Director: Janiece Turnbull, Ph.D.
Associate: Sarah DeBoard Marion, Ph.D.
Associate: Alissa Ellis, Ph.D.
Graduate Student Trainee: Krista Cowan, M.S.
Office Manager: Laura Cavanaugh, M.A.
Associate: Sarah DeBoard Marion, Ph.D.
Associate: Alissa Ellis, Ph.D.
Graduate Student Trainee: Krista Cowan, M.S.
Office Manager: Laura Cavanaugh, M.A.
Janiece Turnbull, Ph.D.
Dr. Janiece Turnbull has provided clinical neuropsychology services in Los Angeles and surrounding communities since 1999 and established Neurobehavior Services, Inc. (NSI) in Pasadena in 2001. She specializes in assessment and consultation for children and adolescents with developmental and acquired disabilities with the primary goal of establishing a plan of intervention that is tailored to the child’s specific profile of strengths and weaknesses, be they cognitive, academic, and/or social-emotional in nature.
Dr. Turnbull is a licensed clinical psychologist (CA Lic#: 16238). Her education and training in the specialty of clinical neuropsychology includes: 1) a two-year full-time clinical neuropsychology residency at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute & Hospital (now the UCLA-Semel Institute and Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital), with one year dedicated solely to the neuropsychological assessment of developmental and learning disabilities/disorders in children; 2) a one-year, full-time internship across three sites: Camarillo Developmental Center, Casa Pacifica (an emergency shelter and residential treatment program for children), and the UCLA Neuropsychology Laboratory; and 3) doctoral training at the Fuller Graduate School of Psychology in Pasadena, which includes the coursework required for the specialty track of neuropsychology.
Following her residency, Dr. Turnbull obtained additional training and certification in infant mental health, a field that specializes in assessment and intervention for children (and their families) from ages 0 to 5. From this training arose both a professional collaboration with Dr. Connie Lillas, Director of The Interdisciplinary Training Institute, and a five-year effort that resulted in the WW Norton publication of Infant/Child Mental Health, Early Intervention, and Relationship-Based Therapies: A Neurorelational Framework for Interdisciplinary Practice. The goal of the book is to provide a cohesive model that is based in neuroscience principles for integrating the assessment and treatment efforts of practitioners across all disciplines that serve children and families.
In addition to her clinical position as Director of NSI, Dr. Turnbull is currently an adjunct professor at Azusa Pacific University, providing consultation and supervision to the interdisciplinary assessment team at the Pediatric Neurodevelopment Institute. She also provides training and supervision for doctoral students from Fuller’s Graduate School of Psychology who have an interest in pediatric neuropsychology. Dr. Turnbull previously held a part-time staff position at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, providing neuropsychological assessments for children and adults in post-acute rehabilitation, hematology-oncology, and outpatient departments. She has lectured and taught courses in neuropsychology for post-graduate, graduate, and undergraduate students for The Interdisciplinary Training Institute, Fuller Graduate School of Psychology, Alliant University, and the California Institute of Technology. Her research interests and efforts in pediatric neuropsychology include: 1) intervention and rehabilitation for cognitive and motor weaknesses, especially compromises in executive functioning; 2) using virtual reality as a tool for assessment and intervention, especially incorporating movement into cognitive/learning interventions; and 3) treatment outcomes when using a neuropsychological assessment as a guide and a comprehensive problem-focused intervention approach.
Dr. Turnbull was honored to be the first recipient of the Award for Clinical Excellence in April 2010 by the Cheerful Helpers Child and Family Study Center.
Dr. Turnbull is a licensed clinical psychologist (CA Lic#: 16238). Her education and training in the specialty of clinical neuropsychology includes: 1) a two-year full-time clinical neuropsychology residency at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute & Hospital (now the UCLA-Semel Institute and Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital), with one year dedicated solely to the neuropsychological assessment of developmental and learning disabilities/disorders in children; 2) a one-year, full-time internship across three sites: Camarillo Developmental Center, Casa Pacifica (an emergency shelter and residential treatment program for children), and the UCLA Neuropsychology Laboratory; and 3) doctoral training at the Fuller Graduate School of Psychology in Pasadena, which includes the coursework required for the specialty track of neuropsychology.
