Faculty Profile: Allison Bender

Allison Bender, PhD, HSP, is dually licensed in the State of Tennessee as a clinical and school psychologist, with Health Service Provider designation. She earned a Masters of Arts in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Clinical and School Psychology from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. Dr. Bender completed pre-doctoral internships in both school and community mental health settings, where she was trained in evidence-based assessment and treatment of children and adults.

With over 25 years providing psychological services in the Nashville area, Dr. Bender brings a wealth of experience to FACTS. For eight years, she served as a school psychologist with Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, working with children from preschool through high school. From 2004 to 2021, Dr. Bender was the Clinical Director of the Diagnostic Center at Currey Ingram Academy. She was instrumental in the development of this center, where she provided comprehensive psychoeducational evaluations and supervised a team of psychologists, speech-language pathologists, and occupational therapists. Since 2005, she has also maintained a private practice treating individuals age five through adulthood. Dr. Bender is a devoted mentor who has made time throughout her busy clinical career for training graduate students in the delivery of assessment services. She has supervised masters- and doctoral-level students in the delivery of evidence-based assessment services since 1997, including serving as co-director of Vanderbilt’s M.Ed. program in Clinical Psychological Assessment from 2016-2019. 

Dr. Bender employs a strengths-based approach to working with her clients. Her philosophy is that both assessments and therapy are most effective when they are a collaborative process, allowing clients to build upon their resources to achieve their goals. She uses a variety of evidence-based treatments, including cognitive behavior therapy, parent coaching models, mindfulness-based strategies, and exposure therapies. She also enjoys partnering with her clients to help them identify their inherent strengths while understanding and addressing the circumstances underlying their struggles. 

Dr. Bender provides comprehensive psychoeducational and psychological evaluations for a broad range of concerns, such as ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, specific learning disorders (including dyslexia), developmental delays, mood and anxiety disorders, and intellectual giftedness. Her focus is not only on diagnosis and identification of difficulties but on providing targeted, research-based recommendations that can be implemented to help her clients make meaningful progress and achieve their goals. Dr. Bender accepts clinical referrals for psychological/psychoeducational assessments, as well as performing court-appointed Rule 706/Rule 35 psychological and custodial evaluations in the State of Tennessee.