The Department of Counseling and Guidance works with teachers, parents and administrators to provide primarily, academic guidance and, secondarily, emotional support to individual students and to monitor and respond to concerns which affect the school community. Each student is assigned a guidance counselor as he/she enters the school and that relationship continues through the student’s years at Frisch. Our guidance counselors maintain an open door policy for all Frisch students. They monitor the academic progress, psychosocial maturation and religious development of each of their assigned students and initiate various forms of intervention with individual students at the request of parents, teachers, administrators and/or the students themselves.
The Department of Counseling and Guidance works with the school’s health educator to formulate the health curriculum and to plan special programs for students, teachers and parents. Counselors also serve as liaisons to the College Guidance, Torah Guidance and Israel Guidance staff.
These services are currently supplied by seven trained specialists:
Rabbi Dr. John Krug (Director) in addition to having earned a master’s degree in Jewish education, also holds masters and doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology. He has been trained in both psychoanalytic technique and family therapy and is a licensed clinical psychologist. Dr. Krug’s undergraduate degrees include psychology, speech and drama. His master’s thesis on “Psychopathology and Nomenclature in Biblical Literature and Talmudic Lore” served as a teaching tool for religious mental health professionals, and his often-cited doctoral dissertation, “Empty Nest Syndrome Among Holocaust Survivors”, made a unique contribution to the literature of the survivor population. Rabbi Krug has also been involved with informal Jewish education for over thirty-five years and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Bar Ilan University.
Dr. Matilda Anhalt or “Dr. Mati” as she is known to her students, received her Ph.D. in clinical and school psychology from Hofstra University. Prior to that, Dr. Anhalt attended both Queens College and Machon Gold. She has worked extensively in biological and behavioral psychiatry, primarily dealing with anxiety disorders, phobias and OCD. She joined the Department of Counseling and Guidance in September 2000, and comes with a fine reputation for working with students.
Dr. Alex Bailey is a licensed clinical psychologist with years of experience in hospitals, clinics and elementary, middle and high schools in the Tri-State area. As a school psychologist, he has worked extensively with teachers, students, parents, mental health providers and administrators, serving the entire educational system. Dr. Bailey’s expertise is in the areas of communication, child development and academic guidance, and he has spent his career facilitating productive parent, teacher and student communication; enhancing classroom management skills for teachers; training parents in setting boundaries and improving their relationships with their children and managing oppositional behavior in adolescents. He has been particularly effective guiding high school students through their academic lives within the school system. Dr. Bailey’s private clinical practice in Teaneck focuses on parents and families, adolescents, and young adults.
Mrs. Michele Fuld has a M.S.Ed. with a specialty in family counseling. Her education, combined with her professional experience within the public school and yeshiva systems, provides her with unique insight that enhance her communication skills and her ability to understand issues from various perspectives. Having begun her career at Frisch more than twenty years ago, she looks forward to continuing to help each student reach their potential.
Mrs. Rhonda Kamen has a BA in Spanish & Psychology, MA Student Personnel Services & Family Counseling. She was a NY State Model Teacher for training of the TPR approach for Spanish; Teacher of the Year, Ramapo HS and Spring Valley Jr. HS. She is also listed in "Who's Who Among America's Best Teachers."
Ms. Lauren Melzer is a graduate of Barnard College and Midreshet Lindenbaum. She hold a master's degree in clinical psychology from Yeshiva University's Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology and is a Psy.D. doctoral candidate in their clinical program. She has completed an internship in both clinical psychology and neuropsychology at Mt. Sinai Medical Center. Ms. Melzer has extensive experience in individual and group psychotherapy and counseling with adolescents and adults and has a comprehensive background and training in psychological testing and evaluation.
Rabbi Mark Staum received his B.A. in Psychology from Yeshiva University and his Master’s Degree in Social Work from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work. He served as a clinical therapist at the Mental Health Clinic of Passaic, New Jersey, where he specialized in treating both children and adolescents with behavioral difficulties and mood disorders. Rabbi Staum also was the school guidance counselor in the former Mesivta of North Jersey in addition to doing academic guidance.
