Mandy Habib graduated LIU Post’s clinical psychology program in 2002. Her dissertation was entitled: “Family Affect in Families of Children with ADHD.” Dr. Habib was also a member of the Family Violence concentration, a passion that she continues to pursue in her career. She has worked extensively for traumatized adolescents. She currently works at Adelphi University’s School of Social Work as the co-director of the Institute for Adolescent Trauma and Training and Treatment. The program focuses on improving the execution of trauma-informed treatment through professional training and development. Dr. Habib was one of the principal authors of Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress, or SPARCS, a program that trains professionals to work with traumatized adolescents. In 2008, she spoke as part of a Complex Trauma Speaker Series, and gave a talk entitled “SPARCS: Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress: A Guide for Trauma-Focused Groups.” She has also presented this topic in multiple settings to many professionals. As the primary national trainer for the program, she has trained and supervised over 1,000 clinicians nationally on the impact, assessment, and treatment of complex trauma in adolescents and children. She is also very involved in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, and represented the organization on Capitol Hill along with a panel of other professionals in order to fight against governmental budget cuts. Dr. Habib also runs a private practice in Manhasset.
When reflecting on her LIU Post education, Dr. Habib commented: “I got a lot out of my time at Post. In addition to meeting some of the smartest, funniest, and kindest people I know, I had the opportunity to learn from real experts in the field. They didn’t just teach me specific techniques and approaches (which in and of itself would’ve been a lot), rather, they taught me how to think. How to conceptualize. One of the most important questions we sometimes forget to ask, is ‘why?’. Why are people doing what they do? On some level, what they’re doing is working, or they wouldn’t be doing it. This is the approach I take whenever I hear a teen labeled as “conduct-disordered, baby borderline, bi-polar, antisocial, etc.”. Over the last couple of years I’ve been lucky enough to train and provide consultation to clinicians working in juvenile justice facilities. One of the first things we do is apply a “trauma lens” in understanding why the youth are engaging in gang activity, selling drugs, committing violent crimes, not going to school. These “difficult”, or “challenging” behaviors serve a function. They’ve often proved adaptive in traumatic environments, and as such, are efforts to cope with very difficult life circumstances. For many of the kids in these facilities, the same behaviors that got them locked up, are also the same behaviors that quite literally, have helped them survive. They are both victim and perpetrator. As a “trauma person”, I of course tend to see trauma everywhere, but I also see resilience, and strength. This type of conceptualization, while second nature for many, is not a given across the board. In recent years, systems have begun to make efforts at becoming more trauma-informed. I’m glad that I get to be involved in that in a very small way. My time at Post prepared me for what I do now. I’m completely comfortable thinking through things from a CBT perspective as I am through a psychodynamic lens, and in both, I always ask ‘why?’.”