Charlotte Reznick

"The challenges of growing up in today’s rapidly changing society are enormous. Children need to be equipped with skills for survival and growth that were never before imagined. I focus on teaching children and adolescents self-healing and self-control techniques that will empower them to realize their potential throughout their lifetime."

Exploring and integrating new paradigms to improve psychological health of children and their families has been the focus of my career. My dissertation, “The long-term effects of parental divorce on adolescent academic achievement and psycho-social development: A study of vulnerable and resilient children” earned honors and “dissertation of the year” from USC’s Department of Educational Psychology. That research was later published in two articles (“Long-term effects of divorce on adolescent academics,” journal of Divorce and “Long-term effects of parental divorce on young adult crime,” journal of Youth and Adolescence) and one book chapter (“Divorce and Family Instability,” in Influences on Human Development: A Longitudinal Perspective).

After earning my Ph.D., I turned my attention to the area of coping skills that I and others have shown help vulnerable children be resilient in the face of stresses from divorce and other life challenges. For the past 25 years, my professional practice and clinical research studied the power of children’s imagination through visualization, imagery, and meditation.

Starting out as a psychologist in inner city schools of South Central LA, I worked with many desperate children looking for hope of a better life who were not helped by traditional interventions. These children needed to be armed with effective psychological tools that were easy to incorporate into their stressed lives to help them not only to survive, but to thrive. I was drawn to research, first performed with adults, attesting to the success of guided imagery in physical and mental health.

Integrating this research with the needs of children I worked with daily, I began, year by year, to develop a successful positive coping skills program using guided and interactive imagery – enhanced by music, relaxation skills, drawing, and non-dominant journal writing. My work has gone beyond using simple guided imageries often noted in research, to focus on developing specific interactive tools that can be individualized and utilized in a variety of life situations. Extending my work from lower to middle and upper socioeconomic levels in the private sector showed that these imagery and meditation tools were effective regardless of SES or ethnicity.

Areas of practical application have been in: stress reduction, anxiety and pain control, overcoming fears, reducing somatic illness (headaches, stomachaches, tics), coping with loss (e.g. divorce and death), healing past abuse, handling anger and frustration, overcoming sleep disorders (including bedwetting), improving peer and sibling interactions, increasing academic and sports achievement. Through numerous case studies I have found nine tools, used either singly or in combination (depending on the problem to be overcome), that have helped children to live happier, healthier, and more productive lives.

To help advance these practices in pediatric psychology, I have written over 25 articles on the application of imagery treatment with children in various professional and lay jou als and magazines. I have also presented this innovative work at professional conferences and workshops to thousands of psychologists, therapists, physicians, nurses, educators, and parents across the U.S., and abroad, and at over 70 organizations such as the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine, St. John’s Hospital, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Califo ia Psychological Association and the National Association of School Psychologists. I was invited to Seoul, South Korea to speak to the Asian Pacific Psychology Association and train professors of psychology, medical doctors, therapists, students, and parents on how to apply my evolving imagery techniques to their culture. I have been requested to visit Israel to teach how this program can help bridge the gap betwee Israeli and Palestinian children. My working knowledge of Spanish and French and experience living abroad will enable me to bring this new psychological information to many cultures around the world.

I have authored and produced two therapeutic guided imagery CDs, which serve as the foundation for children to learn skills to go within and access the wisdom of their inner world (often as dreams draw from the unconscious). The CDs, Discovering A Special Place and Creating a Magical Garden and Healing Pond, have been well received by professionals, parents, and children. Upcoming will be Climbing a Mountain of Success. My website, www.ImageryForKids.com, active for the past several years, enables professionals and parents easy access to my articles and CDs. Additionally, a study with two children’s hospitals showed the efficacy of Creating a Magical Garden and Healing Pond in decreasing pain and increasing relaxation in post-surgical pediatric patients.

I have writte The Power of Your Child's Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success, a book geared toward parents, health-care professionals, and educators published by Perigee (Penguin Group) in August 2009. It outlines specifically how to teach children these creative and effective ways to cope with their emotions and successfully deal with difficulties in life. Rather than give children answers, they learn tools to find solutions for themselves, apply them to their lives, enabling them to understand and participate in their own psychological development and growth.

Charlotte Reznick PhD Imagery For Kids 11911 San Vicente Blvd., Suite 240 - Brentwood Los Angeles, CA 90049 Phone: 310/889-7859 Email:DrReznick@ImageryForKids.com Website: www.ImageryForKids.com

Presentations and Workshops Available:

Dr. Charlotte Reznick's real-world experience and clinical expertise are conveyed with unique warmth, humor, and enthusiasm. Parents, physicians, therapists, teachers, nurses, hospital staff – anyone who works with children – will be delighted and enlightened by Dr. Reznick's rich visuals and experiential activities.

Presentations can range from one hour lectures up to weekend workshops and can be tailored to meet each group's specific needs.