Riva Ritvo/Ritvo Clinic

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Hi,

I am a freelance journalist looking for anybody who has had professional interaction with the Ritvo Clinic in Beverly Hills or with Riva Ariella Ritvo, who advertised herself as a clinician specializing in ASD diagnosis without having had a license to practice psychology or family therapy in California and - for a time - without having had the Master's or Ph.D she claimed to possess.

If you have had any professional interaction with Riva Ritvo or the Ritvo Clinic, please contact me at [email protected] or call at 917-622-2538.

Best,
Sam
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What I've found on Riva Ritvo:

From the late '80s to 2004, Riva Ritvo claimed to be a specialist in autism and Asperger's and claimed to have a a master's and Ph.D in neuroscience from USC. In 2004, someone outed her phony credentials, when she padded her resume in a wedding vow that ran in The New York Times. Here is the Times' article with the correction included (apparently the first-ever editor's correction in a Times' wedding vow): http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/15/style ... lifka.html

After she was outed for not possessing the degrees she had, Ritvo got a Master's and Ph.D from the California Graduate Institute, an unaccredited school near Beverly Hills. However, she never got a license to practice psychology or family therapy in California.
Here is the California verification page where she should appear if she were a licensed psychologist: http://www2.dca.ca.gov/pls/wllpub/WLLQR ... ctionQuery and the page where she should appear if she were licensed with the Board of Behavioral Sciences: http://www2.dca.ca.gov/pls/wllpub/wllqr ... _code=1800

From the little I know of her personality, she seems to be uniquely unqualified to be a practicing therapist.
Here is the URL for when she posted on Wrong Planet in 2007: http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... c&start=45
Some on WP may remember this thread, where she calls people criticizing her 'fake Aspies' and recommends 'social skills class.'

Riva Ritvo continues to advertise herself as an autism expert, saying that she has been 'diagnosing and treating individuals with autism spectrum disorders for over twenty years.' If she has been diagnosing patients for twenty years, that would be a big problem - it would mean she was doing it without the credentials or the licensure she should have. Here is a link to her website : http://www.rivaariellaritvo.net/aboutus.html

She is currently listed as a clinical instructor at the Yale Child Study Center
Here is information from Yale: http://www.medicineatyale.org/v6i1_jan_ ... index.html
She has, over the years, had her name on a number of scientific publications and given talks as an autism expert. Her partial resume is here: http://www.ringsurf.com/online/2554-autism.html

Who I am and why I'm interested in this:

I am a freelance journalist with clips in Dissent, Global Post, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, etc, and with on-air credits for 60 Minutes. I was looking into doing a piece about Alan Slifka, a prominent Wall Street investment manager and major philanthropist who died earlier this year. While researching Slifka, I started uncovering information about his third wife, Riva Ritvo, who seemed to be aggressively promoting a clinic specializing in autism and Asperger's without having a license to practice psychology or family therapy.

To be clear: I haven't met Riva Ritvo and have no vendetta against her. If Riva Ritvo is practicing therapy without the proper license or passing herself off as an expert without the degrees she claims to have, I would write an article about it. If there's no real fault committed, I'll drop the subjec

What I would like to know:

I'm trying to figure out how active Riva Ritvo was at the Ritvo Clinic, if she said she was a psychologist or if, without licensure, she was (as she put it in her advertisement) 'diagnosing individuals with autism spectrum disorders.' She has also worked as a clinical instructor at the Yale Child Study Center and as a consultant with the Help Group. I'd like to know if, in those settings, she's referred to herself a psychologist or a therapist.

Again, If you have had any professional interaction with Riva Ritvo, please contact me at [email protected] or by phone at 917-622-2538.


Many thanks (and sorry to dump this on a forum that's not intended for this purpose),
Sam

SamK1,

I've alerted another moderator about this thread along with the PM you sent to me. Please know that you may not distribute the writings from the Wrong Planet for your own personal venue or gain. There are copyright laws and you may be impinging upon other members' privacy.

Obviously you have personal issue with Dr. Riva Ritvo and, although I cannot know your motives, you are entitled to you opinion. But you may not address this issue via the Wrong Planet. Restrict this matter to yourself (and the Ritvos).

To personally attack anybody is wrong, regardless that you may have legitimate issue with him/her. You cannot advertise your campaign to professionally discredit Dr. Ritvo via the Wrong Planet.

Lab Pet,

I respect copyright issues and won't take anything out of context.

To be clear: I have no personal issue or vendetta with Riva Ritvo. She was outed seven years ago for claiming to have a Ph.D in neuroscience, which she was shown not to have. Up until that time she had advertised for a clinic specializing in ASD-treatment. I want to know if she continued practicing without the proper credentials or licensure. If not, I'll drop it. If so, I think that's something that's worth making public.