Following her residency, Dr. Turnbull obtained additional training and certification in infant mental health, a field that specializes in assessment and intervention for children (and their families) from ages 0 to 5. From this training arose both a professional collaboration with Dr. Connie Lillas, Director of The Interdisciplinary Training Institute, and a five-year effort that resulted in the WW Norton publication of Infant/Child Mental Health, Early Intervention, and Relationship-Based Therapies: A Neurorelational Framework for Interdisciplinary Practice. The goal of the book is to provide a cohesive model that is based in neuroscience principles for integrating the assessment and treatment efforts of practitioners across all disciplines that serve children and families.
In addition to her clinical position as Director of NSI, Dr. Turnbull is currently an adjunct professor at Azusa Pacific University, providing consultation and supervision to the interdisciplinary assessment team at the Pediatric Neurodevelopment Institute. She also provides training and supervision for doctoral students from Fuller’s Graduate School of Psychology who have an interest in pediatric neuropsychology. Dr. Turnbull previously held a part-time staff position at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, providing neuropsychological assessments for children and adults in post-acute rehabilitation, hematology-oncology, and outpatient departments. She has lectured and taught courses in neuropsychology for post-graduate, graduate, and undergraduate students for The Interdisciplinary Training Institute, Fuller Graduate School of Psychology, Alliant University, and the California Institute of Technology. Her research interests and efforts in pediatric neuropsychology include: 1) intervention and rehabilitation for cognitive and motor weaknesses, especially compromises in executive functioning; 2) using virtual reality as a tool for assessment and intervention, especially incorporating movement into cognitive/learning interventions; and 3) treatment outcomes when using a neuropsychological assessment as a guide and a comprehensive problem-focused intervention approach.
Dr. Turnbull was honored to be the first recipient of the Award for Clinical Excellence in April 2010 by the Cheerful Helpers Child and Family Study Center.
Sarah DeBoard Marion, Ph.D.
Sarah DeBoard Marion, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist (PSY 21372). She received specialized training in neuropsychology at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute after completing her doctoral training at Fuller’s Graduate School of Psychology in Pasadena, which included a neuropsychology-focused internship at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. She has been an associate with NSI since February 2007. She currently specializes in the assessment needs of children/adolescents and older adults.
Dr. Marion has been a practicing clinical neuropsychologist for the past eight years. She has expertise in the assessment of school-aged children, adult, and older adults across a wide range of neurologic and neurodevelopmental conditions. She has also served as assistant professor at Fuller’s Graduate School of Psychology, teaching and conducting research with Ph.D. and Psy.D. students. Courses taught include human neuropsychology, introductory and advanced neuropsychological assessment, clinical interventions, gerontology, and child neuropsychological assessment. Her research spans pediatric and adult populations and a range of neuropsychological conditions. Collaborators have included researchers from USC's Institute for Creative Technologies, Huntington Medical Research Institute, and UCLA's Semel Institute.
Dr. Marion has been a practicing clinical neuropsychologist for the past eight years. She has expertise in the assessment of school-aged children, adult, and older adults across a wide range of neurologic and neurodevelopmental conditions. She has also served as assistant professor at Fuller’s Graduate School of Psychology, teaching and conducting research with Ph.D. and Psy.D. students. Courses taught include human neuropsychology, introductory and advanced neuropsychological assessment, clinical interventions, gerontology, and child neuropsychological assessment. Her research spans pediatric and adult populations and a range of neuropsychological conditions. Collaborators have included researchers from USC's Institute for Creative Technologies, Huntington Medical Research Institute, and UCLA's Semel Institute.
Alissa Ellis, Ph.D.
Dr. Alissa Ellis is a licensed clinical neuropsychologist (CA Lic#: 26157). She is currently an Assistant Health Sciences Clinical Professor in the department of psychiatry at UCLA. Dr. Ellis received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology, with an emphasis in neuropsychology, from the University of Texas at Austin in 2012 where she was trained in assessment of adults and children. She completed her pre-doctoral internship in Pediatric Neuropsychology at UCLA (APA accredited). After internship, Dr. Ellis received a training grant from the National Institute of Mental Health which allowed her to complete a dual postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology (child and adult) and child and adolescent mood disorders at UCLA. Following post-doc, Dr. Ellis continued to focus on both research and practice. Her current research was awarded another grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (K23) and focuses on identifying neurophysiological mechanisms of reward and frustration response to predict symptom trajectories in adolescents with mood problems.
