OUR
PRACTICE
COMPREHENSIVE - INDIVIDUALIZED - COLLABORATIVE
We strive to provide high-quality clinical services to children, adolescents, young adults, and their families. Our clinicians have strong backgrounds in consultation and therapy, but we have found that our true passion lies in psychological assessment. We believe that a thorough evaluation that focuses on strengths can be the key to understanding and helping students who are struggling at home or in school. We put significant time and effort into working with each client and family that we see, and we appreciate and value communication with our clients’ educators and other care providers.
Caitlin B. Dunning, Psy.D.
Maryland Licensed Psychologist #04498
Dr. Dunning is a licensed psychologist who has provided assessment, consultation, and therapy services to children, adolescents, and young adults in a variety of settings. She attended Cornell University for her undergraduate degree before earning her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University Maryland. She completed a predoctoral internship at A.I. duPont Hospital for Children as well as a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric psychology at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital.
​
Dr. Dunning has been in private practice since 2011, during which time she has focused solely on providing comprehensive and individualized assessment services. She emphasizes collaboration with parents and other professionals in order to build a thorough understanding of each student’s needs, and she has substantial experience working with both public and provide schools towards the development of educational plans that are appropriate for the unique needs of her clients.
Prior to launching her private practice, Dr. Dunning was a member of the faculty at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital. During her time as Director of Psychological Testing Services, she completed and supervised hundreds of evaluations of children and adolescents in the greater Baltimore area and provided training to numerous psychologists who are now working in children's hospitals and private practices throughout the country. Dr. Dunning has also provided supervision in assessment to graduate students training at the Loyola Clinical Centers in Baltimore, MD.
​
Dr. Dunning has particular expertise in learning disorders (including dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia), ADHD, executive functioning challenges, and other issues that impact academic performance. She maintains affiliations with the American Psychological Association and the Maryland Psychological Association, and she is a registrant on the National Register of Health Service Providers.
Jennifer Nail, Ph.D.
Maryland Licensed Psychologist #05974
Dr. Nail is a Maryland licensed psychologist who specializes in assessment and consultation. She attended Williams College for her undergraduate degree and received her doctorate from University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She completed her predoctoral internship at the Milton Hershey School in Hershey, Pennsylvania and her postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in the School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
An experienced evaluator, Dr. Nail enjoys guiding families to helpful and practical approaches to supporting their children. She believes that the assessment process should balance many factors – it should be thorough but tailored, identify strengths as well as difficulties and yield a report that is useful and readable for parents, professionals and students themselves. Her expertise includes identifying language-based learning disorders, including dyslexia and dysgraphia, as well concerns about mathematics, language, attention, executive functioning, autism spectrum disorder, mood symptoms and anxiety. Collaboration with parents, educators and other professionals is especially important to her.
Dr. Nail maintains affiliations with the American Psychological Association and the Maryland Psychological Association. She also works with local organizations to promote awareness of various psychological and educational issues, with a particular interest in dyslexia and anxiety.
​
Ivy Giserman-Kiss, Ph.D.
Maryland Licensed Psychologist #07399
Dr. Giserman-Kiss is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in the assessment of infants, toddlers, and children with neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, developmental delays, and intellectual disability. She attended the University of Rochester for her undergraduate degree before earning her master’s and doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. Dr. Giserman-Kiss completed her predoctoral internship in pediatric neuropsychology at New York University Langone Health (Rusk Rehabilitation) and her postdoctoral fellowship at the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
​
Prior to joining Forward Thinking Assessment, Dr. Giserman-Kiss worked at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where she conducted neurodevelopmental and neuropsychological evaluations of infants, children, and adults with rare genetic conditions with significant developmental, cognitive, behavioral, and medical needs. She has supervised numerous clinical psychology doctoral students in the administration of standardized assessments. Dr. Giserman-Kiss believes that individualized, collaborative, and developmentally-appropriate evaluation best captures a child’s unique strengths and areas of difficulties, and can help to generate practical and useful recommendations for a child’s development moving forward. She prioritizes active collaboration with parents, caregivers, educators, and therapists to support a thorough evaluation process.
​
Dr. Giserman-Kiss has a strong clinical and research interest in the early identification of autism spectrum disorder and is highly trained in administering evidence-based assessment tools for autism. Dr. Giserman-Kiss has published her work in prominent journals including the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, and the Infant Mental Health Journal, has co-authored textbook chapters on this topic, and has presented her work at scientific conferences including the International Society for Autism Research. She maintains affiliations with the American Psychological Association and the Maryland Psychological Association.
​
​
​
Susy Thomas, Ph.D.
Maryland Licensed Psychologist #03596
Dr. Thomas is a licensed psychologist specializing in assessment and consultation for children, adolescents, and young adults. She earned her B.S. in Psychology, with a minor in Spanish, from the University of Scranton. Dr. Thomas later received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her predoctoral training in neuropsychology was completed at teaching hospitals affiliated with Harvard and Cornell Medical Schools. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in developmental disabilities through the Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She brings nearly 30 years of experience as a warm and compassionate clinician.
Following her fellowship, Dr. Thomas served as a staff psychologist at Kennedy Krieger Institute for nearly five years and later, returned for an additional five and a half years. During her time at Kennedy Krieger, Dr. Thomas served as the Neuropsychology Department site leader at the Columbia Satellite Clinic and co-founded the Pathways to Young Adulthood Clinic, where she served as Co-Director. She has also worked as an educational consultant with Bass Educational Services, specializing in college counseling for students with learning and attentional disorders as well as chronic medical conditions. She has visited more than 60 universities and collaborated with disability support and student success offices to help students identify supportive college environments and has presented on college readiness at local events and national conferences.
Dr. Thomas has particular expertise in the evaluation of learning and attentional disorders, developmental disabilities, and the impact of chronic medical conditions—including POTS, diabetes, migraines, and food allergies on learning and daily functioning. She takes a holistic and collaborative approach to understanding each individual’s strengths and needs, often incorporating review of educational records, standardized testing, and consultation with schools and other professionals. Dr. Thomas supports high schoolers and families to better understand important factors related to college readiness as part of the follow-up to her comprehensive evaluations.
Dr. Thomas is a Fellow of the Maryland Psychological Association and an Associate Member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA). Dr. Thomas is licensed as a psychologist in the state of Maryland and is authorized to practice telepsychology through PSYPACT participating jurisdictions.
​