Our Staff

Director, Dr. Linda Silverman, awarded "Special Advocate 2007" distinction

Linda Kreger Silverman, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical and counseling psychologist, who has contributed over 300 publications to the field, including the textbook, Counseling the Gifted & Talented, and Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual-Spatial Learner. She founded and directs the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development (ISAD), and its subsidiary, the Gifted Development Center (www.gifteddevelopment.com), which has assessed over 5,500 children in the last 29 years. In addition, she founded Visual-Spatial Resource (www.VisualSpatial.org), another subsidiary of ISAD. For nine years, she served on the faculty of the University of Denver in counseling psychology and gifted education. Co-Chair of the NAGC Task Force on Assessment, she organized the first symposium on assessment of the gifted in conjunction with the World Council for Gifted Children Conference in 2005 and the second symposium in Los Angeles in 2009. Advising major testing companies, she was a member of the expert Advisory Panel for the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, Fifth Edition, and has been instrumental in the development of extended norms for the WISC-IV.


				The Gifted Development Center is currently seeking additional testers!

Director, Dr. Linda Silverman, awarded "Special Advocate 2007" distinction Linda Kreger Silverman, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical and counseling psychologist, who has contributed over 300 publications to the field, including the textbook, Counseling the Gifted & Talented, and Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual-Spatial Learner. She founded and directs the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development (ISAD), and its subsidiary, the Gifted Development Center (www.gifteddevelopment.com), which has assessed over 5,500 children in the last 29 years. In addition, she founded Visual-Spatial Resource (www.VisualSpatial.org), another subsidiary of ISAD. For nine years, she served on the faculty of the University of Denver in counseling psychology and gifted education. Co-Chair of the NAGC Task Force on Assessment, she organized the first symposium on assessment of the gifted in conjunction with the World Council for Gifted Children Conference in 2005 and the second symposium in Los Angeles in 2009. Advising major testing companies, she was a member of the expert Advisory Panel for the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, Fifth Edition, and has been instrumental in the development of extended norms for the WISC-IV.

			Director; Counselor Linda Kreger Silverman, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist. She directs the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development, and its subsidiary, the Gifted Development Center, in Denver, Colorado. Over 5,000 children have been assessed at the Center since 1979. She is co-chair of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) Task Force on Assessment. Her Ph.D. is in educational psychology and special education from the University of Southern California. For nine years, she served on the faculty of the University of Denver in counseling psychology and gifted education. Her textbook, Counseling the Gifted and Talented (Love: 1993), is the most popular text in this area; it has been adopted at more than 50 colleges and universities. Her latest book, Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual-Spatial Learner, was released November, 2002. She founded the only journal on adult giftedness, Advanced Development. Currently, she is conducting research on profoundly gifted children, the visual-spatial learner, comparative assessment of the gifted on different instruments, the effects of vision therapy, and introversion. Linda has been studying the assessment, psychology and education of the gifted since 1961 and she has contributed over 300 articles and chapters in this field. To view Linda's Curriculum Vitae, please click here. Please visit Linda's Column!

			Associate Director; Counselor; Examiner Barbara ("Bobbie") Gilman, M.S., serves as Associate Director of the non-profit Gifted Development Center in Denver, where she specializes in school advocacy consultation with parents worldwide, and diagnosis and recommendations for moderately, highly, exceptionally and profoundly gifted children, as well as gifted children with learning disabilities, AD/HD, and underachievement issues. She chairs the National Association for Gifted Children's (NAGC) Assessments of Giftedness Special Interest Group in its ongoing efforts to research comprehensive intelligence tests, suggest best practices for their use with gifted children, and work with test developers and publishers to improve gifted assessment. Bobbie's award-winning book, Academic Advocacy for Gifted Children: A Parent's Complete Guide (2008), guides parents through the process of documenting the unique instructional needs of a gifted student, finding curricular options that meet the child's needs, and negotiating with school personnel for programming accommodations. Challenging Highly Gifted Learners (2008), written for educators, addresses educational planning for highly, exceptionally, and profoundly gifted students. A recent concern for her is finding ways to document the needs of twice exceptional students-who are both gifted and have weaknesses-for classroom accommodations, as many school districts have cut back the comprehensive assessment needed to identify them.


		Examiners

			Barbara Gilman, M.S.

			Nancy B. Miller, Ph.D., holds degrees in psychology and sociology and has received advanced training in family processes and children’s psychological adjustment. Since 2000, she has served as Associate Editor for Advanced Development, a journal on adult giftedness. Prior to moving back to the Denver area, she was Executive Officer for Sociologists for Women in Society and taught courses at both the graduate and undergraduate level at the University of Akron in Ohio, including socialization; children, youth and society; and sociology of the family. Her numerous publications focus on emotional development, gender and giftedness, and women’s social support and adjustment. She has worked with Dr. Silverman for the past 20 years and is committed to fostering children’s social and emotional development at home and at school. She brings a sociological perspective to the assessment of children at the Gifted Development Center.

