DR. BRIAN MCMANUS

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BACKGROUND & EXPERIENCE

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I am a licensed psychologist in the state of Pennsylvania.  I specialize in a combination of individual and family therapy for the treatment of children and teens who have anxiety, depressive, stressor-related, conduct, or substance use disorders, as well as other concerns relating to social/behavioral difficulties and grief/loss/separation/divorce. 

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I graduated Magna Cum Laude from the College of New Jersey with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and later earned my Doctoral Degree from DePaul University with a concentration in Clinical Child Psychology. My internship and post-doctoral training were completed through Holcomb Behavioral Health Systems in Exton, PA.

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My clinical experience includes individual, family, and group therapy, as well as crisis intervention, teacher consultation, social skills training, and substance abuse treatment. I have worked in multiple treatment settings across many levels of care including residential, inpatient, partial hospitalization, school-based, in-home, and outpatient treatment.

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I have also been involved in numerous research projects examining domestic violence; substance abuse and recovery; parent education and training; conflict resolution; and school-based violence prevention programs. I am a strong proponent of the utilization of evidence-based practices that have been shown to be effective in the treatment of specific disorders and presenting problems.

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I was formerly a Training Director for advanced graduate students participating in an APA-accredited Psychology Internship Program based in a community mental health center. I continue to provide supervision for graduate student interns on a part-time basis in addition to my practice.

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TREATMENT PHILOSOPHY & EXPERTISE

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I place a very strong emphasis on thorough clinical assessment and accurate diagnosis in order to inform appropriate and evidence-based treatment. I also believe that it is invaluable to understand a young person's behavior through a developmental lens and to consider the combination of psychological (emotional, cognitive, behavioral), environmental (interactions with others), and biological factors that influence their life. I utilize an integrative theoretical approach informed by developmental, family systems, biopsychosocial, and cognitive-behavioral frameworks, including "3rd wave" acceptance and mindfulness-based approaches.

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One aim of cognitive-behavioral therapy is to help individuals evaluate the ways in which their perceptions and thinking patterns may be inaccurate, rigid, distorted, and/or maladaptive. Cognitive-behavioral therapy also considers the function(s) that behaviors may be serving and factors that may be influencing and reinforcing problematic responses.

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Through therapy, individuals and families can learn to identify and modify dysfunctional feedback loops; reduce reactivity/escalation; increase flexibility; and improve communication and collaborative problem-solving. One of my main goals of therapy is to help young people and their family members perceive and respond to stress and adversity in pro-active, realistic, constructive, and goal-directed ways rather than in reactive, rigid, distorted, or destructive ones. This is often in combination with helping to strengthen general coping and social skills.

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In addition to cognitive-behavioral techniques, I emphasize parent management training, as well as motivational interviewing/enhancement techniques, particularly with respect to treatment of substance use disorders, which is an additional area of interest and specialization.