Riva Ritvo/Ritvo Clinic

[kahns]

Hi,

I am a freelance journalist looking for anybody who has had professional contact with the Ritvo Clinic in Beverly Hills or with Dr. Riva Ariella Ritvo, who appears to have advertised herself as a clinician specializing in autism and Asperger's without having had a license to practice psychology in California and - for a time - without having had the Master's or Ph.D she claimed to possess. (Here is the website for her clinic: http://www.rivaariellaritvo.net)

If you have had any professional interaction with Dr. Riva Ritvo or the Ritvo Clinic, please contact me at samkahn1@gmail.com or call at 917-622-2538.
Confidentiality assured.

Regards,
Sam

[Semicolon]

Why are you posting this here? How did you find out about I2?

[Queen Victoria]

It's possible that a few members may have had professional interaction with Dr. Ritvo, but not in the way you'd like to hear about.

[skyblue1]

the OP sounds like an ambulance chaser to me. probably represents a law firm

[P7PSP]

the OP sounds like an ambulance chaser to me. probably represents a law firm

There is a stench about the post. 

[kahns]

I don't represent a law firm. I am a freelance journalist working on an article about Riva Ritvo. I know that she's misrepresented her credentials in advertising for her clinic. I haven't been able to make contact with anyone who's actually visited her practice and wanted to try Intensity Squared for anybody who would be willing to communicate with me.

[Squidusa]

I have never heard of this woman , care to tell us why you are following her so intently? 

[kahns]

I'm sorry to submit a post like this. But please if you have had professional contact with Dr. Ritvo, send me an e-mail.

[kahns]

Sure.

I stumbled across her while working on an article about her husband (Alan Slifka). In her published wedding vows, she claimed to have a Ph.D in neuroscience and a Master's degree in clinical psychology - it turned out she didn't have either one. What she did have, though, was a practice in Beverly Hills specializing in autism and Asperger's, and she had given about a dozen talks as an expert and put her name on a number of scientific papers despite having no license to practice as a psychologist in California. So I have a lot of questions about her practice and her credentials.

If there's nothing to it (if she wasn't actually seeing patients), I'll drop the story, but I wanted to put the word out and see if anybody had come across her.

[skyblue1]

can you say class-action law suit against Ritvo clinic.

@ OP : can you prove who you are? you just libeled the person, doctor whatever she is.  IMO

[Queen Victoria]

Sure.

I stumbled across her while working on an article about her husband (Alan Slifka). In her published wedding vows, she claimed to have a Ph.D in neuroscience and a Master's degree in clinical psychology - it turned out she didn't have either one. What she did have, though, was a practice in Beverly Hills specializing in autism and Asperger's, and she had given about a dozen talks as an expert and put her name on a number of scientific papers despite having no license to practice as a psychologist in California. So I have a lot of questions about her practice and her credentials.

If there's nothing to it (if she wasn't actually seeing patients), I'll drop the story, but I wanted to put the word out and see if anybody had come across her.

It appears she's no longer practicing, but has turned her interest to cancer after her son was diagnosed with cancer.

[kahns]

I am a journalist. Here are a couple of clips:

http://www.dissentmagazine.org/online.php?id=425
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/asia/100725/kyrgyzstan-uzbek-humanitarian-ngo-human-rights-watch

Neither article has anything to do with autism or Asperger's, which I've never written about before. As I said, I stumbled across this story while working on something completely different (a piece about Riva's husband). I have worked at 60 Minutes and do have familiarity with similar stories about health care service providers. 

[Squidusa]

I am a journalist. Here are a couple of clips:

http://www.dissentmagazine.org/online.php?id=425
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/asia/100725/kyrgyzstan-uzbek-humanitarian-ngo-human-rights-watch

Neither article has anything to do with autism or Asperger's, which I've never written about before. As I said, I stumbled across this story while working on something completely different (a piece about Riva's husband). I have worked at 60 Minutes and do have familiarity with similar stories about health care service providers.  

Would you care to show us your credentials?

I'm afraid this seems a little too suspicious.

[kahns]

@skyblue1 it's not libel if it's true. She's not licensed as a practicing psychologist in California, contrary to claims and her website, and she doesn't have some of the degrees she's said she has.

[kahns]

@Ink Fish
I get that it's suspicious/weird. I'm happy to tell you whatever you'd need to know about what I'm doing, but it's not more than what I've said.

I am a freelance journalist. I was looking to do a short article about Alan Slifka, who recently died, and stumbled across information about his wife, Riva, falsifying degrees. This was the first thing I found (check out the correction at the bottom: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/15/style/weddings-celebrations-riva-ritvo-alan-slifka.html) and then discovered that she didn't have a license as a psychologist but was advertising for patients and claimed to have diagnosed and treated patients with autism for over a decade. That's where I am. It's a story that seems interesting/disturbing, and I'm trying to find out more information about the clinic.