Belen has headed the Children Deserving Services program since inception, and has worked to grow awareness about the program in the communities. Belen graduated from Drexel University with a Master’s of Family Therapy. She is a bilingual (Spanish and English) therapist with a demonstrated history in using evidence-based approaches to treat individuals and families. Belen is a certified Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapist and trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). She is passionate about family therapy because it allows all the key players to be in the room to communicate openly and reach a deeper understanding of one another in order to strengthen relationships and gain the tools needed to reach their goals.

Gonzalo is an incredible asset to the CDS team, particularly due to his fluency in Portuguese. There is a large Brazilian immigrant population in Northeast Philadelphia, so the CDS program is sought out by a number of Portuguese-speaking families. As an immigrant from Argentina, Gonzalo really enjoys working with these immigrant families. In his spare time, he enjoys running and grilling.

CDS therapist profile to come