Lawrence A. Vitulano, PhD, ABPP
Professor of Child PsychologyCards
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About
Titles
Professor of Child Psychology
Biography
Dr. Vitulano is a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at the Yale Child Study Center, where he supervises interns and fellows. He is the former chief child psychologist of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. He is past president of the Connecticut Behavior Therapy Association and serves on the boards of Southwest Community Health Center in Bridgeport. He is involved in research on the applications of mindfulness and the genetics of ADHD.
Appointments
Child Study Center
ProfessorPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Center for Brain & Mind Health
- Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Training Program
- Child Study Center
- Fernandez Lab
- Predoctoral Internship and Postdoctoral Fellowship in Psychology
- Tic Disorder & Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Program
- Yale Medicine
Education & Training
- PhD
- Catholic University of America (1977)
- BS
- Georgetown University, Psychology (1972)
Research
Overview
Biographical Sketch:
Dr. Vitulano is an executive coach and clinical psychologist with over twenty-five years of experience in a variety of fields relating to growth and development of individuals seeking personal and professional advancement. He is a professor of psychology at the Yale School of Medicine and responsible for teaching and training professionals for leadership roles. He is the former chief psychologist of the State of Connecticut Department of Children and Families, and president of the Connecticut Behavior Therapy Association. He serves on the Boards of several organizations and journals including the American Psychological Association, Southwest Community Health Center in Bridgeport, Connecticut and the Journal of Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
Larry Vitulano has published widely in several areas such as anger management, behavioral interventions for change, coping with chronic illness, executive coaching, executive functioning and ADHD, group therapy, hypnosis, mindfulness and sports psychology. He is experienced in the integration of assessment and feedback for executive development and leadership enhancement. Larry often utilizes standardized instruments in the assessment phase of coaching, such as the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Team Management Index, and Highlands Ability Battery. Personal development and goal setting are always done with an individual in a personalized approach, matching the executive’s strengths to the organizational needs. This sometimes occurs in concert with team building and organizational interventions. Larry has been actively involved in the practice of executive coaching for over fifteen years. He has lectured extensively on executive coaching and organizational consultation at Yale, University of San Francisco, Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University, University of Rome La Sapienza, several universities in Istanbul, the Tavistock Institute and elsewhere. Larry is a member of the Yale Institute for Social and Policy Studies. He has worked with executives from a variety of organizations including Apple, Synchrony Financial Bank, S&P McGraw Hill Financial, ThomsonReuters, Razorfish, GE, BNP Paribas, Coach Inc., Paul Newman Foundation, University of San Francisco, Fairfield University, Malcolm Pirnie/Arcadis, Inc., Kennedy/Jenks Engineering and Kohl’s.
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Publications Timeline
Robert King, MD
James Leckman, MD, PhD
Eli Lebowitz, PhD
Heidi Grantz
Liliya Katsovich, MS, MBA
Andrés S Martin, MD, PhD
Publications
2024
Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Stereotypical Movement Disorders and Tic Disorders
Vitulano L, Vitulano M, King R, Yazgan M, Leckman J. Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Stereotypical Movement Disorders and Tic Disorders. 2024, 1685-1707. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-51366-5_45.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsDevelopmental coordination disorderStereotypic movement disorderTic disordersCoordination disorderMotor skillsBest practice assessmentsNeurodevelopmental disorder groupMotor disordersMovement disordersSelf-bitingHead bangingNeurobiological disorderMotor behaviorHand flappingDisordersPractical assessmentEarly-onsetNonrhythmic movementsChildrenGroup of conditionsJerking movementsMagnetic resonance imaging techniquesSkillsIndividualsRare de novo damaging DNA variants are enriched in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and implicate risk genes
Olfson E, Farhat L, Liu W, Vitulano L, Zai G, Lima M, Parent J, Polanczyk G, Cappi C, Kennedy J, Fernandez T. Rare de novo damaging DNA variants are enriched in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and implicate risk genes. Nature Communications 2024, 15: 5870. PMID: 38997333, PMCID: PMC11245598, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50247-7.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsDNA sequencesRisk genesHigh-confidence risk genesWhole-exome DNA sequencingSequencing of familiesIdentified de novoLysine demethylase 5BDNA variantsTrio cohortBiological pathwaysGenesSequencing cohortGenetic factorsChildhood neurodevelopmental disordersAttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorderSequenceVariantsADHD riskNeurodevelopmental disordersKDM5BDNAMutationsFamilyLysineDiscovery
2023
Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Stereotypical Movement Disorders and Tic Disorders
Vitulano L, Vitulano M, King R, Yazgan M, Leckman J. Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Stereotypical Movement Disorders and Tic Disorders. 2023, 1-23. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-42825-9_45-1.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsStereotypic movement disorderTic disordersDevelopmental coordination disorderMovement disordersMotor disordersCoordination disorderMotor skillsNeurodevelopmental disorder groupMagnetic resonance imaging techniquesBest practice assessmentHead bangingHand flappingNeurobiological disorderDisorder groupMotor behaviorDisordersNonrhythmic movementsSuch childrenPractice assessmentUnwanted attentionChildrenImaging techniquesSkillsYearsRecurrent
2020
An integrated program of computer-presented and physical cognitive training exercises for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Wexler BE, Vitulano LA, Moore C, Katsovich L, Smith SD, Rush C, Grantz H, Dong J, Leckman JF. An integrated program of computer-presented and physical cognitive training exercises for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Psychological Medicine 2020, 51: 1524-1535. PMID: 32090720, DOI: 10.1017/s0033291720000288.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsAttention deficit hyperactivity disorderExperimental medicine approachTAU groupMedicine approachHyperactivity disorderWeeks of treatmentCombined subtypeDiagnosis of ADHDClinical trial designHyperactive-impulsive subtypeAttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorderCross-over designDeficit hyperactivity disorderClinical improvementClinical symptomsRandomized crossCognitive dysfunctionCT groupPathophysiological heterogeneityCONSORT recommendationsTrial designResponse rateChange scoresSubtypesTargeted pathology
2018
Executive coaching as an organizational intervention: benefits and challenges of a team of coaches working with multiple executives in a client system
Nardone M, Johnson N, Vitulano L. Executive coaching as an organizational intervention: benefits and challenges of a team of coaches working with multiple executives in a client system. 2018, 117-134. DOI: 10.4324/9780429477287-7.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsExecutive coaching programLeadership developmentExecutive coachingSenior-level executivesTeams of coachesCoaching programSenior executivesDevelopmental needsLevel executivesCompany investmentsOrganization's needsOrganizational interventionsExecutivesInvestmentBehavioral changesCompaniesHuman behaviorCoachingConsiderable investmentCEOsClient systemReturnMoneyPsychologistsNeed45. Vitulano, ML and Vitulano LA. Book Review: The Schmuck in My Office by Jody J. Foster and Michelle Joy. 2017. St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY. J of Amer Academy of Ch and Adol Psychiatry, vol 57, issue 12, pp 982-983, Dec 2018.
