Melissa Tamas, Ph.D.
Dr. Tamas (PSY 31542) is a developmental and clinical psychologist. She provides counseling and assessment services to children, teens and parents facing a variety of behavioral and developmental challenges. In her clinical work with children and parents, she utilizes evidenced based treatment in a developmentally appropriate way in order to tailor interventions to support the specific needs and challenges of her clients. Dr. Tamas approaches CBT based treatment with an emphasis on resiliency and collaboration, working closely with children, parents, schools and pediatricians to help youth develop the skills and support they need to be successful. In her work with parents, she draws on a variety of parenting based inventions including SPACE (Support Parenting For Anxious Childhood Emotions), CPS (Collaborative & Proactive Solutions), RUBI PT (ASD) and Calm & Connected (ADHD).
Dr. Tamas also works at PAG’s Assessment Clinic, conducting neuropsychological assessments and developmental screenings for a wide variety of conditions including autism, ADHD and learning challenges. She understands how stressful learning, attention and mental health challenges can be for families. Her goal is to help families to better understand the difficulties their children face so they can mobilize the support and resources their child needs to be happy and successful. Dr Tamas seeks to understand the whole child through a collaborative and comprehensive strengths based assessment that starts and ends with the families’ specific questions and concerns. She collaborates with caregivers, school teams and health care providers in order to obtain a full picture of the child’s strengths and challenges. Her reports are readable and integrative, emphasizing how strengths and challenges show up in the child’s life and more importantly, what the family can do to help their child maximize their strengths and overcome their challenges. She strives to provide advice, recommendations and support that are specific, tailored to your families’ needs and firmly rooted in her comprehensive understanding of the child. After the assessment is done, Dr. Tamas remains available to her families to support them as they mobilize the resources their child needs to flourish and thrive.
Dr. Tamas received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Clark University and worked as a college counselor and instructor for many years before returning for postdoctoral training. She completed two postdoctoral training programs, one in clinical psychology and a second in school neuropsychology. Dr Tamas is well versed with the unique challenges that face parents and youth in the bay area. She completed her clinical training at CHAC (Community Health Awareness Council), Kaiser Permanente, ACNC (Autism Center of Northern California) and San Francisco General Hospital. Dr Tamas’s internship at the UCSF’s Child and Adolescent Services provided specialized training in assessments and interventions to support children and families facing trauma. Following her internship, Dr. Tamas completed postdoctoral training at the Seesaw Psychology Group, The Pacific Anxiety Group and SF Mindmatters, focusing on both assessment and therapy with children and parents. Her approach integrates assessment with CBT and mindfulness based interventions to help children, parents and families facing a variety of developmental and behavioral challenges.
When not at PAG, Dr Tamas enjoys teaching psychology classes at De Anza College, spending time with her family, hiking with her dogs and horseback riding. Dr. Tamas is a big women’s basketball fan and can often be found cheering on the Stanford Women’s Basketball team. She believes that the wellness of our children start with a strong community and is an active volunteer in a variety of local community and school based organizations.