Abrams and Associates and maintains a few other long-time bookkeeping clients, she still manages to perform annually as the official children’s Storyteller for the DC JazzFest, appear annually in a staged reading of Pirates of the Chemotherapy to support the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and take portraits for the occasional photo client.

In her free time, Susan can often be found with her family fishing, kayaking, taking pictures or painting en-plein-air at any one of the multitude of parks in the region.

Beth Anne Feldman, PhD.  Licensed Psychologist

301-949-2098×5 feldman@abramsandassociates.com                                                                                         

• Preschooler, Children, Adolescents and Families
• Parent Management Training in Behavior
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy [CBT]
• ADHD, Oppositional Defiant, Mood Disturbances, Anxiety, Learning Problems
• Social Skills and Anger Management Group Training
• Psychoeducational Evaluations

Dr. Feldman is a licensed psychologist with a focus on children and families.  She specializes in the treatment and assessment of preschoolers, children, and adolescents with a wide range of emotional, social, and behavioral difficulties.  She has a strong background in the provision of parent management training, cognitive behavioral therapy, and family therapy to promote healthier family relations and communication.  As a former elementary school teacher, Dr. Feldman also specializes in treating children with school problems such as inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and academic underachievement.  She conducts psychoeducational evaluations and provides school consultation.  Additionally, Dr. Feldman has developed and led social skills and anger management groups for youth.

Dr. Feldman received her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Richmond and received her doctorate in school psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Her graduate training included rotations at Dorothea Dix Child Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic in Raleigh, NC and Children’s National Medical Center Hyperactivity and Learning Problems Clinic.  She completed a pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Kennedy Krieger Institute. Dr. Feldman is also an adjunct professor at Towson University.

Dara Thorner, PsyD     Licensed Psychologist    301-949-2098×9 thorner@abramsandassociates.com

• Child Psychotherapy
• Parent consultation & Mothers Groups
• Social Skills Groups for children
• School admissions testing

Dr. Thorner is a licensed psychologist who provides both therapeutic and assessment services.  Currently, her primary focus is on treating children with a wide range of emotional and behavioral problems, including anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, and peer conflict.  Dr. Thorner incorporates a variety of therapeutic techniques in her work, and collaborates with parents in their child’s treatment.

Dr. Thorner graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and earned her doctorate from the George Washington University.  She completed her pre-doctoral training at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, PA, and worked under the supervision of Maria Zimmitti, Ph.D. in Washington D.C. after earning her degree.

During the course of her training, Dr. Thorner worked in a variety of settings with diverse populations.  She led support groups for post-surgical patients, acted as primary therapist for clients on a psychiatric inpatient unit, provided therapy for patients with cancer, as well as their spouses and children, and conducted individual long and short-term psychotherapy for patients of all ages.  She was trained primarily in psychodynamic psychotherapy, but also has experience with behavioral, play, and cognitive-behavioral therapies.

Dr. Thorner has provided educational, psychosocial, and cognitive-functioning assessments in both school and office settings.  She has conducted research at the National Institutes of Mental Health and the University of Pennsylvania.  Dr. Thorner is a member of the American Psychological Association.

Deborah Zavos, LCSW-C   Licensed Clinical Social Worker

301-949-2098×11 Zavos@abramsandassociates.com                          

• Adolescent Psychotherapy
• Family Systems & Parent Consultation
• Young Adult Individual
• Parent Consultation for Special Needs
• Race and Cross-Cultural

Deborah Zavos has over 25 years of experience as a social worker mainly in Montgomery County. She was the Clinical Director of Bethesda Chevy Chase YMCA Bethesda Youth Services (BYS). During her time at BYS, she did prevention and early intervention work with adolescents and families. She led therapeutic outdoor adventure groups, teen improvisational theater (playback), led parenting groups, court mandated alcohol education and prevention groups, individual and family therapy and ultimately provided clinical supervision for staff and graduate students. She currently works in Montgomery County Public Schools in special education with students who are experiencing emotional difficulties and are unable to access their education in a general education environment. She provides intensive case management for families who are experiencing a variety of crises, in school counseling services, concrete services and IEP development and implementation. She also leads social skills groups, a transracial adoption support group and facilitates staff development.

Deborah brings a wealth of experience in working with teens in a variety of settings. She even led a bicycling trip with teens from Rome to Paris! Her ability to connect with adolescents provides them with a safe place to explore challenging issues. When the family is involved in the process she seems able to bridge the chasm that sometimes occurs between the adolescent and the adults. Her warmth, compassion and insight assists families in developing and achieving their vision of their desired family life. She also brings a love of action methods. She has over 1,000 training hours in psychodrama, biblio-drama and playback theater. She is part of a professional playback theater company called Synergy In Action. Playback is a form of theater where the content of the performance is offered by the audience from their real feelings, thoughts and personal stories.

