‍Changing Lives

At Positive Development, our mission is built on the shoulders of extraordinary leaders, mentors, and advocates who actively work to ensure children with autism and other developmental differences have access to transformative developmental therapies. In line with that effort, each year, the Professional Child Development Associates(PCDA) recognizes a professional who has made a significant impact supporting children with autism and other developmental challenges using the developmental and relational approach — the DIR®/Floortime™ Model. Developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan and Dr. Serena Wieder, DIR®/Floortime™ is deeply rooted in the belief that all children have the capacity to learn and succeed, and that play is the gateway to the emotional life of a child. 

We are truly honored — and thrilled — to share that our very own Dr. Andrea Davis, Senior VP of Clinical Operations, was recently awarded the Stanley. Greenspan Humanitarian Award for her service and commitment to building the evidence base for developmental therapy, expanding access to more families, and pioneering best practices for clinical support and care for individuals.

‍Lighting the Way

Dr. Andrea Davis founded Greenhouse Therapy Center in 1991 in Pasadena, California, a full-service psychotherapy and psychological assessment group practice. She designed its intensive in-home program of DIR®/Floortime™ intervention for children and adolescents with autism and other developmental challenges. She co-authored the book, Floortime Strategies for Promoting Development in Children and Teens: A User’s Guide to the DIR Model. The book is used by parents, professionals, and trainers in many countries to apply Dr. Greenspan and Dr. Wieder’s brilliant model for fostering social-emotional and cognitive development in young people with developmental differences.

As of May 1, 2022, Dr. Davis and the Greenhouse Therapy Center Floortime Team joined Positive Development to carry on the mission of spreading the developmental model and ensuring that individuals of all ages and their families have access to a choice in autism therapy.

‍Celebrating a Lifetime’s Work

Dr. Davis attended PCDA’s Moonlight Gala, 25th Anniversary Celebration on May 22, 2022, where she enjoyed an evening filled with magnificent food, company, and honorees. Her guests were her husband, Steve, his adult daughters and their partners, and co-builders of the Greenhouse Floortime Program, Dr. Cindy Davis and Cherisse Sherin. Upon receiving the Stanley Greenspan Humanitarian Award, she addressed the audience with nothing less than superb grace and gratitude.

Thank you, Dr. Davis, for changing the world – one child at a time!

For more information on the event and a full list of award recipients, visit pcdateam.org/give/pcda-moonlight-gala-2022/.

‍About Professional Child Development Associates

The Greenspan Humanitarian Award was established at PCDA by one of our co-founders and first/prior executive director, Dr. Diane Cullinane, to be included in our annual fundraising gala, most often known as the Harvest Moon Gala. Dr Diane was deeply inspired by Stanley Greenspan’s work, and she and our other co-founder Mimi Winer created PCDA as an agency built on the DIR/Floortime Model. To this day, PCDA remains the largest known clinic of its kind, or best in class at scale, as we sometimes say – serving more than 500families with more than 60 staff across all the major clinical disciplines in a single clinic, here in Pasadena, Los Angeles, Southern California.

‍