Making a difference in our community for over 30 years

The Center for Individual
and Family Counseling

A Non-Profit Community Service Agency

Who We Are

Administration

Sherry Brill, M.A., LMFT

Executive Director

Sherry began her career with CIFC in 1995 as an intern for our agency while completing her master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University. When she became a licensed clinician, she embarked in a career specializing in child and adolescent psychology in the Latino community. She has spent the last five and a half years working at various elementary, middle and high schools in the North Hollywood area. There she provided therapy to the students and their families as well as teaching parenting classes in the schools. From her experience in the Los Angeles Unified School District and the experience she gained from teaching the parenting classes, Sherry developed her own bi-lingual psychotherapeutic game Talk It Up!™ This game was specifically designed as a therapeutic intervention for children, teens, and their families in the Latino community. Sherry also created and wrote a bi-lingual parenting workbook “Dynamic Families” which teaches parents a non-violent parenting perspective in raising their children and at the same time empowering themselves to become more effective parents in creating a stronger and emotionally healthier family. She returns to CIFC with a wealth of experience and now directs our agency in providing quality mental health programs and other social services for all residents of our San Fernando Valley community.

Grace Medina

Office Manager

Since 1996, Grace has been an important pillar in the organizational structure of CIFC. She is responsible for managing the office and making sure that all schedules and appointments, bookkeeping, and the co-training of new therapist interns with the Executive Director. She also prepares all new client files and paperwork and makes sure they are compliant to the codes and standards of our industry. In addition, she works with the Executive Director in building the Latino Families Program offered at CIFC.

Supervisors

Rachel Bar, M.A., LMFT

In addition to supervising at CIFC for the past 18 years, Rachel has served as the Clinical Director of San Fernando Valley Counseling Center, for the last ten years. Rachel is an AAMFT approved supervisor and she utilizes her extensive training with beginning counselors and licensed therapists as well. In her private practice in Encino, Rachel has been seeing individuals, families and has specialized in couples' work. Besides working from an Existential/ Object Relations perspective, Rachel uses her training in hypnosis, EMDR and muscle testing as investigative tools in therapy.

Linda Seidman, M.A., LMFT

Linda Seidman, M.A., MFT, has been a supervisor at the Center for Individual and Family Counseling for 2 1/2 years. She received her Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University. Linda served her internship at the Airport Marina Counseling Center, and completed a one-year training program in Clinical Hypnosis at the UCLA Neuropsychiatry Institute. Linda worked for 10 years with the Janis Frankel Oral Exam Preparation Workshop as a teacher and coach. During this period she ran workshops and produced audio prep tapes in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Bowen Family Systems Theory. She has also been a guest lecturer at the Fuller Graduate Institute and was a monthly contributor to the L.A. Parent Magazine. Linda has a private practice in Encino where she specializes in adults, couples and older adolescents with a wide variety of diagnoses. She is also a provider for Employee Assistance Programs working with various workplace related crises.

Christi Taylor-Jones, M.A., LMFT

Christi Taylor-Jones, MFT is a former special education teacher, journalist and author. She received her B.A. in psychology at UCLA, and went on to get a Master’s Degree in special education, a second B.A. in journalism and finally her M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Phillips Graduate Institute. Combining her family systems and Behavioral therapy background, she specialized in children with special needs offering both individual and family counseling, as well as social skills training. She Interned at CIFC, the Center for Attention Disorders and Five Acres. She was editor of the San Fernando Valley CAMFT newsletter, Connections, for a year an a half and has supervised at Valley Therapy Center and the Personal Growth Institute. She currently has a private practice in Encino where she specializes in women’s and second half of life issues as well as life transitions. She sees individuals, couples and families and also facilitates women’s groups, including a divorce support group. She is a third year candidate in the analytic training program at the C.G. Jung Institute where she is studying to be a Jungian analyst.

Hannah Weinstein, LMFT

Hannah began her affiliation with CIFC as a paraprofessional therapist. She then returned to school to complete her Master’s degree in psychology and then went on to receive her license as a Marriage and Family Therapist. In the past she worked with John Bradshaw in doing groups with families of adolescence drug abusers. She also served as the Treasurer for the San Fernando Valley Chapter of CAMFT. In the past, Hannah facilitated groups for elementary school children who were deemed at risk for the school district in Sulphur Springs, California. Currently she maintains a private practice in Encino. Hannah returned to CIFC in 1999 as a Supervisor and her expertise is in working with our new trainees and interns.

Susan Chenault M.A., LMFT

A graduate from PGI with a masters degree in marriage and Family counseling, Susan completed her intern training at CIFC. Upon licensure she continued working at our agency and eventually went through our supervisor training program. Susan has supervised our trainees and interns for over 21 years. She has a private practice in Westwood and works from a family systems foundation. She also has taught a parenting series “Systematic Training for Effective Parenting” in her private practice. In the 1980’s Susan was the group therapist for nurses in the AIDS unit of Hollywood Community Hospital. She also worked with many AIDS/HIV patients during that period. Susan’s experience also includes her 20 years of facilitating groups for Compassionate Friends, a support group for parents who have lost their children.

Ken Newelt, LMFT

While attending Phillips Graduate Institute, Ken started his professional career as a Staff Counselor here at CIFC in 1997, In 2000, Ken accepted a position with Hathaway Child and Family services. There for seven years he provided intensive in-home therapy to at-risk youth. During his tenure at Hathaway he completed his licensing and launched a private practice in Sherman Oaks. In his private practice, Ken specializes in the developmental stages and transitions which occur in men’s lives, including adolescence, relationships, career issues, midlife, grief and loss. He has returned to CIFC as a Supervisor to support the growth and development of our trainees and interns.

Staff

The staff at CIFC is comprised of 36 clinicians, of which both licensed and therapist interns provide the services and programs offered at our agency.

Our counselors are selected on the basis of life experiences, insight, empathy, warmth, a genuine concern for people, education, training, counseling experience and skills.

The therapist interns are either currently in process of completing their graduate studies in Clinical Psychology or have already graduated and are completing their post graduate training before they become eligible for licensure. CIFC provides weekly supervision for all its staff members. Each counselor volunteers time, energy and money in support of our work in the community.

Testimonials

As I enter into my third year as a Marriage and Family Therapy Intern at CIFC I am proud to be part of a rich, 30-year history of service to a broad community. CIFC's ongoing commitment to serving a diverse population, both on site and off, has provided me with a broad range of clinical learning as well as opportunities to specialize. Supervision, one of the most valuable aspects of prelicensing experience, is of the highest quality. The peer support and comfort level at CIFC make it a "home away from home."

Grace Valenti, MFT Intern

As I come to the end of my 3,000 hours, all of which I did at the Center, my memories are of, a warm and supportive environment. I have made many friends and enjoyed my time here, so much so that leaving will be difficult, but necessary.
Working with a diverse population has created an opportunity for me to become a better Therapist and Art Therapist.

Thank You All,

Deborah Lakeman
MFT Intern & Art Therapist

The training at the Center for Individual and Family Counseling was excellent. I saw a wide range of clients, from children to adolescents to couples and families, in a variety of presentations. Not only did I feel fully supported throughout my training, but I also felt that CIFC valued different theoretical approaches and worked with interns and trainees to develop what worked for them. Though I supplemented my training during my time at CIFC with more specialized work at other sites, I always returned to CIFC because it felt like home to me. I am enormously grateful for the opportunities CIFC gave me and for the other wonderful interns and professionals I met there.

Rebecca Roy, MFT Intern

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