J of Amer Academy of Ch and Adol Psychiatry, vol 57, issue 12, pp 982-983, Dec 2018.Books
2016
6.62 VALUE OF PARENT AND CLINICIAN RATINGS AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE PREDICTABILITY OF RESPONSES TO INTEGRATED COMPUTER-PRESENTED AND PHYSICAL BRAIN-TRAINING EXERCISES
Vitulano L, Grantz H, Landeros-Weisenberger A, Katsovich L, Artukoglu B, Aktan S, Wang M, Geoffrion C, Vitulano M, Wexler B. 6.62 VALUE OF PARENT AND CLINICIAN RATINGS AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE PREDICTABILITY OF RESPONSES TO INTEGRATED COMPUTER-PRESENTED AND PHYSICAL BRAIN-TRAINING EXERCISES. Journal Of The American Academy Of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 2016, 55: s224. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2016.09.381.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchA Randomized Controlled Trial of an Integrated Brain, Body, and Social Intervention for Children With ADHD
Smith SD, Vitulano LA, Katsovich L, Li S, Moore C, Li F, Grantz H, Zheng X, Eicher V, Guloksuz S, Zheng Y, Dong J, Sukhodolsky DG, Leckman JF. A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Integrated Brain, Body, and Social Intervention for Children With ADHD. Journal Of Attention Disorders 2016, 24: 780-794. PMID: 27178060, PMCID: PMC5107355, DOI: 10.1177/1087054716647490.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsIntegrated brainComputerized cognitive remediation trainingCognitive remediation trainingSocial interventionsBehavior management strategiesRemediation trainingCognitive trainingMemory taskADHD symptomatologyADHD symptomsNeurocognitive testsTeacher ratingsBlinded clinician ratingGeneralized improvementADHDMultiple group comparisonsClinician ratingsMultiple domainsClinical functioningSignificant treatment effectOutcome measuresGroup comparisonsSecondary outcome measuresChildrenRatings
2015
Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Motor Disorders
Vitulano L, Vitulano M, King R, Leckman J. Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Motor Disorders. 2015, 779-790. DOI: 10.1002/9781118753378.ch47.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchNeurodevelopmental Disorders: Motor Disorders
43. Vitulano, L.A., M.L. Vitulano, R.A. King and J.F. Leckman. Neurodevelopmental disorders: Motor disorders. In: Psychiatry, 4th ed, A. Tasman, J. Kay, J. A. Lieberman, M.B. First and M.B. Riba (Eds.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2015.Books
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
activity Yale New Haven Hospital
CommitteesAd-hoc MemberDetailsYNHH intern and resident coaching program08/01/2019 - Presenthonor American Board of Professional Psychology
Other AwardABPPDetails07/03/2017United Stateshonor Fellow
National AwardAmerican Psychological AssociationDetails01/01/1990United States
Clinical Care
Overview
Lawrence A. Vitulano, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who treats children and adults at the Yale Child Study Center. He cares for patients with Tourette syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He also treats patients with mood disorders, including depression and anxiety disorders.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is helping patients get through problems they never thought they could overcome,” Dr. Vitulano says. “Very often people feel stuck and don’t see a way out.”
Dr. Vitulano cares for patients using evidence-based treatments that are backed by scientific studies. Some of the techniques he uses include cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), mindfulness practices, and executive function training.
“To reassure patients, I often tell them I’ve seen many other people with the same illness or disorder who are now doing quite well,” he says.
Dr. Vitulano has studied and published scientific articles in many areas of psychology, including anger management, behavioral interventions, group therapy, coping with chronic illness, hypnosis, and mindfulness. He also conducts research in sports psychology, which includes, among other things, how psychology influences athletic performance.
He also provides executive coaching for individuals and large U.S. and global companies. His coaching focuses on improving a person’s emotional intelligence, which is the ability to recognize, control, and express one’s emotions and handle interpersonal relationships empathetically.
Clinical Specialties
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News
- August 05, 2024
ADHD and DNA: Bedside-to-bench, International Study Sheds Light on Genetics
- April 11, 2024
Renewal at the Yale Child Study Center
- November 13, 2018
Child Study Center Represents Yale at AACAP
- October 01, 2012
Yale Child Study Center Announces Appointments and Promotions
Get In Touch
Contacts
Locations
Neison Irving Harris Building
Academic Office
230 South Frontage Road
New Haven, CT 06519
Patient Care Locations
Are You a Patient? View this doctor's clinical profile on the Yale Medicine website for information about the services we offer and making an appointment.