Ginger Martin, Psy.D.,

Dr. Martin is a native to Pittsburgh, and attended Allegheny College in Meadville PA where she met her husband. Dr. Martin’s passion for helping others led to her attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s doctoral program in clinical psychology where she earned her Psy.D. in clinical child psychology. She had extensive training working with children in schools, at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s Child Development Unit, at private clinics, a community mental health center, and Head Start. She specialized in working with children and families and enjoyed both therapy and assessment. Dr. Martin sought specialization in work with younger children and enjoyed learning about child development, autism and other developmental disabilities, and disruptive behavior in both assessment and treatment of preschool-aged children. Her research focused on the effects of premature birth on a child’s preschool-aged temperament and parent-stress.

After earning her degree, Dr. Martin moved to Sarasota Florida for a year. During this time, besides relaxing in the sun and hosting visitors from “up north,” she provided therapy for children, adolescents, and adults. Following this year in sunny Sarasota, she and her husband moved back north to Maryland and traveled each day to work at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC (a miserable commute!). During this time, she specialized in early childhood development and performed developmental assessments with children ages 4 months to 4 years. Her research at this time focused on the effects of television viewing on young children.

Finally, a move back to Pittsburgh! As a licensed clinical child psychologist, Dr. Martin works at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic’s John Merck Clinic for children with autism and developmental disorders. She performs diagnostic evaluations for children on the autism spectrum, and also participates in various research studies. Dr. Martin’s work at Cognitive Dynamic Therapy Associates specializes in working with young children and their families. She particularly enjoys individual/play therapy with preschoolers and school-aged children, family therapy, and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. Dr. Martin finds that working with children at a young age can prevent further behavioral problems and that empowering parents is most beneficial to the child. Her emphasis on child development and the parent-child relationship provides a unique perspective so that families are quite involved in therapy. Dr. Martin truly enjoys her work and finds that the most powerful reward is seeing a parent’s face light up when they see improvements in their child’s behavior and find that their relationship with their child has been enhanced.