			Ann W. DeMers, M.A., N.C.S.P., Associate, holds a Master's degree in Special Education and a state license as well as national certification in School Psychology. She has recently retired with 31 years of experience in Jefferson County Schools as a special educator, classroom teacher and school psychologist. Ann’s experience includes teaching conflict resolution, anger management and social skills and supporting students with severe emotional disabilities. She has training and experience with students who are Twice Exceptional. Ann has been an examiner at the Gifted Development Center since 2003.

			Connie C. Tucker, M.S., N.C.S.P., Associate, holds a Master's degree in School Psychology, and a Diplomate in School Neuropsychology. She has held state and national certificates in school psychology since 1988. Connie recently retired after working for 20 years in Jefferson County Schools where she conducted psychological assessments to determine learning disabilities or emotional disorders, counseled at-risk children, and consulted with teachers to develop interventions to help children become successful in school. Connie has assessed gifted children at the Gifted Development Center since 2000. As the mother of gifted daughters, she has learned through experience the joy of giftedness and the need for advocacy for gifted children.

			Marni Choice-Hermosillo, Ed.S., Associate, holds an Educational Specialist degree from the University of Denver and a license in School Psychology. Marni currently works in Denver Public Schools as a school psychologist for an elementary and middle school; however, she is certified to work with children of all ages (birth – 21). As a school psychologist, Marni conducts psychological assessments for gifted children, as well as those with learning and emotional disabilities. In addition, she also counsels at-risk children, teaches social skills, consults with teachers to develop accommodations in the classroom, implements conflict mediation programs and tutors children with reading disabilities. Marni has worked with the gifted population for three years and has a special interest in play therapy, gifted minorities, learning disabilities and reading interventions.

			Dr. Katrina Katen is a Clinical Psychologist with several years of experience and advanced training in assessment. Licensed in the state of Colorado, Katrina earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the School of Professional Psychology at Forest Institute in Missouri. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at a neurobehavioral and specialty hospital in Wisconsin where she conducted neuropsychological evaluations and provided an array of psychological services to individuals with brain injuries, neurobehavioral impairments and severe emotional difficulties. Her post-doctoral residencies included training in the fields of geriatric and pediatric psychology. Current clinical work involves conducting comprehensive psycho-educational and AD/HD evaluations, as well as providing individual, couples, and family counseling. In addition to clinical work, she teaches undergraduate psychology and social psychology courses for local colleges. Katrina is passionate about helping individuals discover and unlock their potential through education, counseling, and clinical assessment.

			Kimberly Carroll Boham, M.A.E., earned her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from Wayne State College in 1991. She taught for 7 years in Millard Public Schools (Omaha, NE) as a 4th and 5th grade classroom teacher. During this time she discovered her passion for teaching gifted children and completed her Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an endorsement in Gifted Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1999). After staying home for several years to take care of her four young children, Kim returned to teaching in the role of a Gifted Coordinator in Millard. She was heavily involved in her district’s revision of their gifted program identification process, and this involvement became the catalyst for her interest in all areas of gifted identification, particularly IQ testing. Kim currently works part-time as a Gifted Coordinator in Elkhorn Public Schools in Elkhorn, NE. She works directly with gifted children and supports their classroom teachers to meet their needs through best practices in gifted education. Kim travels monthly to Denver from Omaha to work as an examiner at the Gifted Development Center and to enhance her experience and knowledge in the area of assessment and identification of gifted children. As the mother of gifted and talented children, Kim understands the importance and necessity of identification and advocacy for gifted children.

			Dawn Kinard, M.S. - currently on extended leave, holds a Master's degree in Special Education from Texas A&M University, and certifications as an Educational Diagnostician, Pre-K through 12, ESL, and Special Educator. Prior to relocating to Denver, she was employed by the Dallas Independent School District where she provided psycho-educational evaluations and developed individualized education plans for students with learning disabilities. Previously, she spent three years teaching the gifted. In addition, she screened and identified gifted students, and chaired the committee that admitted students into the gifted program. Her background as a Special Educator influenced her advocacy for including twice exceptional learners in gifted programs.

			Amanda Baldwin, M.S. - currently on extended leave, received her undergraduate degree in Education from Troy University in Troy, Alabama. She taught elementary school for 7 years where she had the pleasure of educating children with a wide range of academic capabilities from learning disabled to gifted. She then returned to school to get her master’s degree in School Psychometry from Troy University, Dothan, Alabama. Amanda worked as a psychometrist at a psychiatric hospital and residential treatment center in Alabama for children and adolescents ages four through eighteen. She was responsible for all of the testing at the center which when at capacity had over 100 residents. After having her first child, she opened her own business, Psychometric Services, where she would go into private schools to do testing, write interpretive reports, and consult with parents, teachers, and administrators as needed. Amanda and her family moved to Denver in 2006 and her second child was born a year later.