I'm sorry to cross-post. (I'm new to the format and didn't know I shouldn't do that.)

- Sam

Incorrect. Dr. Riva Ritvo is a PhD in psychology, not neuroscience. Please be aware of this distinction. And I'm assuming you've looked at my profile, yes?

Regardless, personal attacks targeting an individual is against the rules of the Wrong Planet. At this time, you ought to read the terms of service so you do not inadvertently violate. On another level, your "campaign" is suspect as you are using the Wrong Planet (and our members) as fodder.

SamK1 appears to be referring to her wedding announcement (linked in his second post) where a PhD in Neuroscience is claimed, followed by an editorial correction saying that this was false, and that they had used information she supplied without proper fact checking.

I'm not seeing the same "personal attacks" you are.

He claims to be a journalist, thinking about writing an article about this person - and googling does find a journalist whose credentials, and email address, match the ones claimed by the OP. He has linked to independent pages outlining some of the reasons he thinks a story may exist. He has asked if anyone has information about this person which they would like to share -either for possible inclusion in this possible story, or to refute the allegations.

I do not have any information - good or bad - which might be helpful to him, and must admit that I would be very cautious with whom I shared it, if I did. It would be unwise, I think, to share such information without being very careful to verify to whom it was being given and to what uses it would be put. He could be exactly who and what he says, or he may, as you suggest, have an axe to grind. I don't see his request for information to constitute an attack, in and of itself.

edited to add:

Even if he is writing an article, I would still urge that anyone with information be careful. Once you give him information and permission to use it, you no longer have any control over how he uses it. Not all journalists are ethical, and partial/out of context quotes can radically alter the meaning of a comment.

WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Riva Ritvo, Alan Slifka
Published: February 15, 2004
Editors' Note Appended

Dr. Riva Golan Ritvo, a neuroscientist and child therapist, and Alan Bruce Slifka, the founder of a hedge fund, were married last evening at their home in Manhattan. Rabbi Saul Berman officiated.
....
Editors' Note: March 21, 2004, Sunday A report on Feb. 15 about the wedding of Riva Golan Ritvo and Alan Bruce Slifka included an erroneous account of the bride's education, which she supplied. Ms. Ritvo, a child therapist, did not graduate from the University of Pennsylvania or receive a master's degree in occupational therapy or a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Southern California. Though she attended Penn for a time, her bachelor's degree, in occupational therapy, is from U.S.C. The Times should have corroborated the credentials before publishing the report.

(http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/15/style ... lifka.html)

Point of order: Reiterating documented facts is not a personal attack.

Point of order: This may not be the place for this. Investigative journalism is by nature intrusive. This website functions as a support and socialization space on the internet. This particular forum is for general autism issues. If you are sincere in your goal of writing an objective piece of journalism, perhaps the advocacy forum would be a better venue.

He originally posted there and I had him put it out here. It was my call, and not his fault that it is out of context. The advocacy forum has very little traffic.

Anything said in this forum I won't use in any article of any sort. If you've come across the clinic/Dr. Ritvo, please contact me at [email protected] or by phone at 917-622-2538. Standard confidentiality applies (i.e. if you want to be off-the-record, I'll respect that, etc).

I apologize for creating a ruckus. I do know that this isn't the purpose of the site. There weren't a lot of other obvious venues for me to try.

Thanks again,
Sam

Heh heh. The life of a moderator ...

I don't see you as having done anything wrong. You've been upfront about why you are here, honest in presenting the reasons you suspect a story may exist, and respectful to the regular posters. I notice that you have also posted in a couple of other threads, which indicates that you have at least some interest in what we have to say, outside of you specific interest - I think that's a good thing.

I hope that you can understand why your request has raised suspicions, though. Many posters here feel that NTs who attempt to advocate for them do so in ways which are actually detrimental to them. Even though many have related horror stories about bad therapists, someone specifically looking for negative information about a person is bound to raise concerns.

BTW - welcome to the Planet!

I am skeptical but interested. I believe I've heard of this clinic from other sources so it may be worth a good vetting of the facts. Such things can be of great value. But the cynic in me wonders just whose papers you are selling (or magazines, web ads or whatever).

A mistake in a wedding announcement is one thing. Oops. My bad. A pattern of false information from a clinic is entirely different.

Actually the Rivto self assesment scale for Aspergers (RAAD I believe) is the most comprehensive and best one out there IMHO. Whatever this person claims or doesn't claim doesn't take away the fact that this scale is pretty awesome and it is free to download too.