Faculty Bios

Dean: Gerd H. Fenchel, Ph.D.
One of the original founders of Washington Square Institute, Dr. Fenchel is Director/Dean of WSI, and a training and supervising analyst. He is licensed as a psychologist in New York and Pennsylvannia and licensed as a psychoanalyst in New York State. He maintains a private part-time practice.In addition to his general responsibilities, he is a contributing editor to Issues in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and editor and author of several books such as The Developing Ego and the Emerging Self in Group Psychology (with D. Flapan); Psychoanalytic Reflections on Love and Sexuality, The Mother-Daughter Relationship: Echoes through Time and Psychoanalysis at 100. He is a Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association and the Pennsylvania Psychological Association; member of the Division of Psychoanalysis, American Psychological Association and NY State Psychological Association and member of the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalytic Training Program

Chair of Matriculation & Chair of Training: Steven D.Robles, LCSW, LP.
Mr. Robles received his M.S in Social Work from Columbia University School of Social Work. As  a Faculty member he teaches the beginning technique class as well as the advanced technique course. Mr. Robles is a Training and Supervising Analyst, WSI. Member: NASW, WSI Alumni Association. He has authored several Clinical Articles on Childhood Trauma, Character and Training Analysis. He is in private Practice as a Psychoanalyst and Psychotherapist to adult's adolescents and couples in Manhattan , Dobbs ferry, and Throggs Neck. He is an associate and consultant for "Counseling and Psychotherapy of Throggs Neck".


Marc Angers, LCSW, LP
Marc Angers is a LCSW and Licensed Psychoanalyst with a clinical private practice in New York City. He was an American Keasbey Fellow and received his MA in Philosophy and Politics at Oxford University in 1975. He received his MSW from Hunter College, and his certificate in Psychoanalysis from Washington Square Institute in 2000, where he is a member of the faculty and a Training and Supervising Analyst. He has published numerous reviews and articles for the journal: Issues in Ego Psychology. He is a member of both NASW and NAAP.

Lawrence Birnbach, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist and Psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City and Westport, CT. Faculty Supervisor and Training Analyst. Washington Square Institute Chair of Training (1998-2005), Founder and Chair of Master Class Supervision Series, Adjunct Faculty with NYU University School Psychology Program, Board Member and former Treasurer of Association of Autonomous Psychoanalytic Institutes (AAPI), author of articles and newspaper columns on divorce, marital relationships, the role of money in psychoanalytic treatment, etc. He is the author (with Beverly Hyman) of How To Know If It's Time To Go.

Susan A. Klett, LCSW-R, Certified Psychoanalyst
Susan Klett received her MSSW from Columbia University and a Certificate in Adult Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy from The Postgraduate Center for Mental Health where she has been a faculty member.  She is on faculty, Supervisor, Training Analyst and Director of Continuing Education at Washington Square Institute.  President of Postgrad* The Postgraduate Psychoanalytic Society and co chair of the Planning and Education Committee of The Postgraduate Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. Chair of the Education Committee of the New York State Society for Clinical Social Work.  Published articles and reviews on Trauma, eating disorders, empathy used as a defense in couples treatment (with T. Evans) and on the analysis of  “In Treatment” A digital Psychoanalytic Product Analyzed (with M.Yard).


Natalie Z. Riccio, LP, LCSW,Ph.D.
A graduate of Fordham University GSSS, the Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies. In the mental health field for 35 years witha wide range of experience: from social work clinical practice to psychoanalysis; teaching, training, supervising, analysis; play therapy, talk therapy, group, couple, family. She is on faculty with WSI, Mid-Manhattan Institute, Fordham Graduate School of Social Service, Wurzweiler School of Social Work and is an NGO representative for IFS (International Federation for Settlements and Neighborhood Centres) at the United Nations. My specialty is psychopathology which I believe drives clinical practice.


Susan Sawyer, LCSW, ACSW
Susan Sawyer is a member, supervisor and training analyst at the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis. She is on the editorial board of The Psychoanalytic Review, and has a private practice in Manhattan and the Bronx.

