Alan Behrman, Ph.D

Dr. Behrman earned his PhD from Auburn University in 2004 (but he bleeds Crimson and White). He began his career in Birmingham before moving to Marietta in 2007. In 2011, he opened Alan Behrman & Associates, PC. Within 10 years, he had a staff of 7 other therapists and 2 locations (Marietta and Alpharetta). Dr. Behrman has been able to connect and earn the respect of the East Cobb and North Fulton communities and is so proud of the trust that that the schools and school counselors, pediatricians, psychiatrists, OBGYNs, primary care doctors, cardiologists, urologists, other therapists, and especially current and previous clients have given him and his staff over the years. He works primarily with high school age through adults. He has seen pretty much every issue over his nearly 20 years in practice, but especially enjoys working with anxiety (of all kinds), parenting, life transitions, life coaching, relationships and relationship issues, athletic performance, self-esteem, but never backs down from a challenge of any kind with regards to disorders or psychologist issues. Currently, he has become very interested in helping parents and teens work through the adolescent to adult transition period (16-29 year old age range). He generally uses a cognitive-behavioral approach with a huge helping a philosophy, neuro-linguistic programming, a deep understanding of cultural and societal issues, as well as a breadth and depth of knowledge about many areas of life to be able to help clients make the changes they want in their lives.

Dr. Behrman is married with high school age and older children. He also has 2 dogs and 1 and 3/4 cats. He thoroughly enjoys college football and is an avid athlete still (long after his college playing days are over). He generally works to stay in shape 5 days a week, runs obstacle courses races of many distances, and recently ran his first half-marathon. He loves to read books to increase his knowledge for therapy purposes, but also reads biographies, philosophy, and fiction for fun (he’s quite the nerd).

In addition to seeing clients in person at the Marietta office, he can also offer virtual sessions to clients residing in the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Job Experience

Private Practice 2004 – current

• Therapy includes adults, adolescents, couples, and families. Parent Coordinator for pre and post divorce.
• Outpatient: Long-term and short-term therapy, testing and assessment, consultations
• Expertise: Anxiety related disorders, life coaching, and Marriage/Couples/Family/Relationship, Parent Coordinator, Eating Disorders, Sport/Performance Psychology, mood disorders, depression
• Inpatient: Privileges at Kennestone Hospital for inpatient consultations Projective Testing in Child and Adolescent Unit at Trinity Medical Center, Individual Therapy on both open and acute units at Brookwood Medical Center and Trinity Medical Center (mood, personality, and psychotic disorders), 2015-2017
• Sport Psychologist for Birchtree Tennis Academy, 2006-2007
• Contracted with Auburn University to provide sport psychology services to all student-athletes, Jan. 2005 – June 2005

Professional Education

2004
Doctor of Philosophy, Counseling Psychology
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama.

AUG 2003-JULY 2004
PA Counseling Center APA Pre-doctoral Internship
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.

MAY 1999
Masters of Science in Sport Psychology
Florida State University, Tallahassee.

MAY 1997
Bachelor of Science in Psychology
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.

1993-1994
Honors: Football Scholarship
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas.

1993
Honors: Advanced diploma
Jefferson Davis High School, Montgomery, Alabama.

Research

Morningness/Eveningness, Circadian Rhythm, and Performance in College Golfers, Doctoral Dissertation, Defended August, 2003

Alcohol, Steroids, and Drugs Presentation, Wadley, AL 2002, Guest speaker at Southern Union Community College for a presentation on alcohol, steroids, and street drugs to the student-athletes.

An Investigation into Factors That May Predict Academic Success or Failure of Collegiate Student-Athletes Doctoral Research, 1999-2004

Developed a questionnaire that will predict the academic success and failure of college student-athletes. Accepted for presentation at the APA (American Psychological Association) Annual Conference in Honolulu, HI, 2004. Accepted for presentation at the N4A (National Association for Academic Advisors in Athletics) Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN, 2004. Accepted for presentation at the NCAS (National Consortium for Academics and Sport) Annual Conference in Orlando, FL, 2004. Accepted for presentation at the AAASP (Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology) Conference, Orlando, FL, 2001

A Study to Determine the Interaction of Sensation Seeking and Aggression Scores in Relation to Basketball and Soccer Performance in College Athletes Master’s Thesis, 1999. Presenter at AAASP Conference, Banff, Alberta, Canada, 1999

Attribution and Motivation Theory Presentation, 1997 Florida State University. Presented research on motivation and attribution theory to Dr. John Shea and his research group seeking a grant from NIH.

Children’s Memory Study, 1996-1997 North Carolina State University. Assisted in research, data collection, and data analysis for research headed by Dr. Lynn Baker-Ward.

Mother-Daughter Relationship Study, 1994-1995 North Carolina State University. Assisted in research, data collection, and data analysis for research headed by Dr. Amy Halberstadt.

Media

Multiple interviews with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Atlanta’s Creative Loafing on subjects such as eating disorder, college transitions, and economic anxiety. 2007 – current

Walker County School Counselors, Helping Kids Overcome Barriers to Success. August, 2006

NBC13, Sport Psychology and the Winter Olympics. February, 2006 NBC13, Mental Tips for Golf. July, 2005.

FOX6, FOX Sports story on my work as a sport psychologist with Auburn University, “A Beautiful Mind”. Air date: June 22 and June 23, 2005.

University of Montevallo, Steroids and their Side Effects, June 2005 NBC13, How to Help Your Child Succeed at Tryouts. March, 2005.

Alabama School Counseling Association, Do’s and Don’ts of Goal Setting. February, 2005.

Vestavia Hills School Counselors, Do’s and Don’ts of Goal Setting. February, 2005.

Walker County School Counselors, Do’s and Don’ts of Goal Setting. February, 2005. NBC13, Do’s and Don’ts of Goal Setting. January, 2005.

NBC13, How to keep children active during the winter months. December, 2004.

NBC13, Helping parents guide their children in sports. October, 2004.

Behrman, A. (2001). A Sports Psychology Lesson: Changing negatives into positives. From the Athletic Training Room, 3(2), 3.

Behrman, A. (2001). A Sports Psychology Lesson: Changing negatives into positives, Part II. From the Athletic Training Room, 3(3), 3.