Jane Appell, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Concord, Massachusetts and an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. She has over 30 years of experience working as a psychotherapist with children, adults, couples and families. In addition to her general psychotherapy practice, Dr. Appell specializes in working with high-conflict separating or divorced families as mediator, parenting coordinator, divorce coach or child custody evaluator. She provides consultations to attorneys and individuals, and has served as an expert witness. Dr. Appell is a frequent speaker at professional conferences and other seminars. She is the author of Divorce Doesn’t Have to Be That Way: A Handbook for the Helping Professional. (Impact Publishers, 2006).
In her early career, Dr. Appell spent several years working as a school psychologist. She has many years of advanced training in family therapy as well as specialized training in divorce mediation, collaborative divorce coaching, stepfamilies and a variety of psychotherapeutic treatment modalities. Dr. Appell received a Masters and CAGS in Counselling Psychology from Boston University in 1974 and a Ph.D. in Counselling Psychology from Boston College in 1983. She is currently on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Psychological Association and is a Board member and former president of the Massachusetts Association of Guardians ad Litem.
Dr. Appell is the divorced and remarried mother of two adult children. Through both her personal and professional experiences, Dr. Appell has developed the philosophy that the divorce experience, while very difficult, is also a life transition that contains opportunities for psychological growth. She strives to facilitate psychological coping skills and personal growth for her separating and divorcing clients and their families.