Roberta Ann Shechter, DSW, LCSW, LP
Psychoanalyst in private practice, New York, NY; Supervising Training Analyst, Psychoanalytic Institute, Postgraduate Center for Mental Health; Faculty and Supervisor, Washington Square Institute; Faculty and Supervisor, Psychoanalytic Study Center; Associate Editor, Psychoanalytic Social Work. Former Member, the National Study Group, American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work (AAPCSW);Past President of the Postgraduate Psychoanalytic Society; Adjunct Associate Professor, Hunter College School of Social Work; Author of numerous publications: papers and book chapters on a variety of topics in applied clinical psychoanalysis.

Marilyn Tauber, MA, LP, NCPsyA.
Psychoanalyst in private practice, New York City. Faculty and Supervisor, Washington Square Institute. New York State Licensed Psychoanalyst. Certified Psychoanalyst, National Association For The Advancement of Psychoanalysis.Member: APA. NAAP.

Gibbs A.Williams,Ph.D., LP
Psychoanalyst in private practice, New York City. Faculty Washington Square Institute. Author of papers including Something out of Nothing; Imagery, Bulemia and Schizophrenia, Coping With Fear, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and Spirituality, The Psychodynamics of Meaningful Coincidences.

Margaret Yard, Ph.D.
Private practice in psychoanalysis, group practice, trauma and geri-psychiatry in New York City. A graduate of the Adult Psychoanalytic Program, the Group Analytic Program, and the Supervisory Program at the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health. Currently, Dr. Yard is on the executive boards of The Postgraduate Psychoanalytic Society and the Psychoanalytic Group Program. She is on the Faculty of Washington Square Institute and in the Supervisory Program.

Supervisory Training Program

Roberta Ann Shechter, DSW, LCSW, LP
Psychoanalyst in private practice, New York, NY; Supervising Training Analyst, Psychoanalytic Institute, Postgraduate Center for Mental Health; Faculty and Supervisor, Washington Square Institute; Faculty and Supervisor, Psychoanalytic Study Center; Associate Editor, Psychoanalytic Social Work. Former Member, the National Study Group, American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work (AAPCSW);Past President of the Postgraduate Psychoanalytic Society; Adjunct Associate Professor, Hunter College School of Social Work; Author of numerous publications: papers and book chapters on a variety of topics in applied clinical psychoanalysis.

Family Forensics Training Program

Chair: Linda Gunsberg, Ph.D.
In 1997, Dr. Gunsberg created The Family Forensics Training Program at Washington Square Institute. Dr. Gunsberg's forensic work has focused primarily in the area of divorce, custody, and recommendations for parenting time, but has extended into evaluation of mitigating factors in criminal cases, sexual harassment in the workplace, sexual abuse in hospital recovery rooms, malpractice suits, assessment of trauma and PTSD, professional boundary violations, and federal immigration cases. She frequently is called upon to consult with legal teams, both in and out of the courtroom.

Within family litigation, Dr. Gunsberg has been a forensic expert on issues such as grandparents' rights, relocation, parental alienation and parental child abduction, child abuse (sexual, physical and emotional), battered woman syndrome, and domestic violence. She has testified as an expert witness in jurisdictions throughout the United States. She was past Clinical and Research Director and is now Clinical Consultant for TAKE ROOT, the only organization in the United States for adults who were parentally abducted as children. Dr. Gunsberg is co-chair of the Psychoanalysis and Law Discussion Group of the American Psychoanalytic Association. In her clinical practice, she divides her time between forensic work and psychotherapy with children, adolescents, adults, families, and couples. In addition, Dr. Gunsberg provides parent consultation, including functioning as a parent coordinator. Dr. Gunsberg has co-edited the volume, A Handbook of Divorce and Custody: Forensic, Developmental, and Clinical Perspectives (The Analytic Press, 2005), and co-edited the monograph for Psychoanalytic Inquiry, The Psychoanalyst in the Courtroom, to be published in 2010.