Dr. Ellis' experiences include working with individuals across the lifespan with various developmental and acquired diagnoses such as traumatic brain injury, seizure disorders, cancer, organ transplant, autism spectrum disorders, learning disorders, attention difficulties, language disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and behavioral/emotional problems. She has additional clinical specialties in the assessment of mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder in children and adults, as well as in the implementation of psychosocial treatments for mood, anxiety, and attention disorders. She currently works as an attending psychologist in the Child and Adolescent Mood Disorders Clinic at UCLA. Dr. Ellis is also the creator and director of the thinkSMART program, a behavioral intervention for adolescents with executive functioning difficulties.
Dr. Ellis' experiences include working with individuals across the lifespan with various developmental and acquired diagnoses such as traumatic brain injury, seizure disorders, cancer, organ transplant, autism spectrum disorders, learning disorders, attention difficulties, language disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and behavioral/emotional problems. She has additional clinical specialties in the assessment of mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder in children and adults, as well as in the implementation of psychosocial treatments for mood, anxiety, and attention disorders. She currently works as an attending psychologist in the Child and Adolescent Mood Disorders Clinic at UCLA. Dr. Ellis is also the creator and director of the thinkSMART program, a behavioral intervention for adolescents with executive functioning difficulties.
Krista Cowan, M.S.
Krista Cowan has a Master’s in Psychology and is currently completing her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Fuller Graduate School of Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy. Her dissertation research is on the emotional functioning of adults who underwent a childhood hemispherectomy due to intractable epilepsy. Krista trained in clinical work at Fuller Psychological and Family Services. She also trained at the Medical Psychology Assessment Center and at the Longevity Center, both part of the UCLA/Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She will begin training at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in the Neurology division in the Fall of 2021.
Outside of classes, Krista works as a DIR/Floortime Advanced Specialist at Greenhouse Therapy Center where she provides social and emotional development training to children with autism and their families. As a former actress, she enjoys seeing plays and performing as an improviser with the District Community Playback theater company. Before transitioning to clinical psychology, Krista was a drama teacher in public and private schools where she taught theater, film, English, French, and humanities, directed school plays and musicals, and hosted a student film festival. She earned an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of California in Irvine. She toured internationally with a Commedia troupe and performed at the International Theater Festival in Seoul, Korea. She worked at South Coast Repertory Theater and the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Krista also lived in France until the age of 18 and is fluent in French. Krista brings her background in teaching, theater, bilingualism, and cross-cultural communication to her clinical work with children in pediatric neuropsychology.
Krista Cowan has a Master’s in Psychology and is currently completing her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Fuller Graduate School of Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy. Her dissertation research is on the emotional functioning of adults who underwent a childhood hemispherectomy due to intractable epilepsy. Krista trained in clinical work at Fuller Psychological and Family Services. She also trained at the Medical Psychology Assessment Center and at the Longevity Center, both part of the UCLA/Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She will begin training at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in the Neurology division in the Fall of 2021.
Outside of classes, Krista works as a DIR/Floortime Advanced Specialist at Greenhouse Therapy Center where she provides social and emotional development training to children with autism and their families. As a former actress, she enjoys seeing plays and performing as an improviser with the District Community Playback theater company. Before transitioning to clinical psychology, Krista was a drama teacher in public and private schools where she taught theater, film, English, French, and humanities, directed school plays and musicals, and hosted a student film festival. She earned an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of California in Irvine. She toured internationally with a Commedia troupe and performed at the International Theater Festival in Seoul, Korea. She worked at South Coast Repertory Theater and the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Krista also lived in France until the age of 18 and is fluent in French. Krista brings her background in teaching, theater, bilingualism, and cross-cultural communication to her clinical work with children in pediatric neuropsychology.
Laura Cavanaugh, M.A.
Laura Cavanaugh is the office manager at NSI and manages all scheduling and billing. She is able to answer preliminary questions regarding both the assessment process and NSI policies and fees. Laura has provided administrative support in various capacities for more than two decades and has worked with Dr. Turnbull since 2009.
Laura has a bachelor's degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing as well as a master’s degree in Theology.
Laura has a bachelor's degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing as well as a master’s degree in Theology.