Lisa Greenberg, PhD

We got a top-notch evaluation for our 8 year old from Lisa Greenberg in Oakland last year. She is so wise, smart and kind.

Our family has worked with Dr. Lisa Greenberg in Rockridge.  I ran into her recently, looked her in the eyes and told her, "you changed my son's life."  This is simply the truth.  

We approached Dr. Greenberg on the recommendation of friends when our son found that he couldn't finish the SAT, or the ACT in one sitting. He had a prior assessment that was not as thorough as it needed to be but we didn't know until our son's back was up against the wall.  The prior testing was rejected by ACT and the College Board - no accommodations.  Call it a parental learning curve. Spend the money now, or spend more later: been there, done that.  And most critically, time lost cannot be gained back. 

Dr. Greenberg has the rare combination of experience, professional and ethical standards, intuitive sense and ability to communicate respectfully to both teens and adults in an intelligent, supportive, educational and genuinely positive way.  She's the total package. She created a safe space for our son to talk and share with her. My son, who had been struggling with feeling stupid, ended up seeing and feeling how smart he is through the testing and her ability to explain to him how his brain works, the gifts he has and the areas that are different.  Her family counseling is spot on. 

Dr. Greenberg took the time to listen to our concerns, and our son's concerns, about his learning and future. Her intake was extremely thorough. She worked with us step by step to explaining which tests she thought were necessary and which ones weren't or needed to wait until she had more information.  We never got the sense that she was spending our money on unnecessary testing.  Highly detailed reports were tailored to our son specifically, and were clear, logical and visually easy to read.  She educated us on his cognitive situation, explained test results, answered as many questions as we had, and made recommendations.  We never had the feeling that she was anywhere but present with us.

Dr. Greenberg created a team, making herself accessible to and communicating with the ACT tutor we hired, his regular tutor, teachers, and the Learning Specialist at school for testing accommodation in his classes. She also assisted those at school in charge of working with College Board and ACT, to obtain the appropriate accommodations. 

With regard to petitioning the College Board and ACT (which is much harder than the initial request,) she explained that when testing scores/assessments/recommendations are sent to the College Board they need to present the findings in the most straight forward way - readable, understandable information, "right there." Dr. Greenberg's submission demonstrated clearly and precisely why our son needed the accommodations she recommended. 

As a result of Dr. Greenberg's outstanding expertise, team building, and my son's involvement in his own adventure, he raised his ACT scores to a number that was a game changer in terms of college acceptances.  While we are parents who loath the standardized testing system, we feel it was a critical factor in his acceptance to a high ranking engineering school, (and which was the right fit for him.) Best of all, I can sleep at night ;)