Our Team
Dr. Bedotto is the team leader. She was formally trained by Behavioral Tech in 2002 for Skills Training and Intensively Trained in 2013. She has taught and practiced DBT since 2002. Members of the team are foundationally trained by Behavioral Tech and mentored by Dr. Bedotto for a period of 6 months.
In May 2020, after two years of hard work, the South FL DBT Consortium team became the first Linehan Board of Certification certified program in the State of Florida. All team members have multiple years of experience working within the DBT model and have, at the minimum, completed Foundational Training by Behavioral Tech. Many members of the team are also working toward individual certification. To learn more please visit https://sofladbtconsortium.com/.
Vivina Elgueta, Ph.D.
Vivina Elgueta, Ph.D., LMHC is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor practicing in Miami, FL for over ten years. She received her doctorate degree in Marriage and Family therapy from Barry University and a master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling at Nova Southeastern University. Currently, she is teaching at Barry University, where she is an adjunct faculty.
Dr. Elgueta has trained extensively in the use of Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR), a method for resolving trauma. In addition to being a certified TIR facilitator, she is also certified to train other clinicians with this approach. She has received extensive training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Emotion-Focused Couple’s Therapy (EFT) as well as experiential methods used in Psychodrama.
Nicole Rojas, PsyD
Dr. Rojas is a bilingual psychologist who specializes in the treatment and assessment of children, adolescents, and their families. She received her doctoral degree from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in 2017. Dr. Rojas completed her clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Miami School of Medicine/Jackson Memorial Hospital. She has worked in a variety of settings with children, adults, and families presenting with a wide range of emotional and behavioral concerns. Her clinical training has included work in inpatient settings, therapeutic day schools, and community-based outpatient and hospital clinics.
Dr. Rojas is trained in multiple treatment models including psychodynamic (Object Relations and Self-Psychology), Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. She specializes in providing psychotherapy to children, adults, and families experiencing emotional and behavioral problems such as depression, anxiety, inattention/hyperactivity, and difficulties related to life stressors and adversities. Dr. Rojas also has experience working with children and adolescents with developing personality disorders and histories of trauma.
Dr. Rojas recognizes and respects the strength and courage it takes to seek help and share life experiences with another person. As such, she strives to provide comfort, safety, and acceptance within the therapeutic relationship as she accompanies and supports her clients on their journey of exploring and understanding their unique experiences. Dr. Rojas is passionate about building a warm, supportive, and collaborative relationship with each of her clients. She seeks to identify each client’s strengths and resiliencies as she facilitates therapeutic changes that allow the client to experience a sense of empowerment in situations that may appear hopeless or overwhelming. In her work, Dr. Rojas aims to enhance coping skills, increase self-awareness, and improve communication as she joins her clients in building a life worth living.
Sophie Trudeau, LCSW
Sophie Trudeau is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker whose commitment and understanding of the helping profession has developed through her experiences with diverse populations in a variety of settings. She completed a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Social Work both from McGill University. Sophie has worked with clients across the lifespan in individual, group and family modalities in hospital and community mental health settings as well as private and public addiction services. Her areas of expertise include addiction, anxiety and mood disorders, emotional dysregulation and interpersonal difficulties. Sophie regularly participates in continuing education activities as she values staying current on cutting-edge therapy practices. Her therapeutic approach is primarily based on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), and Motivational Interviewing.
Madeline Locke, PsyD
Madeline Locke received her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis on child and adolescent psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Her clinical internship was at the Institute for Child and Family Health, where she received specialized training to work with children, adolescents, adults and families with complex emotional and behavioral difficulties, including a focus on traumatic experiences, interpersonal difficulties, and emotional dysregulation. She completed her post-doctoral training at the Youth Opportunity Center, where she specialized in complex trauma, juvenile delinquency, as well as sexual exploitation and trafficking.
Madeline has a passion for working with children, adolescents, and adults with a variety of emotional and behavioral difficulties, as well as histories of trauma and personality disorders. In particular, she specializes in children and adolescent who present with significant emotional and behavioral difficulties. She creates a nurturing and empathetic environment that provides a space of security and understanding for her clients. By working collaboratively and directly with her clients, she guides them in building a unique skill set to help improve their level of functioning and form a deeper sense of understanding self. She focuses on fostering a strong therapeutic relationship to guide this sense of discovery and confidence. She has seen clients who have experienced aversive, traumatic, and challenging experiences from multiple backgrounds and settings across the country. She utilizes various approaches, adapting the most effective forms of treatment for the individual client’s needs. She believes that each client requires a therapeutic approach that is unique to his or her needs and provides them with the most effective form of care and support.
