PSV offers behavior health consultations and short-term behavioral health support for concerns related to specific GI conditions. Please talk to your child’s GI provider if a referral is appropriate for your child.
Helpful Resources:
- General Information: Phone, Fax, and Addresses
- Scheduling an Appointment
- PSV Psychology Consent for Treatment Form
- PSV Telemed Consent Form
What We Treat
Psychology services at PSV specialize in providing short term coping strategies from a cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) framework for:
- Supporting patients newly diagnosed with a chronic medical condition (e.g., Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease).
- Ongoing support for challenges related to coping with chronic GI conditions.
- Pain management skills for functional abdominal pain, IBS, functional dyspepsia, functional nausea, abdominal migraines, functional constipation.
- Teaching skills for managing fears with issues like vomiting or needles.
- Behavioral/parenting strategies for aiding families in adherence to the treatment for constipation and encopresis.
At this time, PSV's psychology services are primarily offered through a telemedicine platform.
Conditions We Do Not Treat
Please know that at this time we are unable to support the following concerns:
- Behavioral support around feeding issues.
- Assessment or treatment for eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and avoidant and restrictive intake disorder (ARFID). If you are concerned about feeding/eating issues with your child, then please discuss this with your GI doctor.
- Substance abuse issues, PTSD, or trauma.
- Issues related to child’s adjustment or coping with divorce/separation.
Our Psychologists
Kendra Lubarsky, PsyD
Pediatric Psychology
Dr. Kendra (Battaglia) Lubarsky is a licensed clinical psychologist and the Medical Director for the Department of Psychology at PSV. She specializes in providing short term, solutions-focused and evidence-based care to children and adolescents and their families who have been diagnosed with chronic medical conditions. Her passion is improving access to mental health care and working with children and adolescents to increase their sense of agency within their systems (e.g., home, school and medical settings) and help kids and caregivers learning to strategies to improve their coping with difficult situations such as pain or medical treatments.
Dr. Lubarsky completed her undergraduate training at Cedarville University (OH) and doctoral training at Wheaton College outside of Chicago, IL. She completed her internship training at Philhaven Hospital (PA) and her post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric psychology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, AR. Dr. Lubarsky is passionate about interdisciplinary work as well as training future psychologists through the externship training program at PSV.