About Me
As a clinical psychologist at the Child Study Center, part of Hassenfeld Children鈥檚 Hospital at NYU Langone, I am dedicated to providing compassionate, reflective, and expert individualized care to help children and their caregivers heal from challenging life events. My professional approach is tailored to each child鈥檚 unique developmental capacities, formative experiences, and the quality of parent鈥揷hild attachment. By providing a safe, understanding, trauma- and attachment-informed environment, I aim to support children and their caregivers in optimal healing from difficult life experiences.
I specialize in child trauma treatment, focusing on the youngest survivors鈥攊nfants, toddlers, and preschoolers (birth to age 5). Throughout my 25-year career, I have worked with young children and their caregivers who have experienced various traumatic events, including domestic violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse, parental substance use, loss of a parent, medical illness, and child-welfare involvement. My expertise lies in understanding how these early experiences can profoundly affect the social-emotional and behavioral development of young children.
There is often a belief that young children are too little to remember or know what has happened and therefore will not be affected. In fact, young children, their caregivers, and the parent-child relationship can all be profoundly impacted by stressful experiences in ways that may set the stage for significant emotional and behavioral problems that emerge later in childhood. What drives my deep commitment to this work is my belief in the power of early treatment intervention to head off later disturbance, qualitatively changing the trajectory of children鈥檚 lives.
In addition to my clinical work, I am actively involved in teaching and supervising at NYU Langone. I educate trainees and undergraduates about child trauma and supervise early childhood trauma treatment. As the project director of a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)鈥擭ational Child Traumatic Stress Network grant, I oversee the screening, identification, and referral of young children living in New York City domestic violence shelters. As a nationally endorsed trainer, I also instruct clinicians throughout New York City in Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), an evidence-based trauma treatment for young children and their caregivers. My research and publications focus on the impact of parental post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), attachment disturbances, the effects of violence and maltreatment on young children, and therapeutic interventions for traumatized children.
Credentials
Positions
- Research Assistant Professor,
Education and Training
- PhD from Long Island University, 2004
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Insurance Plans Accepted
This provider accepts the following insurance plans.
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Aetna
- AETNA EPO (NYULH Employees)
- AETNA EPO (Sunset Park Employees)
- Aetna EPO (AMEX employees)
- Aetna POS (American Express Employer)
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Blue Cross Blue Shield
- BCBS EPO (BlackRock Employees)
- BCBS EPO (NYU Langone Suffolk Employees)
- BCBS PPO (BlackRock Employees)
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United Healthcare
- United Healthcare (NY University Care Plan)
- United Healthcare Choice (AMEX employees)
- United Healthcare Choice (Blackrock employees)
- United Healthcare Choice (CBS employees)
- United Healthcare Choice (Simon and Schuster)
- United Healthcare EPO (NYU Langone Health Employees)
- United Healthcare EPO (Sunset Park Employees)
- United Healthcare Indemnity (NYU Langone Health Employees)
- United Healthcare NYU Care (NYULH Employees)
- United Healthcare NYU Care (Sunset Park Employees)
- United Healthcare Nexus (Amex Employees)
- United Healthcare Plus (NYU Langone Health Employees)
- United Healthcare Plus (Sunset Park Employees)
- United Healthcare Student Resources (NYU)
- United Healthcare Value, Advantage and HDHP (New York University employees)
Erica Willheim, PhD does not accept insurance.
Locations and Appointments
Child Study Center
1 Park Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10016
Research Academic Contact
Academic office
One Park Avenue
7th floor
New York, NY 10016
Phone
Publications
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Willheim, Erica; Schechter, Daniel S
Child & adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America. 2025 Apr ; 34(2):291-310
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Kerker, Bonnie D.; Milian, Jacqueline; Clark, Melissa R.; Weiss, Dara; Lewis, Kristen; Willheim, Erica
Journal of child & family studies. 2023 Jan 01; ?-?
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Feder, Michael A; Brodman, Douglas M; Yang, Zi Chun; Ng, Vanessa YT; Glickman, Samantha; Smith, Jacquline; Baroni, Argelinda; Willheim, Erica; Verduin, Timothy L
ADHD report. 2022 Aug; 30(5):Publisher