About Dr. Michelle Pesca

Dr. Pesca is a licensed psychologist and a licensed and board certified behavior analyst (LBA, BCBA-D) who specializes in the areas of anxiety and stress management, executive functioning, parent coaching and training, and challenging behavior.

Dr. Pesca received her B.A. in Psychology from Binghamton University, and her Ph.D. in Learning Processes and Behavior Analysis from The Graduate School and University Center, CUNY.  She has worked in the field of developmental disabilities for over 20 year, providing direct and consultative services to school districts and families supporting the needs of students across the lifespan.  Dr. Pesca has extensive experience providing staff training and professional development in the areas of behavioral assessment and intervention, as well as with educational program development for neurodiverse individuals. She is particularly passionate about working with parents to become their child’s social emotional coach and to support their developmental needs using evidence-based approaches.

Dr. Pesca has taught a variety of psychology undergraduate courses at Queens College, and is currently an adjunct professor in the Child Study Department at St. Joseph’s University in New York.  She has experience conducting both basic and applied research, and has presented her findings at local, state, and national conferences.  Dr. Pesca’s experience in basic behavioral research surrounded emergent relations in stimulus classes, as well as stimulus control in conditional discrimination development.  She has conducted applied research in response variability, prompt fading and differential reinforcement in students with autism, and classroom behavior management systems.  She currently serves on NYSABA’s Student Activities Committee.