San Francisco neuropsychologist, SF Cogmed Coach

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About the Practice

Diane H. Engelman, Ph.D.
JB Allyn, M.B.A.

Providing Understanding, Hope, and Tools to Improve Your Life

Our mission is to empower you to find accurate diagnoses and appropriate treatments or trainings. In so doing, we encourage you to advocate well for yourself or your family member in the psychological, neuropsychological, and medical arenas.

Diane Engelman

Neuropsychologist, Psychologist, Psychotherapist, Cogmed Qualified Coach, Patient Advocate.

I have worked in the field of mental health treatment, assessment, advocacy, and consultation for more than thirty years. I am more convinced than ever of the importance of celebrating, and utilizing your unique strengths and abilities as we work to solve your problems.

My belief in empowering people to better understand and advocate for themselves led me to specialize in neuropsychological and personality assessment, and then to adopt the collaborative assessment method I now use. This approach considers you, as the client, to be a full partner in the assessment process.

I have an extensive background providing psychotherapy, assessment, and patient advocacy for adults, children, adolescents, couples, and families. My clinical practice is also a Qualified Cogmed Practice in which I and my colleague JB Allyn and Dr. Tracy Ryaru (www.tracyryaru.com) are trained Cogmed Coaches.

My other areas of focus comprise the psychological aspects of medical illness, including bereavement, and patient empowerment. My counseling experience encompasses working with individuals and families who are faced with acute, chronic, or terminal illness, are dealing with loss and grief due to death, divorce, or life change, or have general parenting concerns. I co-founded Valley of the Moon Hospice in Sonoma, California, and consulted to that organization for over twenty years.

I received a Masters degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in Community Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing and continue to hold an active license as a registered nurse. My doctorate in psychology is from the California Graduate School of Family Psychology. I also completed a two year intensive postdoctoral training program in clinical neuropsychology at Fielding Graduate University.

I am co-director of the Center for Collaborative Psychology and Psychiatry in Marin County, California, and I speak and teach for professional and lay organizations. My memberships in professional organizations include the National Academy of Neuropsychologists, Society for Personality Assessment, International Rorschach Society, California Psychological Association, Northern California Neuropsychology Forum, Marin Psychological Association, National Association of Healthcare Advocacy Consultants, and Society for Participatory Medicine.

JB Allyn

Writer, Business Manager, Cogmed Qualified Coach

I specialize in creative and technical writing/editing in the field of psychology. Recently, I completed writing a handbook of style and grammar for psychological assessors to be published in early 2012. I have collaborated with Diane Engelman on therapeutic stories and presentations for nearly seven years. Along with Diane, I am a Cogmed Qualified Coach, and I also manage the business aspects of her practice. I bring thirty years of diverse knowledge to my work with her.

I’m very pleased to contribute to the practice my ability to help people grasp information in a way they find relevant and useful. Written and spoken communications have provided the backbone of my experience in business management and teaching. I designed and taught an interdisciplinary communications and negotiation course for U.C.L.A. Extension’s certificate program. In this course, technical and scientific experts learned to effectively interact with those outside their specialty area. I hold a Master of Business Administration degree from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Arts in English and drama from California State University, Sonoma.

I designed and managed communications and training programs for various industries and businesses, large and small, and coached individuals in effective writing and speaking skills. Working with scientists and engineers, I translated complex technical terms and data into plain English. I have written corporate training materials, articles, software manuals, and speeches for CEOs of companies as well as poetry and fiction. I was business manager for communications companies and professional theatres, including the Los Angeles Olympic Arts Festival. In my earliest career, I acted in the theatre.

Today, I draw from these experiences to help bring better understanding and insight to each of our clients.

Our Collaborative Work

Since 2004, the two of us have collaborated on writing projects, including dozens of therapeutic stories. With some clients, Diane uses these stories to communicate the essential details of his or her assessment data. A metaphorical rendering of aspects of the person’s life provides the context for the embedded facts.

We specialize in writing these stories for adults and teens, though we have also written them for children. At professional conferences in the U.S. and abroad, we give joint presentations on the use and impact of therapeutic stories with adults and teens and how to write the stories. Our presentation style is unusual for these conferences in that we often incorporate dialogue into our format.

Our Recent Presentations