Ranon Cortell, Ph.D.  Licensed Psychologist

 301-949-2098 x 7   Cortell@abramsandassociates.com

• Children and Adolescents
• Psycho-educational Testing
• Social-emotional and Personality Assessment
• Learning Disabilities & Special Needs
• Play therapy for Children
• ADHD assessment and therapy

Dr. Cortell brings a combination of warmth, empathy, and insight into his work as he partners with clients to help them improve their quality of life. He works with children, adolescents, and adults, providing individual and family therapy and psychological assessment.

Dr. Cortell has experience working with young children and adolescents through play and talk therapy, and he has led workshops to help parents manage their children’s behaviors and emotions. He has provided therapy for adults in community mental health, hospital, and private practice settings. Dr. Cortell conducts psychological assessments to evaluate learning, attention, emotional, and behavioral challenges and provide appropriate recommendations. He teaches Personality Assessment to doctoral students at Catholic University of America and supervises interns and postdoctoral students in their assessment work.

Dr. Cortell is a licensed psychologist in Maryland and a member of the American Psychological Association.  He received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from The Catholic University of America and completed his pre-doctoral internship at the Woodburn Center for Community Mental Health where he worked with clients of all ages and varied cultural backgrounds.

Wendy Marsh Buzy, Ph.D. Licensed Psychologist       

301-949-2098×8  Buzy@abramsandassociates.com

• Preschoolers, Children & Adolescents
• Parent Consultation
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Play Therapy for Children ages 3 and older

Dr. Buzy is a licensed psychologist who works primarily with children, teens and their families.  Her solution-focused approach helps clients achieve a range of goals such as decreasing unwanted behavior, promoting coping skills, fostering healthy social interactions and improving family dynamics.  Dr. Buzy has a strong background in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which emphasizes how thoughts, feelings and behaviors influence each other.  Working from a CBT foundation, Dr. Buzy incorporates a variety of methods, including expressive techniques (e.g., writing, drawing) and play therapy when appropriate.  With parents, Dr. Buzy embraces a collaborative approach that capitalizes on existing strengths while teaching parents valuable new skills and strategies.

Dr. Buzy has worked in a variety of settings, including community mental health clinics, a treatment center for child and adolescent survivors of sexual abuse, a specialty clinic for children ages zero to three, Texas Children’s Hospital, and the Child Psychiatry Branch of the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH).  Dr. Buzy has co-authored articles in scientific research journals on topics such as attention disorders, the effects of domestic violence on children, and adolescent drinking behavior as a risk factor for relationship violence.

Dr. Buzy completed her undergraduate work at Yale University and earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Houston.  She completed her pre-doctoral internship at The University of Maryland School of Medicine.  She is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), APA’s Division 42: Psychologists in Private Practice, APA’s Division 37: Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice, and the Maryland Psychological Association.

Jenny McCartney, Psy.D., Ed.M., Licensed Psychologist                                              

301-949-2098 x6  McCartney@abramsandassociates.com

• Toddlers, Preschoolers, School-Age Children, Adolescents and Adults
• Play Therapy, Individual Therapy and Family Therapy
• Parent Guidance
• Adjustment Issues, Behavioral Issues, Learning Disabilities, Attentional and Organizational Issues, Difficulties with Peer Relationships, Depression, Anxiety
• Siblings of Children with Disabilities/Special Needs

Dr. McCartney enjoys working with children of all ages, from early childhood through adolescence. She has more than 10 years of experience working with children in clinic, school, daycare, home, and inpatient settings. Dr. McCartney works with children who are coping with stressful situations in their lives, as well as with children who are struggling with behavioral issues, learning disabilities, attentional and organizational issues, difficulties with peer relationships, depression, and anxiety. She has a special interest in working with children who have brothers or sisters with disabilities or special needs. Dr. McCartney collaborates with parents and teachers to find solutions and help kids thrive. She works hard to understand children in the context of their families, communities, schools, and cultural backgrounds.

Dr. McCartney pursued her education and professional training in Massachusetts. She received her undergraduate degree from Williams College. She completed a Master of Education in Early Childhood Risk and Prevention at Harvard Graduate School of Education. In 2008, she earned her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. Dr. McCartney completed her pre-doctoral internship training at Cambridge Health Alliance’s Child Assessment Unit and at the Brookline Community Mental Health Center. Prior to training as a psychologist, she worked with infants and toddlers and their families as an Early Intervention Specialist.

Dr. McCartney is licensed as a Psychologist in Maryland and in the District of Columbia. She is a member of the Maryland Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association.