Stefanie Sugar, Psy.D., is the Founder and Executive Director of BPS. She earned her doctorate in school-clinical psychology from Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University and her bachelor’s degree from Columbia University. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx and externships at Bellevue Hospital’s Intensive Personality Disorders Program.

Stefanie has extensive training in DBT and CBT. She has expertise in DBT for adults, DBT-C, DBT-A, DBT-PE and DBT for high-conflict couples and families. She has offered clinical consultation to other DBT programs and provides supervision to pre-licensed or licensed individuals looking to enhance their DBT training.

Dr. Sugar has been trained in several treatments for supporting parents of children who are struggling with anxiety, behavioral issues and/or mood disorders. Specifically, she is trained in Parent Management Training (PMT) as well as Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE).

Prior to starting BPS, she worked at several DBT practices as a staff psychologist, where she provided CBT and DBT to children, adolescents, adults, families and couples. Prior to that she was on staff at Lenox Hill Hospital on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She was a Clinical Faculty Member at the University of Washington, providing DBT supervision to graduate students in Dr. Marsha Linehan’s Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics, and a Clinical Supervisor at the Teacher’s College of Columbia University in NYC, Lenox Hill Hospital and Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology in NYC. She is also a member of the American Psychological Association, Anxiety and Depression Association of America, and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

Born and raised on bagels and coffee in NYC, Stefanie spent three years in Seattle and learned to love the rain, even better coffee and a city that is charmingly stuck in 1995. She returned to NYC when she had her first child, Bear, but left again in 2022 for better weather in California. She now resides in San Diego with her 8-year-old son, Bear, 2-year-old daughter, Birdie and too many animals.