I’m a clinical psychologist who has specialized in autism, ADHD and dyslexia for more than 25 years. I trained at UCSF, Vanderbilt and OHSU, and I opened New Leaves Clinic in 2005. I work with people of every age and ability, from gifted kids who were missed for years to adults with significant support needs. I both test and treat, so my assessments lead to a real plan. ADHD and dyslexia run in my family, so I understand them from the inside too.
My goal is to help you build a “User’s Manual” for your brain. Most of all, I love what I do.
Click here to watch a video of Dr. Arnold on KATU discussing ADHD.
I am unique for 4 reasons:
I was specializing in neurodevelopment before most people had heard the term. That depth of experience shapes everything I do:
I’m trained in both assessment and treatment. This is rare. Most psychologists specialize in one or the other: they either test and diagnose, or they provide therapy. Because I do both, I know what needs to be tested to answer your questions. I use testing data to make specific treatment recommendations, so you leave with clear goals, the right referrals and a real plan, not just a diagnosis.
I’ve worked across the full range of care. My experience is unusually broad: inpatient psychiatric hospital (i.e., children, adolescents and adults), a children’s hospital, a neuropsychiatric unit, as well as outpatient practice. Early in my career, I trained in ABA and PECS (the Picture Exchange Communication System) and researched which treatments best support communication in autistic children. I’ve worked with people at every level of need, from mild challenges to the most complex and severe. That depth helps me recognize what’s really going on, and what level of support each person needs.
I value the whole team. I was cross-trained alongside pediatrics, psychiatry, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, audiology and education. I deeply respect the work of other providers, and I integrate their findings with my own to build a complete picture of each person. I routinely collaborate with psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, pediatricians, naturopaths, speech therapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, tutors and academic providers.
I draw from several specialty approaches. Beyond traditional therapy, I’m trained in Collaborative Problem Solving, PEERS® social skills strategies and EMDR. I choose the tools that fit each person, rather than fitting each person to one method.
I teach you a “User’s Manual” for your brain. Together, we create a clear guide to how your brain works, what your challenges are, how they affect you and the strategies that help. It draws on my deep expertise in autism, ADHD, dyslexia and behavior challenges, and it’s yours to keep and use for life.
My Background
Personal and professional roots
Throughout my life, I have been drawn to animals and children. As a young girl, I was rarely without my dog and whatever stray happened to cross our path, and I was fascinated by how animals learned, behaved and showed affection. Beginning in early elementary school, my family regularly visited a foster home for adolescents and adults with cognitive and physical disabilities. Guided by compassion, my curiosity about learning and behavior grew, along with a deep respect for individual differences. I was focused on neurodevelopment long before most people had heard the term.
In high school, I volunteered in nursing homes, where I learned about life’s big questions, the value of each person’s inner beauty, and the importance of forgiveness and letting go. I also discovered my lifelong love of reading. In college, I volunteered with deaf and hard-of-hearing children and with autistic children, declared a major in psychology with a minor in sociology, and knew I had found my calling.
College and early leadership
I attended Transylvania University, a respected private liberal arts college in Lexington, Kentucky. There I devoted much of my free time to working with children with developmental disabilities and their families. I helped create Project Future Hope, a nonprofit for children with special needs that brought in professionals from across the country, who trained me in autism and developmental disabilities. I soon became a community leader in the field: supervising teams of therapists, leading trainings for elementary schools and universities, helping families fight for their children’s rights to appropriate education and insurance coverage, and lecturing post-doctoral residents on autism treatment. I also spent many hours volunteering with deaf children at a local grade school. I graduated six months early to conduct research at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center at Vanderbilt University, a leader in research, diagnosis and treatment of developmental disabilities. My work there focused on identifying effective treatments for autistic children, and it led to my first publication.
Graduate training
I earned my doctorate in clinical psychology at the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, now Palo Alto University, where I hoped to bring together my passions for psychology and philosophy. I pursued two areas of study, child development and behavior, and trained in a wide range of assessment, diagnostic, treatment and research settings with individuals, couples, families and groups. I completed twice the clinical hours my degree required and stayed an extra year to train in additional treatment approaches.
Most of my developmental disability training took place at Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics at the University of California, San Francisco, where I studied under Bryna Siegel, Ph.D., a leading psychologist in developmental disorders. I conducted assessments and research with her, and my dissertation grew out of that work. My general child psychology and behavior training took place at California Specialty Hospital at St. Helena Hospital, an inpatient mental health facility and one of very few to serve young children, adolescents and adults, and at San Jose Job Corps, a residential education and training program from the U.S. Department of Labor, often considered a “last chance” for youth who have left every other academic placement. At both, I provided assessment, treatment and training.
Internship, residency and New Leaves Clinic
I completed my internship and post-doctoral residency at the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center within Doernbecher Children’s Hospital at Oregon Health & Science University. I was accepted as a fellow in LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities), part of a national network of programs that are few in number and an honor to attend. My training focused on assessment, diagnosis, treatment, research and community service in neurodevelopmental differences, working on multidisciplinary teams with psychologists, psychiatrists, pediatricians, speech-language pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, dietitians and others. After my internship, I was invited to stay as a post-doctoral resident, and I later did contract work with the OHSU/CDRC Learning Disability and ADHD assessment team.
In May 2005, my husband and I opened New Leaves Clinic, where I provide assessment, diagnosis, treatment and consultation to individuals, families and couples. My curriculum vitae has a more complete description of my training.
The Personal Side
In 2016, my husband, Michael Friedrichs, Ph.D., died of cancer. In the years that followed, my boys learned how to manage the loss of their father, lived through COVID and received mental health diagnoses of their own. Walking alongside them through all of it, I grew a great deal as a person, a parent and a professional. To support myself, my children and my clients, I deepened my focus on trauma and grief, including training in EMDR.
Life keeps moving forward, and we keep growing with it. I now share my life with my partner of seven years and my precious stepson. My older boys are 17 and 19. One attends Oregon State University, and the other is in Early College with admission to Oregon State. Both plan to study psychology, with a focus on developmental disabilities and neuroscience.
