Briar is a Licensed Clincal Social Worker, licensed in California. She specializes in working with individuals, couples and groups, and maintains a private practice in Woodland Hills, California.
With over 23 years experience as a contemporary psychoanalytic therapist, and as a graduate of New York University specializing in psycho-dynamic therapy, she is currently serving as a private practitioner working with a broad spectrum of clients. Among her areas of expertise are individuals dealing with hard life issues, couples in crisis, and parents/families coping with difficult teenagers.
Briar is an interactive, solution-focused therapist. Her therapeutic approach is to provide support and practical feedback to help clients effectively address personal life challenges and foster internal healing and growth. She integrates complementary methodologies and techniques to offer a highly personalized approach tailored to each client. She listens for, and assesses, what is needed, and helps clients find their way and their voice.
Education
Briar received her Masters Degree in Social Work from New York University in 1986. Her internships were at Albert Einstein In-Patient Psychiatry and Gouveurneur Hospital's Out-Patient Mental Health Clinic. Subsequently she received post-graduate training at Hawthorne Cedar Knolls Residential Treatment Center and the Queens Child Guidance Center both located in New York. In 1992 Briar was certified as a Bradley Childbirth Educator and incorporated childbirth education and coaching into her practice. By 2002 Briar received a post-graduate certificate in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy from the Psychoanalytic Center of California in Los Angeles California. Most recently, in May 2009, she completed two years of training in an ontological communications model through Landmark Education emphasizing teams, management, and leadership.
Accomplishments and Organizations:
In addition to being a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, Briar has presented at conferences and to general audiences speaking on the topic of breast cancer and its impact on family life and communities. As the Vice-President of Homeless Not Toothless, a non-profit organization, she is committed to raising the pride and dignity of the homeless, with the ultimate goal of ending homelessness. In September 2009 Briar co-hosted a gala through Homeless Not Toothless to raise awareness and funding for her newest project which is to support a clinic that will ultimately provide dental treatment for the 28,000 children placed in foster care in the Los Angeles area. Briar is also a member of Doctors Who care, an organization of doctors, committed to providing the highest level of care to patients. She was featured with this group in Los Angles Magazine's January 2010 issue of top doctors in Los Angeles.