Bios
We are both specialists in infant and toddler mental health and experts in child development and family psychology. Our combined professional experience with families spans over three decades. In this time we have learned that the early years of child-rearing often present parents with a web of related challenges. For example, the behavior problems of a preschooler may be the result of family stress due to a younger sibling that does not sleep, which may, in turn, contribute to stress between parents. During these early years, keeping mind and soul together is often a matter of finding a way to respond effectively to challenges as each new one arises, or as they arise in various constellations.
We founded Symbio in order to provide families with the sort of flexible, multifaceted support we believed would best serve parents and children. We offer a place where parents can turn – and return – to get help that is tailored to their current needs, in whatever combinations those needs may arise.
Parents seek our help with a wide variety of issues: managing children’s behavior, helping a child learn to cope with separations and other childhood anxieties, teaching a child to sleep or toilet train, helping siblings develop healthy relationships, caring for the relationship between parents as partners, or simply figuring out how to apply the vast array of parenting instruction and advice to one’s own unique child.
Whatever the issue, our approach is to help parents develop strategies and understanding that blends the best of research-base developmental psychology with child-centered, practically-relevant techniques. We offer support in a variety of formats: private consultations for parents, consultation meetings with small groups, individual and couples therapy for parents and, in some cases, child or family therapy. In order to accommodate busy parents and families who are not local, we have designed as many of our services as possible to be accessible by phone.
If you have questions that the are not answered there, or just want help and don’t feel like sorting through a website, send an email.
Noelle Cochran, PsyD
license: psy 27302
Noelle Cochran holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University. She specializes in infant and toddler mental health and is an expert in early childhood development. She consults with parents across the country on issues related to sleep, development and discipline in the early years of parenthood.
Noelle completed her pre and post-doctoral fellowships at the Infant-Parent Program, UCSF Department of Psychiatry, San Francisco General Hospital, where she worked with parents and babies who were having difficulty establishing strong relational bonds. Her graduate research was done on the transition to parenthood for couples with twins, and infant and toddler sleep issues.
Lele Diamond, PsyD, MFT
license: mft 40324
Lele Diamond holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University and a masters in counseling psychology from California Institute of Integral Studies. She brings extensive experience in child development and individual and couple mental health to her work with adults, couples and families; her clinical expertise with children ranges from toddlerhood through the teenage years.
Lele’s doctoral research focused on diversity issues in the clinical relationship. She spent her doctoral internship at Child Trauma Research Program, UCSF Department of Psychiatry, San Francisco General Hospital. In addition to her role as a developmental consultant and a psychotherapist, Lele works with families, treatment centers, schools and physicians locally and across the country to improve service accessibility and promote inclusion of diverse populations.