Her primary modality of treatment includes interpersonal and relationship-based interventions from a psychodynamic perspective, while also integrating structured cognitive-behavioral skills. Additional trainings comprise of psychological evaluations, including Developmental Disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Learning Disorders, emotional and behavioral difficulties, as well as forensic assessments. She has additional therapeutic training and experience in providing Child-Parent Psychotherapy for younger children, play therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, Psychodynamic and Interpersonal approaches, and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Amy Farrokh, PsyD
Dr. Amy Farrokh completed her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Wheaton College with a focus on children, adolescents and families. As a psychologist, Dr. Farrokh believes strongly in the value of the therapeutic relationship and pays particular attention to making you feel heard and safe. Dr. Farrokh strives to be a warm and genuine presence with you on your journey of navigating difficult experiences and the feelings that may accompany those experiences. At times, the past ways we have learned to manage our problems and feelings may no longer be effective in moving us toward our goals. Dr. Farrokh views it as a great honor to be able to join children, families, and adults in their journey toward making sense of their story and moving toward their life worth living goals.
Dr. Farrokh uses a client-centered lens while integrating specific evidence-based therapies. She is trained in ACT, DBT and play therapy models including ARC. She attended the Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Foundational Training through Behavior Tech. Her training has primarily focused on partnering with children and families with trauma histories. Dr. Farrokh has also completed the Level 1 Gottman Method Couples Therapy training and the TF-CBT 2.0 training.
Claudia Ranaldo, PsyD
Dr. Claudia Ranaldo is a licensed psychologist who specializes in working with children, adolescents and young adults. For the past ten years she was an attending psychologist at Jackson Behavioral Health Hospital, part of Jackson Health System. Dr. Ranaldo was the founder and director for the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Program for Adolescents (DBT-A) since 2013 treating adolescents and young adults with suicidal thoughts and behaviors, self-injurious behaviors, chronic depression, anxiety, impulsivity, interpersonal issues, eating disorders, and substance abuse. She was also an attending psychologist in the Child and Adolescent Center (CAC), which provides outpatient psychological services to children, adolescents and young adults age 3 to 21 who are experiencing behavioral, emotional, educational, and family difficulties. She was responsible for conducting and supervising individual, group, and family therapy in both the Child and Adolescent Center and the DBT Programs, as well as conducting and supervising psychological testing for both inpatient and outpatient child and adolescent cases.
Dr. Ranaldo has been a Voluntary Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences with the University of Miami, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine since 2016, and continues to supervise general psychiatry residents and child and adolescent psychiatry fellows in both DBT and other forms of individual, family and parent therapy as well as provide a number of didactic trainings and lecture series on a variety of topics. Dr. Ranaldo was responsible for the supervision and training of child and adolescent psychology interns and postdoctoral fellows in all aspects of the provision of psychological services.
Her clinical and research interests include DBT therapy with children and adolescents, attachment, childhood trauma, mood disorders, anxiety, emerging personality disorders in adolescents and young adults as well as psychodiagnostic testing. Prior to entering the realm of clinical psychology, Dr. Ranaldo was a certified School Psychologist in New York since 2007, and continues to be dedicated to helping children and families access appropriate and timely services within their schools. She is an active member of the American Psychological Association, the Society of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.
Dr. Ranaldo earned her doctorate in clinical and child psychology from the Florida School of Professional Psychology in 2012. She completed her clinical internship at Chicago School of Professional Psychology and her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Miami School of Medicine and Jackson Memorial Hospital. Dr. Ranaldo is intensively trained via Behavioral Tech in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy Prolonged Exposure (DBT-PE), along with their modifications for adolescents.
Sarah Ortega, PhD
As a Miami native, Dr. Sarah V. Ortega has a life-long commitment to use her clinical and research experiences to promote wellness and enhance the mental health of children, adolescents, and young adults in vibrant and diverse South Florida. Dr. Ortega received her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Florida State University in 2023 during which she received comprehensive training as a generalist practitioner working with clients across the life span. She completed her pediatric clinical residency at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Mailman Center for Child Development and specialized in working with adolescents and families in some of Miami’s most underserved schools. Dr. Ortega has delivered individual and group therapies and assessments in outpatient clinics, community mental health centers, hospitals, schools, and forensic settings. She is well-versed in evidence-based treatments such as dialectical behavior therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive processing therapy, motivational interviewing, and exposure therapy. Her specialties include anxiety and mood disorders, trauma, emotional dysregulation, suicidality and self-harm, and interpersonal difficulties. Dr. Ortega is also a PATH Intl. Certified Therapeutic Horseback Riding Instructor and is a firm believer in the healing power of human-animal interactions.
Dr. Ortega takes a client-centered, cognitive-behavioral approach to treatment that is grounded in science. She uses empathy and validation to build rapport, establish a safe and trusting therapeutic relationship, and affirm that clients are in control of their treatment. Her non-judgmental, supportive approach creates a safe space where clients may process their emotional experiences, explore their identities, and achieve their therapeutic goals. To her, treatment is a dynamic interaction between evidence-based treatments and clinical experience. She is open and flexible and can readily adapt core conceptual components of different treatment options to better serve each client’s unique needs and circumstances. From her perspective, therapy is a journey of self- discovery, empowerment, and skill development. Through this process her clients increase self-compassion and acceptance while actively addressing areas in their lives they want to change.