Meet the Clinical Director

Emon Abdolsalehi-Najafi, Ph.D. completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of California, Irvine in psychology and social behavior. She continued her graduate education at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University in Los Angeles, where she completed both her M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology, with an emphasis in children and families.

Dr. Abdolsalehi-Najafi was trained at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles-USC providing individual, family and group therapy to medically fragile children. She then pursued her training at the largest children's inpatient residential facility in Las Vegas, Desert Willow psychiatric hospital, providing mental health services to severely emotionally disturbed youth. Subsequently, Dr. Abdolsalehi-Najafi worked with Paglini and Associates, where she conducted numerous psychological evaluations for the state of Nevada including the Family Court of Las Vegas, the Nevada office of Disability, the Criminal Court of Nevada, and the Juvenile Public Defenders Office.

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Prior to her directorship at SCOPPE, Dr. Abdolsalehi-Najafi worked with the Sullivan Center for Children in Fresno, where she practiced for 8 years as a senior staff psychologist and the Director of Organizational Development. She has had extensive experience working with and assessing children and families affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder and commonly associated Neurodevelopmental Disorders. She has expertise in diagnosing the under-diagnosed or “missed” children who fall under the radar in terms of Autism symptomatology, specifically females and individuals from varying ethnic backgrounds who may manifest unique, subdued or atypical ASD symptoms. Her research interests include examining multicultural issues, acculturation, and coping patterns in newly diagnosed children and families.