2022-2023 Lectures
2021-2022 Lectures
May 23, 2022
Self-Care for Caregivers, and a Summer Survival Guide for families - with Esther Rbibo, LMFT
8:00 pm, Kadima Auditorium
Covid & Kids: Ask the Pediatricians - with Dr. Karen Tenenblatt and Dr. Karen Hovav
2019-2020 Lectures
7:30 pm, Kadima Library
Restorative Practices - Meaningful accountability instead of punishment with Cherie Friedman, B.Ed., M.A. and Emily Baumgarten, B.A.
8:00 pm, Kadima Library
Sibling Dynamics - Navigating family relationships with Dr. Sharon Arbel, Ph.D.
7:30 pm, Kadima Library
$15 for Kadima families; $20 for Kadima guests
“Screenagers” - Growing up in the Digital Age, a 67-minute, award-winning film, followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Sharon Arbel, Ph.D.
February 2020
Anxiety in children: common red flags and therapeutic resources with Dr. Sharon Arbel, Ph.D.
2017-2018 Lectures
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Behavior Problems and Solutions with Dr. Sharon Arbel
Thursday, November 16, 2017
Learning Disorders and ADHD: warning signs, helpful interventions, and community resources with Dr. Sharon Arbel
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Typical language development in children ages 0-5 with Tamar Barazani
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Developing Fine Motor Coordination In Children To Enhance Play and School Readiness with Hava Alloun
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Bullying across age and gender groups with Dr. Sharon Arbel
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Implications of visual processing delays on the young learner and the relationship between Visual Processing and Academic Achievement with Dr. Gary Etting
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Anxiety in children: common red flags and therapeutic resources with Dr. Sharon Arbel
Thursday, May 16, 2018
Navigating family and sibling relationships with Dr. Sharon Arbel
*Proceeds from the 2017-2018 lecture series successfully funded upgrades to Kadima’s Early Childhood Education Center playground.
Meet The Experts
Dr. Karen Tenenblatt
Dr. Karen Tenenblatt is a USC-trained pediatrician who practices at Oak Park Pediatrics in Agoura Hills. She is a board-certified pediatrician and fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. A native of Los Angeles, Dr. Tenenblatt completed her undergraduate degree at UCLA and then earned her medical degree from USC in 2010. She spent 6 years in Columbus, Ohio, where she completed her pediatric residency training at Nationwide Children‘s Hospital, part of the Ohio State University. She stayed on at Nationwide Children’s as a pediatrician and Assistant Professor where she enjoyed her challenging and rewarding work with underprivileged children and families. She also worked as a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California prior to moving back to her hometown of Los Angeles. Dr. Tenenblatt lives in West Hills with her husband and two sons.
Dr. Sharon Arbel
Dr. Sharon Arbel is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist working in private practice in Tarzana, California, where she provides both therapy and testing to clients of all ages. Dr. Arbel began her career in 1999 as a behavior therapist working 1:1 with children managing Autism in their schools and homes. While earning her undergraduate and graduate degrees, she worked for thirteen years in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), with her most recent position as the clinical director of an ABA agency, overseeing all of the clinical work and training of behaviorists in the agency. Along the way, she also earned a board certification in Behavior Analysis.
Dr. Arbel earned her B.A from UCLA and her Master’s and Ph.D. from the California School of Professional Psychology. As a part of her graduate training, she completed internships involving psychological testing, family and couples therapy, domestic violence support groups, parenting classes, and social skills groups for kids, among others.
Dr. Arbel held several adjunct faculty positions at The California School of Professional Psychology as well as Antioch University, teaching both master’s and doctoral level students in the area of psychology and marriage and family therapy. In addition, she has been passionate about her pro bono work in the community in the area of special needs, having founded a special needs program for the Israeli Boy and Girl Scouts. She is now in full time private practice.
Dr. Gary Etting
Dr. Gary L. Etting is a developmental optometrist specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of vision problems that interfere with reading and learning. Board certified in vision development, he just recently celebrated his 41st year providing these speciality services to the public.
