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Blake Zweig is a school psychologist who dedicates his time and effort toward helping children, teens, and young adults develop and maintain the tools they need in order to thrive throughout their adolescent years and beyond. Blake provides both group and individual services for children, adolescents, and young adults, as well as parent training and consultation.

As a school psychologist for more than 21 years, Blake has developed a wide range of interests and areas of specialty. These include the following: Mindful Self-Compassion, autism spectrum disorders (social skill development), social coaching/mentoring young adults, disability awareness including learning, behavioral, and emotional disabilities, coping skills, executive functioning skills, increasing student self-advocacy and independent learning skills, psycho-educational evaluation and interpretation, parent training regarding easily frustrated, chronically inflexible children through Dr. Ross Greene's collaborative model, and parent education regarding the special education process of the public school system.

Currently, Blake is in his 21st year at Maple School, a middle school in Northbrook. Blake's experience within the public school system provides parents with an insider's view or perspective on what the true social, emotional, and academic world is like for children and teens these days.

In addition to his role as a school psychologist, Blake is an active singer-song writer, soccer player, former sailing instructor, and was a graduate of the 2nd City Improvisation Training Program. Blake's laid-back personality and wide range of interests create a relaxed, creative, comfortable, and safe therapeutic environment for parents, children, adolescents, and young adults to explore.

Services
(Individual and Group Therapeutic Services)

Child and Adolescent Therapy

  • Self-Compassion
  • Coping skills (i.e. managing feelings associated with anxiety and depression)
  • Self-advocacy and the development of independent learning skills
  • Social problem solving (i.e. responding to bullying, developing and maintaining friendships)
  • Social skill development (i.e. perspective-taking, verbal and nonverbal communication, social thinking concepts and curriculum from Michelle Garcia Winner)
  • Flexibility (emotional and behavioral)
  • Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

Young Adults (ages 17 – 30)

  • Young adult services are provided both in and outside of the office. Mentoring scenarios may include coaching, going to different locations and implementing active social skills in the moment, or meeting in different locations to incorporate natural observations of our social world surroundings.
    • Individual social coaching / mentoring (Northbrook and Chicago)

Parent Education

  • Parent coaching/training regarding easily frustrated, chronically inflexible children (Ross Greene's model as described in The Explosive Child)
  • Special Education Consultation

Psycho-educational Evaluations and Special Education Consultation

The first thing every family should know is that before paying for a private evaluation regarding potential disabilities impacting school performance, they should request an evaluation from their current school district, which is free. Many school districts will provide the testing a family needs in order to consider whether or not their child requires special education services or accommodations. However, not all school districts leave families satisfied with the amount of testing, collaboration, or communication regarding test results, interpretation, and recommendations. With more than 21 years of experience conducting psycho-educational evaluations and writing Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for students, Blake provides consultation and assessment services for families that have not been satisfied with their current school district's performance, who would like to figure out how to request an evaluation from their school district, or who simply want their child to be evaluated outside of the school district for a variety of reasons.

Current Groups

Groups are determined based on numbers and need. A group can be started to address several different areas of need with three or more interested clients. If you don't see a group below that matches your interest, please don't hesitate to contact Blake. You may be the one that helps activate a potential group waiting on one more person to call.

No Current Groups

Contact

Please fill out the form below to contact Blake.

Credentials / Experience

Blake earned his Bachelors of Science (B.S.) in Psychology at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. He earned his Masters of Arts (M.A.) in School Psychology and an Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Disability Studies from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.

Blake has received advanced training in Mindful Self-Compassion, developed by Dr. Kristin Neff and Dr. Chris Germer. He plans to continue toward certification within the Mindful Self-Compassion program.

In addition, Blake has received advanced training in Ross Greene's collaborative problem-solving model as described in Dr. Greene's book, The Explosive Child: A New Approach of Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children.

Blake has worked with children and families in several different environments all across the country. From the Native American reservations of Northern Arizona to high schools of over 2700 students in Northern Virginia and upstate New York. Blake has spent his career counseling and evaluating student needs, as well as collaborating and problem-solving with teachers and parents.

Blake is the Student Services Department Chair at Maple School in Northbrook where he has been a full-time school psychologist for 21 years. In addition, Blake coached wrestling for 7 years, founded Maple School's Sci-Fi Fantasy Club, and currently coaches cross country.

Professional Affiliation: National Association of School Psychologists

Links & Resources