About Us

Ketty Patiño González, Ph.D.

Dr. Ketty Patiño González is a clinical psychologist licensed in Florida since 1998. She is a graduate of the University of Miami's clinical psychology program, Child and Family Track. Dr. Patiño González worked in various capacities at the University of Miami from 1995 until June 2007, when she decided to devote all her time to private practice. At the University of Miami she taught graduate courses in psychological assessments and supervised all the clinical psychology doctoral students on their assessment practica for twelve years. During her stay at UM, she started an assessment clinic that established a very strong reputation for its psychoeducational and developmental evaluations of children, adolescents, and adults. In addition, seeing a need in the community, in 2002 she established the Autism Spectrum Assessment Clinic (ASAC) to evaluate children with developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders. These clinics are ongoing at the university and continue to be very successful.

Dr. Patiño González was born in Cuba and left as a young girl. She is married and has four children and five grandchildren. She is bilingual and bicultural in Spanish and specializes in bilingual assessments. As part of her private practice, she has seen children from 28 different countries, including 16 Latin American countries.

Dr. Patiño González has presented locally, nationally, and internationally on autism, Asperger's Syndrome, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, and psychoeducational evaluations. Her practice is solely dedicated to assessments.

Sophie Guellati-Salcedo, Ph.D.

Already a clinical psychologist in France since 1999, Dr. Sophie Guellati-Salcedo became licensed in Florida in 2007. In 2000, she came to Miami as a Fulbright scholar to conduct research in Health Psychology/Behavioral Medicine. At the University of Miami, her research focused on the use of cognitive-behavioral and stress-management techniques to enhance coping skills and emotional well-being in women with early-stage breast cancer. She graduated from the University of Miami’s clinical psychology program, Health Track, in 2004. Since then, she has been conducting psychoeducational, neuropsychological, and personality assessments to detect giftedness, learning disabilities, Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, and/or psychiatric conditions in adults and children (first grade and up) in collaboration with Dr. Patiño González. She additionally conducts evaluations specifically geared to fulfill advanced requirements of graduate level requests for accommodations for standardized testing such as the GRE, GMAT, MCAT or LSAT.

Dr. Guellati-Salcedo was born in Paris, France and has been living in Miami since the year 2000. She is married and has a daughter. She is bi-cultural and bilingual in French/English and specializes in bilingual assessment of children’s intellectual and academic functioning.

Dr. Guellati-Salcedo also offers therapy and coaching services for adults in both languages, with a preferred focus in health psychology. She has been trained in a variety of treatment approaches in France and in the U.S.A., including psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, humanistic, and schema-focused therapies. Prior to her psychological training, Dr. Guellati-Salcedo completed a master’s degree in business administration and worked several years in the corporate world. This experience has allowed her to better understand and support individuals overcoming everyday life stressors.

Tricia D. Cassel, Ph.D.

Dr. Tricia D. Cassel received her Ph.D. from the University of Miami’s clinical psychology program, Child and Family Track, in August 2008 and joined us as a psychology resident in September 2008. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at Franciscan Hospital for Children in Boston, the largest pediatric rehabilitative facility in the northeast. Dr. Cassel was born in Pennsylvania and has lived in Miami with her husband since 2002.

Dr. Cassel worked closely under the supervision of Dr. Patiño González at the University of Miami. In her five years at UM she worked in the Autism Spectrum Assessment Clinic (ASAC) evaluating children for autism spectrum disorders, completed psychoeducational evaluations with children ranging in age from toddlers to young adults, completed developmental evaluations with infants and young children, and also completed similar evaluations for toddlers and children at risk for autism as part of a research study. During her internship at Franciscan Hospital for Children, Dr. Cassel was responsible for providing psychological assessments as part of a multi-disciplinary team and on an outpatient basis, and completed a neuropsychology rotation.

In addition to her assessment experience, Dr. Cassel has a wide range of experience with behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, and family therapies. During her years at the University of Miami she conducted therapy with children, adolescents, and families. During her internship her therapy experiences included outpatient services, as well as working with children in medical and psychiatric inpatient units. She also has experience running socialization groups for children with autism spectrum disorders, as well as with medically and psychiatrically hospitalized children.