Pediatric Functional Neurological Disorders at Yale

Dr. Areti Vassilopoulos is an Associate Professor and Health Psychologist at Yale School of Medicine. Following her PhD, she completed her doctoral internship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine & Kennedy Krieger Institute, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship within the Psychiatry Consultation Service and Transplant Service at Harvard Medical School & Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Vassilopoulos is fully embedded within Pediatric Neurology to provide integrated behavioral health care and health psychology follow-up services. She works with patients with a variety of conditions, including chronic pain, headaches/migraines, functional neurological disorder (FND), neuromuscular conditions, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and neurology-related sleep concerns. Dr. Vassilopoulos is involved in training fellows within the YCSC Pediatric Psychology track. She developed and provides supervision for the advanced health psychology externship, accepting 1-3 students a year in pediatric neurology. She also works closely with residents in Pediatric Neurology, and lectures within the Yale School of Medicine Medical School Clerkship. With regards to research, Dr. Vassilopoulos focuses on quality improvement initiatives, outcomes of clinical interventions, and the relationship between health and behavior medical ambulatory clinics. Her current ongoing research includes headache, sleep disruption, chronic pain, FND, transition from pediatric to adult medical care, and pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis. She is currently site principal investigator on the first and only NIH-Funded study for treatment of pediatric FND. She is often an invited peer reviewer for relevant scholarly journals. Dr. Vassilopoulos is the co-chair of the Functional Neurological Disorder Society (FNDS) Psychological Therapy SIG, and co-chair for the clinical committee of APA DIV 54 Rehabilitation Medicine SIG. Dr. Vassilopoulos values community outreach. She often collaborates with non-profit organizations, such as the Muscular Dystrophy Association and CanDo Multiple Sclerosis, for community presentations and online workshops. She is frequently an invited lecturer for seminar, training and grand rounds in hospital, university, and community settings across the US.

Alison Fletcher is a Clinical Psychology Doctoral (PsyD) candidate with a concentration in Health Psychology at Antioch University New England (AUNE). She has completed two, year-long practicum trainings within the Pediatric Psychology track at Yale Child Study Center under the supervision of Dr. Vassilopoulos. Her clinical work includes working with patients and families with headache, chronic pain, functional neurological symptom disorder (FNSD), and a variety of other neurologic disorders. She also assists with clinic coordination and liaison between the medical team, patient, family, and schools. Fletcher is a team member of the Yale Comfort Ability Program (CAP) for pediatric pain as well as the Yale CAP for Sickle Cell Pain. Her current research explores the relationships between anxiety, depression, pain catastrophizing, and functional disability in pediatric pain patients. Her areas of interest lie in working with children, teens, and young adults with chronic health conditions as they navigate the complex intersections of physical and emotional wellbeing. Fletcher has served as a guest lecturer. She is currently a teaching assistant for Quantitative Research Methods & Statistics at AUNE. She is a research assistant exploring lifestyle impacts on psychological wellbeing. Fletcher has also been an ad-hoc reviewer for Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, mentored by Dr. Karen Meteyer, Ph.D.