Robert A. DiTomasso, PhD, ABPP, is Chairman of the Department of Psychology at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, is board certified in Clinical Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology, a Fellow of the Academy of Clinical Psychology, a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, and a licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He has extensive experience in cognitive behavioral therapy, graduate-level teaching, research/program evaluation and psychological consultation in medical settings.
He began teaching at PCOM as Adjunct Professor at the very beginning of the PsyD Program in Clinical Psychology and joined the department full-time in July of 1998 as Professor, Vice-Chairman and Director of Clinical Research. While at PCOM, Dr. DiTomasso spearheaded and coordinated the accreditation process which ultimately led to the accreditation of the PsyD Program in Clinical Psychology. He is also actively involved in the development of educational outcome assessments and processes and serves as Chairman of the College-wide Student Learning Outcomes Committee.
Dr. DiTomasso's major areas of interest are cognitive-behavioral assessment, therapy, and consultation, anxiety and anxiety-related disorders, primary care psychology, patient non-adherence, developing assessment instruments for health risk behaviors, and research design, measurement, methodology and program evaluation. Over the past several years, Dr. DiTomasso and his dissertation students have been developing and studying a variety of new measures including The MAD-AS, an anger questionnaire, The Inventory of Cognitive Distortions (ICD), and the HABIT (Health Adherence Behavior Inventory). Dr. DiTomasso was recently named as the recipient of the Dondero Award from LaSalle University, honoring an alumnus who has distinguished himself in promoting the science and/or practice of psychology according to the humanistic values that were at the basis of the life and teaching of the late John Dondero, PhD.
Elizabeth A. Gosch, PhD, serves dual roles in the Psychology Department of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine as Director of the MS Program in Counseling and Clinical Health Psychology and as a core faculty member of the PsyD program in Clinical Psychology. A licensed clinical psychologist, she is board certified by the American Board of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and serves as a diplomate examiner for this board. Dr. Gosch received her bachelor's degree in 1987 from Grinnell College and her doctorate in clinical psychology in 1997 from Temple University. She employs an interactive teaching style, seeking to incorporate discussions of theoretical issues with real-world experience to help students master course material.
Dr. Gosch is a nationally recognized expert on clinical child psychology and anxiety disorders. She has published on several topics, but is best known for co-editing Comparative Treatments for Anxiety Disorders and articles on the treatment of internalizing disorders in children. Dr. Gosch is currently on the editorial board of Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. She serves as a reviewer for Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, and the Behavior Therapist. She has served on the Publications Committee of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy. She is a co-principal investigator of an NIMH-funded study (NIMH-64484-01A1; five-year award beginning 2002) of therapeutic process and alliance in the treatment of children with anxiety disorders.
Her major research interest concerns the process and effectiveness of psychotherapy with differing populations. Much of her work has focused on the treatment of anxiety and depression in youth. She has conducted NIMH-funded psychotherapy outcome research at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Psychotherapy Research, the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders Clinic at Temple University. Her past work at the Behavioral Therapy Service of the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital and the Princeton Child Development Institute has also provided her with extensive experience in the field of cognitive-behavioral assessment and treatment.
Although she has received certification in cognitive behavioral therapy with youth from Temple University, she has also received training in family and psychodynamic approaches. She believes that therapeutic change in youth must be understood from a developmental perspective and strives to integrate findings from the field of developmental psychology into her clinical work. In her private practice, she works with youth experiencing both externalizing and internalizing symptoms but specializes in the treatment of anxiety and depression.