Jay Dennis Cohen, J.D.
Mr. Cohen is a partner at Jacobs and Cohen, a general practice law firm that specializes in complex criminal litigation. After receiving his Juris Doctor from Howard University in 1976, Mr. Cohen served as an Assistant District Attorney in Kings County until 1980 when he entered private practice. He also serves on the executive boards of several non-profit organizations, including the Brooklyn Center for Families in Crisis, and is President of the Board of Directors of the Flatbush Development Corporation.

Steven Demby, Ph.D.
Dr. Demby is a psychologist with specialties in psychoanalysis and family forensics. His practice consists of psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, forensic custody evaluations, parenting coordination, divorce counseling, and collaborative divorce practice. He is a member of the New York Freudian Society and the International Psychoanalytical Association. Dr. Demby is currently on the Board of Directors of the New York State Chapter of the Association for Family and Conciliation Courts, and is on the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Forum for Family Law and Mental Health. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Pace University graduate program in school psychology. Dr. Demby has published articles on such topics as the impact of divorce on infants and toddlers, high conflict divorce, and psychotherapy with adults who grew up in divorced families.

Steven Fayer, M.D.
Dr. Fayer is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and an Attending Psychiatrist at Mt. Sinai Hospital. He teaches forensic psychiatry to psychiatric residents at Mt. Sinai Hospital and at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center. Dr. Fayer's forensic interests are diverse, covering areas such as criminal cases, civil litigation, malingering, fitness for work, competency, posttraumatic stress disorder, suicide risk, psychiatric malpractice, and family/matrimonial matters.

Suzanne Groisser, J.D.
Ms. Groisser is the staff attorney for the Rachel Coalition, a non-profit domestic violence service agency in Metrowest New Jersey, where she represents clients in Family Court. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School where she co-founded the Harvard Battered Women's Advocacy Project. From 1991-1997, Ms. Groisser was an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. She has lectured on domestic violence to physicians, attorneys, community groups, and clergy, and she has written several articles on domestic violence for both physicians and attorneys.

Ellen Holtzman, J.D.
Ms. Holtzman is a 1982 graduate of New York Law School, where she was an Alfred Gross Scholar. She has been in private matrimonial and family law practice in Rockland County since 1989. Ms. Holtzman is a past President of the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York, and is presently President of the Women's Bar Foundation of WBASNY. She is the 2007 recipient of the Association's Joan E. Ellenbogen Founder's Award for contributions to the advancement of law and the legal system. Ms. Holtzman is serving her second 4-year term on the Grievance Committee for the Ninth Judicial District. In 2008, Ms. Holtzman was appointed to the New York State Legislative Ethics Commission for a 3-year term. Ms. Holtzman has been a frequent lecturer at Continuing Legal Education programs in representing domestic violence victims in matrimonial actions, and is a participant in a program initiated by the Rockland County Family Shelter to educate attorneys in the techniques of representing battered women in divorce proceedings. She has taught Women, Crime and Justice at Dominican College.

Kimberly Kleinman, L.C.S.W.
Ms. Kleinman is a graduate of the Columbia School of Social Work. She is presently on the faculty of the New York Institute for Psychotherapy Training. In the recent past, Ms. Kleinman has served as Director of Staff Development at the Sackler Lefcourt Center for Child Development (infants and toddlers); Director of the Gender and Sexualities Clinic, Division of Adolescent Medicine, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center; and has been a staff member at the Parent Infant Program of the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. Ms. Kleinman's private practice includes treatment of adults in psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and couples therapy; and treatment of children in psychotherapy and infants in parent-infant psychotherapy.

Wilma Cohen Lewis, Ph.D.
Dr. Wilma Cohen Lewis is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst who works in private practice with children, adults, and couples, with a specialty in working with families impacted by divorce. She serves as a court-appointed expert in custody and visitation cases in Family and Supreme Courts and is a consultant to attorneys on the psychological issues of custody/visitation litigation. Dr. Cohen Lewis has taught classes and workshops in custody evaluation. Formerly, she was consultant to the Counseling Service Unit of the Fire Department of the City of New York, and group facilitator for the P.E.A.C.E. program. Dr. Cohen Lewis is a member of the teaching and supervisory faculties at the Training Institute for Mental Health and the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health.

