FACULTY

CO-CHAIRS

Rob Bamberger, MSW graduated from the Social Work program at George Mason University. He also holds a B.A. and M.A. in History from UCLA. He leads and co-facilitates caregiver support groups at IONA Senior Services, and co-leads a therapy group comprised of individuals in their 70s and 80s discussing issues facing Aging Adults. He’s a member of the Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis [ICP&P], the Mid-Atlantic Group Psychotherapy Society [MAGPS], and was himself a student of the Aging and Clinical Applications Program before being invited to serve on its Steering Committee. Saturday evenings, you will find him hosting the long-running program, Hot Jazz Saturday Night, which airs live on public radio affiliate WAMU (88.5 FM).

Margo Silberstein, EdD is a Psychologist practicing in Washington. D.C. for 40 + years. A graduate of the National Group Psychotherapy Institute at WSP (2002) and the Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy program (2007), Margo served as faculty in ISTDP ( 2011- 2022 ) and is a certified Trainer and Supervisor through the International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association. A Psychodramatist trained in the 1970s at St Elizabeths Hospital she has directed psychodrama services with community members across the life span. A longtime Steering Committee and faculty member of the Center for the Study of Aging and Clinical Applications, she has promoted a focus on experiential expressive arts therapies as essential best practices for working with and deepening our understanding of this stage of life.

FACULTY & STEERING COMMITTEE

Jane Brewster, MSW is a psychotherapist in private practice in Old Town Alexandria. She specializes in working with older adults in individual and family psychotherapy and is on the faculty of the New Washington School of Psychiatry in the Study of Aging and Clinical Applications. She served as a consultant/clinician to staff and residents of Paul Spring Retirement Community in Alexandria and to members of Mt Vernon at Home, the aging-in-place village membership organization serving south Alexandria. She has provided consultation and supervision to psychotherapists on working with older adults in psychotherapy, and to psychotherapy externs in the psychotherapy training program for The Women’s Center in Vienna, Virginia. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at George Mason’s School of Social Work and has taught multiple personal growth workshops. In 2020, she completed the Washington School of Psychiatry program in the Study of Aging and Clinical Applications. In 2013, she completed George Mason University’s multidisciplinary program in Gerontology. She received her undergraduate degree from George Washington University, summa cum laude, and her MSW from the Catholic University of America.

Glory Dierker, PhD a clinical psychologist has been the Executive Director and a Psychotherapist at the Family Center of Falls Church, Virginia since 1989. She has worked in social service in Northern Virginia since the 1970s. Her work has centered around individual attachment styles impact on family relationships. Understanding an individual’s working model of attachment throughout the life span facilitates enhancing connections between people at all stages of development. Dr Dierker’s focus on the relationships of the aging population and their care partners lends to developing strategies for family members, of all ages, to work together to enhance the care of elder family members.

Linda Geurkink, PhD is a licensed psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Washington, DC seeing adults, children and couples in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. She also provides supervision. She is a graduate of the Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis where she is on the faculty. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the Aging Program at the New Washington School of Psychiatry.  She worked as a school psychologist and consultant to Head Start. She received her PhD from the University of Maryland.  She is a member of American Psychology Association, American Psychoanalytic Association and AKRI.

Yara Moustafa, MD, PhD is a clinician, an educator and a researcher. Her primary areas of interest are Psychopharmacology, Neuroscience, Addiction, Palliative Care and Aging. She completed her residency training at Saint Elizabeths Hospital/Department of Behavioral Health in DC, then her fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Florida. She was also awarded a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences.  She is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She also has additional Board certifications in Hospice and Palliative Medicine and Addiction Medicine. She worked as a psychiatrist and acore faculty member at St. Elizabeths Hospital, as well as a consult liaison psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Moustafa is currently the Psychiatric Residency Site Director at Lake Correctional Institution in Florida, Associate Program Director of Corrections at the Orlando VA residency program, and Core Faculty at the Bay Pines VA residency program.

Judy Peres, MSW is a clinical social worker and policy analyst in aging and palliative care.  She maintains a private clinical psychotherapy practice focusing on aging, transitions, palliative care and mind/body health.  She uses cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques to assist older persons and their families to cope with the vicissitudes of aging.  As an expert consultant on LTC (long term care) and palliative end-of-life care, she presents and consults with a host of entities and organizations.

Annemarie Russell, EdD, MPH, MSW, CAGS (Gerontology), CASFT is a clinical gerontologist, public health professional, social work/psychotherapist/certified strategic family therapist and educator with many years of both domestic and international work experience providing executive leadership, program development and management, technical assistance and clinical functions to several bilateral, multilateral, and non-governmental organizations including USAID, USPHS, UNHCR, UNDP, Healthright International, The Gay Men’s Health Crisis, and Whitman Walker Clinic. She has served as a consultant, lecturer, and social work and public health field work proctor and supervisor at several universities including University of Khartoum, Columbia University, Howard University, George Washington University and George Mason University. She is a native New Yorker and daughter of an immigrant with a private practice in Alexandria, Virginia where she provides psychotherapeutic services to adults, particularly older persons residing in diverse settings and supervision to clinicians working with them. She is especially interested in expanding the public and private conversations about aging in our society, advocating for the unheard voices of older adults and exploring environmental gerontological issues. She has served as faculty with The Center for the Study of Aging and Clinical Applications (CSCSA) since 2016.

George Saiger, MD is a geriatric psychiatrist who is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, with a special interest in group psychotherapy. Having completed the Group Psychotherapy Training Program of the Washington School of Psychiatry. He served on the faculty of that program for many years, and later in the School's Center on Aging and Its Clinical Applications, of which he was a founding chair. He maintained a clinical practice for almost five decades and worked in various health/medical settings.

Tybe Diamond, MSW has been a psychotherapist for many decades. She has served on three clinical faculties at the old Washington School of Psychiatry and joined the old WSP in 1974. She recently passed the torch of Chairmanship of the CSACA to Margo Silberstein and Rob Bamberger after more than 15 years at its helm. She also serves on the couple’s faculty of the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis and has been a member of that faculty for 20 years. Ms. Diamond also founded Tybe Diamond & Associates in 1993, an organizational consulting firm focused on the dynamics of organizations and family businesses. Her focus is on leadership & staff issues, coaching, and transitions. Her private practice is in upper NW, Washington, DC where she offers individual, couples, family, and group psychotherapy.

Guest speakers will be invited to conferences and their names will appear in conference announcements.