Our Team

Dr. Areti Vassilopoulos has been the Yale site director for the Comfort Ability Program (CAP) since 2020. She facilitates the youth series within the CAP workshop. She is also the Primary Investigator for research studies within the program, where CAP family feedback is the driving force for work within and outside of Yale.

Alison Fletcher is a third-year Clinical Psychology Doctoral (PsyD) student with a concentration in Health Psychology at Antioch University New England (AUNE). She is completing a year-long practicum training 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.

Barbara Storch, PhD, is the postdoctoral Pediatric Psychology Fellow at the Yale Child Study Center. She received her undergraduate degree from Tufts University, where she double-majored in Cognitive & Brain Sciences and Child Studies & Human Development. She received her doctorate degree from the Health Psychology and Clinical Science program at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. As a graduate student, she trained clinically in a variety of settings, including medical subspecialty clinics focused on working with children and families with chronic medical illness and comorbid psychosocial concerns, as well as outpatient settings specializing in treatment for childhood anxiety and mood disorders. Her research focuses on psychosocial adjustment to a diagnosis of chronic illness in childhood, with a particular focus on resilience in chronic gastrointestinal conditions. She most enjoys partnering with young people, their families, and their medical teams to provide support through the adjustment to and ongoing management of chronic medical conditions.