Dr. Etting is a past president of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (C.V.O.D.), a past member of the C.O.V.D. Exam Board, a founding member of the Sports Vision Section of the American Optometric Association, as well as a recent past chairman. He has published several papers on the efficacy of optometric vision therapy for strabismus and amblyopia. His work on visual development and visual sports enhancement has also been the subject of articles published in magazines such as Time, Equus, Cycle, Sports America and Plane and Pilot. Dr. Etting and one of his patients were also featured on a CNN special, which explained how vision problems are often misdiagnosed as learning disabilities, dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder.
In addition, Dr. Etting has been a featured speaker at many seminars across the United States, Europe and Australia dedicated to topics on visual development, as well as at statewide public and private school conferences. He has also served 6 optometry schools in the United States with associate and adjunct professor positions. Dr. Etting has been an adjunct professor at 7 different schools and is currently an adjunct at Western College of Optometry, Salus University, and Southern College of Optometry. Presently he maintains private practices in Encino and West Los Angeles, California.
Tamar Barazani
Speech therapist specializing in therapy with children experiencing language delays, articulation disorders, pragmatic language delays, autism, apraxia, and many other speech and language disorders. Tamar has over 11 years of experience working as a Speech and Language Pathologist. In addition to her experience in Speech and Language therapy, she has also worked as an Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapist for approximately 7 years working with autistic children on self help skills, fine motor skills, desensitization and many other programs. Prior to beginning her full time position as a speech therapist she earned a Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree from the distinguished Communication Disorders Program at California State University Northridge.
After 7 years working with the well respected Community Speech and Hearing Center in Tarzana, she recently expanded into her own private practice in Tarzana where she provides therapy for children from the ages of 15 months and up.
Hava Alloun
Hava is a Licensed Occupational Therapist who earned her degree in Occupational Therapy from the University Of Southern California in 1994. She started her career working in Psychiatry at The Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA, where she worked primarily with adults, conducting evaluations for Occupational Therapy and running daily inpatient groups.
She currently works for the Los Angeles Unified School, where she has been a therapist since 1999. She evaluates and provides school based therapy for students ranging in age from 3-18 addressing the child’s physical, sensory motor and social emotional issues that support or limit participation at school. She provides training to parents and teachers on child development, fine motor and sensory processing needs as well as environmental modifications and accommodations to best meet the needs of the child. In addition, she works in private practice as an Occupational Therapist helping families in the home for children birth-18.
Samara Long
Samara earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Dietetics in 2001 from Arizona State University. She completed her post graduate internship at Detroit Medical Center, a 7 hospital healthcare system affiliated with Wayne State University, including the Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Samara became a Registered Dietetian in 2003 and is credentialed by the American Dietetic Association. She worked as a clinical dietitian and clinical preceptor at Huron Valley Sinai Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. She also worked as a clinical inpatient and outpatient dietitian at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, California. She has provided Medical Nutrition Therapy across the lifespan, including nutrition support in the ICU and for patients post surgery, with chewing and swallowing disorders, and for conditions such as cardiac, pulmonary, gastrointestinal and kidney disease, cancer, diabetes, weight management and food allergies.
She is currently a proud full time mom of 4 kids and is passionate about the role of nutrition in health and wellness.
Vanessa May
Vanessa May has treated clients for over 25 years, helping them to reach their nutrition goals. Renowned for her work with Eating Disorders, Vanessa is also known for helping clients with Weight Management, Mindful Eating and a wide variety of other medical conditions.
Vanessa May is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. Originally from South Africa, she earned a B.Sc in Hospital Dietetics from the University of Natal. She completed her internship at Stellenbosch University, also in South Africa. Vanessa is a certified RDN with the American Dietetic and Nutrition Association. She also qualified in Britain and Canada as a dietitian.
Vanessa worked at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica for 9 years as a clinical dietitian. For most of her career she has consulted at the most prestigious drug, alcohol, mental health and eating disorder facilities in Malibu and throughout the greater Los Angeles area. Vanessa’s passion is to improve the lives of people via nutrition and education.