Berman, Pearl S. 1955- (Pearl Berman)

PERSONAL:

Born March 18, 1955, in Chicago, IL; daughter of Leonard (an electrical engineer) and Devora (an artist) Berman; married Michael N. Vaporis (an attorney), December 28, 1975; children: Rachel, Irene. Education: Brandeis University, B.A., 1977; Bowling Green State University, M.A., 1981, Ph.D., 1983. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Jewish. Hobbies and other interests: Music, skiing, photography.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Indiana, PA. Office—Department of Psychology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1020 Oakland Ave., Indiana, PA 15705-1064; fax: 724-357-2214. E-mail—psberman@iup.edu.

CAREER:

Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, psychology trainee at Psychological Services Center, 1978-82; East Center for Community Mental Health, Toledo, OH, clinical psychology intern, 1982-83; Zepf Center, Toledo, children's services supervisor, 1983-84; Children's Resource Center, Bowling Green, clinical psychologist, 1984-85; Bowling Green State University, instructor in psychology, 1985-86; Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, professor of psychology, 1986—. Veterans Administration Medical Center, Chillicothe, OH, psychology trainee, 1980; Wood County Mental Health Center, psychology trainee, 1981-82; conference presenter; consultant to Adelphoi Village Day Treatment, Indiana County Children and Youth Services, and other institutions and agencies. Indiana Public Library Board, vice president, 1992-93.

MEMBER:

American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology, American Psychological Association, American Professional Society for the Abuse of Children, Association for Women in Psychology, Child Welfare League of America.

WRITINGS:

(Under name Pearl Berman) Therapeuetic Exercises for Victimized and Neglected Girls, Professional Resource Press (Sarasota, FL), 1994.

Case Conceptualization and Treatment Planning: Exercises in Integrating Theory with Clinical Practice, with instructor's guide, Sage Publications (Newbury Park, CA), 1997.

(With S. Shopland) Interviewing and Diagnostic Exercises for Clinical and Counseling Skills Building, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (Mahwah, NJ), 2006.

Contributor to books, including Mirror, Mirror, in the Wall: Framing New Models to Evaluate Professional Competence, edited by J. Grip, B. Vaughn, and others, American Psychological Association (Washington, DC), 1993; Battering and Family Therapy: A Feminist Perspective, edited by M. Hansen and M. Haraway, Sage Publications (Newbury Park, CA), 1994; Ethical and Legal Issues in Professional Practice with Families, edited by D. Marsh and D. Magee, Wiley (New York, NY), 1997; and Short-Term Psychotherapy Groups for Children, edited by C. Schaefer, Jason Aronson (Northvale, NJ), 1999. Contributor to professional journals, including Child Welfare, Biofeedback and Self-Regulation, Employee Assistance Quarterly, Behavioral Biology, and Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Problems. Member of editorial board, Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 2001-03.

SIDELIGHTS:

Pearl S. Berman told CA: "In 1981 I was asked to assess two parents to see if they were now fit to resume custody of their eight-year-old son. He had been removed from their home due to severe physical abuse. This case changed my professional life forever. All of my professional training since then has been motivated by the desire to help prevent maltreatment or help fellow professionals learn how to effectively treat victims of maltreatment. Recently a poor economy has led our government to slash a large variety of important social welfare programs. This has inspired me to write my first book targeted at a lay audience of children. I am hoping that this book will be a fun and engaging book for preteens, one that they will want to read and reread many times. I am hoping that, in the process, they will learn to recognize if one of them or one of their peers is a victim of maltreatment. Optimally, they would learn that maltreatment must be stopped and, as adults, to support social welfare programs."