Dr. Sternberg received his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from C.W. Post in September, 1995 and has been a licensed psychologist since 1997. He also holds two Postdoctoral Certificates from Adelphi University – one in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, awarded in 2004, and one in marital therapy, awarded in 2006. He is Board certified in clinical psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology and is recognized by the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. He has been an adjunct professor of psychology at both Adelphi and C.W. Post, and is currently a faculty member of the Suffolk Institute for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy where he teaches and supervises psychoanalytic candidates. He is also a clinical supervisor for the C.W. Post doctoral program as well as for Pace University.
Dr. Sternberg’s specific interest in psychoanalysis actually preceded his interest in psychology in general. His fascination with psychoanalytic theory and therapy began as a young adult as result of his own experience in analysis and relevant readings he had done on the topic. He pursued a career in psychology with the purpose of ultimately becoming a psychoanalyst. To this end, Dr. Sternberg began his psychoanalytic training at Adelphi immediately upon graduating from C.W. Post.
Dr. Sternberg’s dissertation focused on the assessment of object relations using the Rorschach. In addition to using certain variables in John Exner’s Comprehensive System, it utilized several scales developed by others including the Ego Impairment Index, developed by William Perry and Donald Viglione; the Concept of the Object Scale, developed by Sidney Blatt; and the Mutuality of Autonomy Scale, developed by Jeffrey Urist. These scales combined variables from the Exner system with their own methods of analyzing Rorschach content to assess the individual’s view of himself, his perception of others and his relations to the people around him.
Along with his clinical work, Dr. Sternberg is active in the field of forensic psychology. His interest in forensics sprung from a paper he wrote while at C.W. Post on the prediction of violence. After his post-internship year, he applied for a position at the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center, a maximum-security forensic hospital which treats the Adangerously mentally ill, formerly referred to as the Acriminally insane. While working at Kirby, he came to know many fascinating, if sometimes frightening, individuals and often thought that a book exploring their psychodynamics would be interesting. After years of formulating ideas on the topic, he began putting his thoughts down on paper about a year and a half ago and continues to work on the book in his spare time.
In addition to forensic psychology and individual psychotherapy, Dr. Sternberg is very well versed in marital and couples therapy. His interest in this area developed as a result of the many calls he received for clients interested in couples therapy. Although he hadn’t previously thought much about working with couples, he found that he enjoyed the work greatly. The demand, coupled with his curiosity and desire to be competent in this area, led him to enter Adelphi’s Postdoctoral Program in Marital and Couples Therapy, an experience he describes as Avery much worth his while.
Dr. Sternberg currently maintains a private practice in Hewlett, New York, conducting psychotherapy with adolescents and adults in individual as well as couples sessions. In his capacity as a forensic psychologist, he conducts evaluations in both criminal and civil cases and has testified in courts throughout the New York metropolitan area.