Who We Are
The people behind your child's care
Every evaluation and every session at Pinnacle is led by a licensed clinician, not a rotating cast of contractors. Here is who you will actually work with.
Dr. Joanna Kennedy, PsyD
Licensed Clinical Psychologist · Escondido Office
Dr. Kennedy is who most Pinnacle families work with directly, for both psychological testing and ongoing counseling. She specializes in telling autism, ADHD, and anxiety apart when they overlap, and is a specialist in selective mutism.
Families often arrive at Pinnacle after a first evaluation that never quite fit. Sorting out which condition is actually driving the behavior, and which ones are riding along with it, is the work she does best.
Before joining Pinnacle, she conducted evaluations at Rady Children's Hospital's Autism Discovery Institute, assessing complex presentations of autism as part of a multidisciplinary team. She administers the ADOS-2.
Read Her Full Profile
Dr. Clarissa Gosney, PsyD
Founder of Pinnacle Counseling and Testing Center
Dr. Gosney founded Pinnacle and specializes in psychological testing and the treatment of anxiety, trauma, and OCD in children and adults. Before her doctoral studies, she worked as a special education teacher and special needs program coordinator within the public school system, and holds a background in marriage and family therapy as well.
Four vantage points on the same child, which is why her recommendations tend to survive contact with an actual classroom. She understands how children with ADHD, autism, and other special needs function day to day in a school setting, not just in a clinical one.
Her clinical specialty is selective mutism. She founded the Outside Voice Selective Mutism Camp, an intensive four day program where children build the confidence to speak in settings where they previously could not. She uses PCIT-SM, CBT, and Exposure Therapy, and is currently available for telehealth counseling for California clients on a limited basis.
Dr. Carissa Douglas, PsyD
Director, Outside Voice Selective Mutism Camp
Dr. Douglas is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety, OCD, trauma, and selective mutism, with particular focus on pediatric care and military families. She directs Outside Voice, our intensive four day selective mutism camp, and has run its exposure work with both younger children and teens.
Her clinical work moves outside the office by design. She accompanies children into stores, restaurants, and their own classrooms, so brave talking gets practiced in the settings where it actually matters rather than only where it is comfortable.
Dr. Erich Haezebrouck, PsyD
Neuropsychological Testing
Dr. Haezebrouck received his PsyD in clinical psychology from the University of Denver, where he specialized in psychodiagnostic assessment. He completed his pre-doctoral internship at the Arkansas State Hospital and went on to work with Missouri's Department of Mental Health.
He is brought in when a case calls for deeper neuropsychological work. Every assessment begins with a careful review of presenting difficulties and personal history, then a comprehensive battery selected for the specific concerns at hand.
We aim to provide a relaxing and comfortable experience at our offices