Julie Marcus, Ph.D.
Dr. Marcus is on the faculty of the Institute for Child, Adolescent and Family Studies, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at Columbia University Teachers College. She is a member of the New York Freudian Society and the International Psychoanalytical Association. Formerly, Dr. Marcus was Chief Psychologist and Director of the Psychology Internship Program at Postgraduate Center for Mental Health. Dr. Marcus has an extensive background in psychological testing and has conducted psychological testing evaluations in child custody cases. She is in private practice of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis of adults, and psychotherapy with children and adolescents. Dr. Marcus specializes in the areas of learning disabilities, divorce, and adoption.

Billie A. Pivnick, Ph.D.
Dr. Pivnick is a clinical psychologist in private practice. Specializing in the treatment of trauma-related psychopathology in adults, adolescents, and families with young children, she is currently the consulting psychologist to the 9/11 Memorial Museum as well as a consultant to attorneys on psychological issues in litigation. She is also Adjunct Associate Professor in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at Columbia University Teachers College. Following her completion of a postdoctoral fellowship in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and research at Downstate Medical Center, Dr. Pivnick received IPTAR's Stanley Berger Award for her research contribution to the field of psychoanalysis. Formerly, Dr. Pivnick was research coordinator at the Barnard Toddler Center and on the faculties of the Child/Adolescent Training Program of the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health and the Pratt Graduate Creative Arts Therapy Program.

Claude Schleuderer, Ph.D.
Dr. Schleuderer has recently served as President of the Division of Psychologists in the Public Sector, New York State Psychological Association, and Chair of the Sex Offender Management and Treatment Task Force of the New York State Psychological Association. He is an active member of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts and the New York Chapter of AFCC. Dr. Schleuderer is an expert in the assessment of drug and alcohol use, and in the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders. He has brought these interest areas into his family forensic work, where he evaluates drug and alcohol use in parents, and allegations of child abuse in child custody cases.

Moisy Shopper, M.D.
Dr. Shopper is Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Child Psychiatry at the St. Louis University School of Medicine. He is certified by the American Psychoanalytic Association as a Training Analyst and Supervising Analyst (child, adolescent, and adult) at the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute. Dr. Shopper has conducted Guardian ad Litem training for the St. Louis Bar Association. He is a lay member of the Board for Disciplinary Hearings of the Missouri Bar Association. In addition, Dr. Shopper initiated and is co-chair of the ongoing discussion group, Psychoanalysis and the Law, for the American Psychoanalytic Association. He is co-editor of the book Stepparents (The Analytic Press, 2001).

Claire Steinberger, Ed.D., J.D.
Dr. Steinberger is a senior training analyst at the National Psychological Association of Psychoanalysis, and faculty member of the Object Relations Institute. She is an Adjunct Professor at New York University and LaGuardia Community College. In her private practice, Dr. Steinberger specializes in psychoanalysis, family and couples treatment, and mediation. She is a Certified Family and Divorce Mediator, and Parenting Coordinator for the Administrative Office of the Courts, State of New Jersey concerning child custody and parenting issues. Her most recent publication is The 'Multi-Headed' Mediator - A View, Mediation Council News, Fall 2007. Dr. Steinberger is currently working on a research project for the International Criminal Court (UNAUSA) involving the role of victim participation in the criminal justice system.

Ann N. Sydor, L.M.S.W.
Ms. Sydor has been a practicing social worker for ten years, and currently specializes in clinical and forensic social work. She has extensive work experience with at-risk children and their families. Ms. Sydor is regularly appointed as an expert in Family and Supreme Courts and conducts evaluations to assist the Court in resolving contentious litigation in the best interests of children. Ms. Sydor received her M.S.W. from Fordham University Graduate School of Social Services, and her postgraduate certificate in Family Forensics from the Washington Square Institute for Psychotherapy and Mental Health. In 2005, Ms. Sydor founded Family Matters Resource Group in order to provide comprehensive social work solutions, both clinical and forensic, to children and families in need.