Dr. Amber Mason
Amber Mason, Ph.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Licensed School Psychologist in Virginia, Nationally Certified School Psychologist, and Certified School Psychologist in Maryland and Pennsylvania. She has also been authorized by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards to practice telepsychology under the authority of PSYPACT.* She earned her Doctoral and Master’s degrees in School Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University. During her graduate training, Dr. Mason was selected as a Fellow under the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences’ Training Interdisciplinary Educational Scientists (TIES) Predoctoral Fellowship Program. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology (concentration: Developmental Psychology) and Visual Art from Duke University. She completed her post-doctoral training at the Center for Cognitive Therapy and Assessment in Virginia.
Dr. Mason founded Aptivate to continue and expand her work in helping foster children’s development and growth mentally, emotionally, academically, socially, and behaviorally. She has provided services to youth, parents, teachers, school administrators, and community members promoting youth success for nearly two decades. These services have included comprehensive psychological and psychoeducational assessment, counseling and psychotherapy, social skills training, functional behavior assessment, teaching and professional development presentations, consultation, mentorship, and behavioral, academic, and crisis interventions. Dr. Mason has delivered direct services primarily to children and adolescents in clinical and school (public, private, charter, virtual) settings. She has worked with ethnically and socio-economically diverse youth and those with various diagnoses such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, depression, and anxiety, as well as children with self-esteem, confidence, and motivational issues. As a speaker, Dr. Mason has presented on topics including suicide awareness/prevention, classroom and behavior management, assessment and intervention, specific diagnoses, and managing test and COVID-related anxiety.
Given her particular interest in assessing and treating individuals with Autism, Dr. Mason has received specialized training to become a Certified Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist and a PEERS Certified Social Skills Training Provider. In addition to her doctoral training in the ADOS-2 and more recent MIGDAS-2 training, she has participated in the University of Maryland Autism Research Consortium’s Intensive ADOS-2 Module 4, Other Autism and Mental Health Assessments, Interviewing, and Differential Diagnosis Training.
Outside of her professional endeavors, Dr. Mason enjoys authoring and illustrating children’s books (unpublished, but working on it!), drawing portraits, and trying her hand at cooking new dishes. Her interest in health and fitness has motivated her to study to become a Certified Personal Trainer, Nutritionist, and Health Coach as well as train for a 5K. Dr. Mason also enjoys spending time with her family and friends.
*PSYPACT authorization means the psychologist is authorized to practice interjurisdictional telepsychology and provide mental health services via HIPAA-compliant platforms to clients who live in Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C., and any other state in which PSYPACT legislation is effective (click here to see the full list of PSYPACT-participating states).
Email: amason@aptivatesuccess.com