			Helen McVicar, M.B.A., ABSNP - currently on extended leave, is licensed by the Colorado Department of Education as a School Psychologist and her professional experience includes 12 years working in public schools conducting comprehensive assessments, and providing direct services, crisis management, applied behavior analysis and consultation. She has worked for GDC as a Professional Associate for more than eight years providing assessments and acting as the site coordinator of a Stanford-Binet 5 discriminant validation study. She worked for several years testing children for Dr. George Dorry of the Attention and Behavior Center before his retirement. Helen holds an MBA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from City University of New York and completed a Post-Masters Licensure Program in School Psychology at Marywood University. As she became more interested in twice exceptional and learning disabilities, Helen completed the School Neuropsychology Post-Graduate Certification Program and received a Diplomate by the American Board of School Neuropsychology (ABSNP). In addition to cognitive, academic and social/emotional assessment, she can now consider attention, memory and executive functioning.
		Counselors

			Linda Silverman, Ph.D. (See Director) Bobbie Gilman, M.S. (See Associate Director)

			Michael Davis, Ph.D., Staff Counselor, has been a psychotherapist in private practice in Colorado since 1981. He has worked with gifted children and their families as the staff counselor at the Gifted Development Center, in Denver, for almost 30 years. In addition, he has taught graduate school classes at Denver University’s Center for Teaching International Relations and delivered numerous presentations at Gifted Conferences and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator™ Conferences. Michael is also a Certified Imago Therapist and Couples Workshop Presenter, and has been sharing the benefits of Imago Relationship Therapy with his clients since 1998. He helps his clients understand and integrate the skills and practices that make relationships work. Michael likes to compare relationships to canoeing down a river. One thing he guarantees is that there are rapids downstream. Therefore he teaches people to paddle in calm waters, to navigate through rapids and, if they tip over, how to get back in the canoe. He does this with insight, warmth, and gentle humor. To learn more about him, the services he offers, and “Imago,” please visit his website.

			Dave Atkinson, is a Licensed Professional Counselor. He joined the Gifted Development Center as an intern in 1993, while working on his Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology. His expertise in assessment led him to become our first Director of Staff Development. Dave works part-time at the Center, specializing in career development, counseling, tutoring and preparation for the SAT, ACT, GRE and LSAT. He also assists in reviewing reports.

			Professional Affiliates Linda Powers Leviton, M.A., MFT, Consultant & Director, West Coast Office of the Gifted Development Center office, has been in private practice as a Licensed Marriage, Family and Child Therapist since 1996. Prior to that, she taught gifted children and raised three of her own. Linda Leviton and Linda Silverman have worked together since 1974. They co-authored "In Search of the Perfect Program," which serves as a basis for helping parents find appropriate educational environments for their children. Michael M. Piechowski, has a Ph.D. in molecular biology and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Educational Advancement and Professor Emeritus of Education and Psychology, Northland College, Ashland, Wisconsin Co-author of Theory of Levels of Emotional Development (2 vols.) with Kazimierz Dabrowski, Michael has written extensively on the developmental potential and emotional development of the gifted, including the book, "Mellow Out," They Say, If I Only Could. Kathi Kearney, M.A. Ed., is the founder of the Hollingworth Center for Highly Gifted Children, a national resource and support network for exceptionally gifted children and their families. She has worked with gifted children as a teacher and administrator in a wide variety of settings, urban and rural, in public, private, religious, and home schools. Kathi is a recognized expert on homeschooling exceptionally gifted children. An excellent diagnostician, she works primarily in New England.

			Betty Maxwell, M.A. After 22 years of serving in various roles, Betty retired from the Gifted Development Center the summer of 2011. She remains an advisor to the Center and the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development. Betty is currently working on a teacher resource book about visual-spatial learners. The Gifted Development Center, the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development, the Visual-Spatial Resource, and Advanced Development Journal blossomed through her vision, wisdom, and dedication. In honor of Betty, we have established a fund to continue the essence of her values and contributions. The Betty Maxwell Fund will be used to: support assessment of giftedness in families with limited means provide a classroom where teachers can learn about visual-spatial learners, parents can learn about how to advocate for their gifted children, and gifted adults can learn how to utilize their own gifts train examiners in the fine nuances of test interpretation of twice-exceptional learners assist therapists in understanding the psychological aspects of development and self-actualization. If Betty has touched your life, please help us to preserve her vision for future generations. We have received challenge grants in the amount of $20,000. Please help us match these challenge grants.


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