Dr. Alan Brandis has more than 25 years’ experience working with adults, teens, children, couples and families. He uses his deep understanding of human perceptions and interaction patterns to design unusual and effective interventions for a variety of common and uncommon problems.
Dr. Brandis sees himself as a problem-solver and tries to discover the key aspects in each situation that have been holding the problem in place. This enables him to use brief interventions and to help resolve problems quickly, in many cases.
He finds it essential to use information and data to help understand the underlying processes that are causing the symptoms people experience. He believes that each person and family is unique, and interventions must be tailored to the specific characteristics of the people involved.
Dr. Brandis was born in Chicago, IL, and received his B.A., with Honors, in Human Behavior from the University of Chicago before his 21st birthday. He migrated to California, where he received his M. A. and Ph.D. from the California School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles (now part of Alliant University).
Dr. Brandis was trained in Psychological Testing, Child Abuse Assessment and Treatment, Parent Education and Training, the treatment of Depression and other mood disorders, and Child/Adolescent Development during his doctoral program. His dissertation, utilizing techniques of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, developed and evaluated a training technique to help parents reduce their angry responses towards their children, as well as a method to assess its effectiveness.
In California, he served as a consultant for, developed, opened, ran and clinically supervised several inpatient and outpatient Alcohol/Chemical Dependency, Co-Dependency, and Dual Diagnosis programs in the L. A. and Long Beach areas. One of his most prized accomplishments was the development of a board game which teaches basic concepts of recovery from alcohol or drug addiction, called “Serenity - A Recovery Game.”
In addition to his formal psychological education and training, Dr. Brandis sought and received intensive training in Gestalt Therapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and Hypnosis. He was trained by a number of well-known people including Phillip and Dr. Norma Barretta, John Grinder, and Dr. Joseph Barber of the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and the UCLA Pain Management Center.
Dr. Brandis works extensively with children and teens, using therapeutic techniques and assisting parents in handling children's problem behaviors more effectively. He also has extensive experience assessing and treating Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and has an understanding of a variety of approaches to treat attention disorders, including medication, nutritional/herbal approaches, and neurofeedback. Dr. Brandis received training with Dr. Joseph Sandford of BrainTrain in Virginia using the SmartMind Neurofeedback system, which he uses as a non-drug treatment for ADHD.
Dr. Brandis is a Diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management, and is experienced in the assessment and treatment of Chronic Pain Syndrome. During his last few years in California, he was certified by the State of California as a Qualified Medical Evaluator for the Workers' Compensation System there, where he conducted assessments and wrote medical-legal reports for Workers' Compensation and Disability Evaluations. Dr. Brandis was trained by one of the top Comp attorneys in the Southern California area, although he did both defense and applicant work.
After living in California for 17 years, Dr. Brandis migrated once more, to the Atlanta area, in 1995. A computer enthusiast, he designed and compiled much of the data for this Website and was the Webmaster for over 10 years. He has been a member of the AAPA community for 20 years and counting.
"Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you." -- Aldous Huxley
Insurance Plans Accepted:
Aetna, Cigna, TriCare, Coventry, Medicaid (all three managed care plans), Medicare, United Healthcare/United Behavioral Health, Value-Options, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Georgia, Great West, Private Healthcare Systems, many others.
Dr. Brandis can be reached at (770) 953-6401 x. 309. He sees patients in both the Marietta and Roswell/Alpharetta offices.