Robert A. Pelosi

National Certified Counselor

Diplomate, American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress

Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor

Robert A. Pelosi, NCC, LCMHC, BCETS is a clinician, writer and consultant. His clinical background extends over twenty-five years of work with kids and families with multiple disabilities. He specializes in intervention with children and families with traumatic stress, domestic violence, attachment disorders and special needs. Bob is a National Certified Counselor by the National Board for Certified Counselors, a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (VT) and licensed in NY. He holds a Master’s Degree in Human Services, and a two-year post-Master’s Certification in Gestalt Therapy.

A Board-Certified Expert in Traumatic Stress, Bob is a practicing psychotherapist in several states, He is additionally trained in Attachment Disorders, Abuse & Neglect, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. He is a Diplomate of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, and is listed in the International Registry of Experts in Traumatic Stress. He recently engaged in the implementation of a new Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Model for Children with Disruptive Behavior Disorders through The Center for Advancement of Childrens' Mental Health at Columbia University.

Bob has also served on the Adjunct Faculty of Antioch New England University in Keene, New Hampshire, supervising graduate interns in the Applied Psychology Department. His private practice has offices in Wilmington and Bellows Falls, Vermont. In his spare time, Bob enjoys time with his family, traveling, playing keyboard, oil painting, flea markets, farm animals, and dabbling with home repair projects at the family's 220-year old rural Vermont farmhouse.

DEDICATION

The concept of No Broken Kids
is dedicated to the world's best mother . . . to hundreds of us!

"Hello my darling boobalah! Welcome home. We've been waiting for you. We're so happy you're here." I can hear her even now, looking at the most hardened, hopeless, broken kid, saying things like "Aren't you wonderful! I'm so glad you didn't kill the dog too. You should be very proud of yourself!" I still haven't decided whether she was nuts, or a genius. Probably, she was a bit of both. Sara believed with every fiber of her being that there were no hopeless kids. None. As we began the new treatment program, we accepted the "hopeless cases." 12 year-old prostitutes, 14 year-old murderers, brutal attackers, juvenile sex offenders and the "toughest of the tough." Those kids thought they had gone to hell, as each was lovingly and overwhelmingly embraced by an obese Jewish mother with a heart as big as Ohio who wanted to feed them cookies and love them back to humanity.

Sara was the Director of a unique residential treatment program for kids who were considered emotionally disturbed and juvenile delinquent. Those were the hot labels at the time, and these particular kids were deemed to have been the most hopeless ones in the Massachusetts system. They had to be both emotionally disturbed and criminal in order to even be considered for admission. Well, Sara started the program with a grant, a wing, and a prayer. She made it a point to hire a young, idealistic and utterly naive staff; ones who hadn't been corrupted by years of indoctrination in the system. The commonality between all the thirty-six staff she started with was a belief that there were no hopeless kids. It was the seventies then, as most of the twenty-something year-old staff walked in with jeans with holes in them, an old rattletrap of a car, and heads and hearts full of naive ambitions. We thought we could change the world!

Indeed, it was an incredibly naive perspective. Love them back to health. Treat each of these broken kids as a unique gift from the universe. Keep them safe, even from themselves. Tuck them in at night and tell them stories. Keep telling them how wonderful they are, and maybe they'll come to believe it themselves. Lots of lofty ideals and principles and a staff of barely-adults who were just young enough to have missed being full blown hippies. This was the next best thing! Free love for all! Who knew we could have been so wrong and so right at the same time.

Sara taught me that there are NO broken kids. Not my kid, and not yours. You may think your kid is broken, her teacher may think so, his therapist might be sure of it. But Sara always knew. There are no broken kids. No Broken Kids! Thank you, Sara Sellinger