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Mary Ann Little, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who has been in private practice for over four decades. After earning a BA from Smith College and a PhD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, she completed post doctoral work in Piagetian psychology at the University of Geneva under the direction of Barbel Inhelder. She is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and has served as an adjunct professor in the departments of psychology and special education at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Dr. Little authored Loving Your Children Better: Matching Parenting Styles to the Age and Stage of Your Children; the Competent Kids Series, a set of seven book and chart systems; and Cooperation Station, an educational toy for kids and families. In addition, she has published two picture books for children with Sonya Bemporad, M.A., James Begins Childcare and Beginning Childcare, which were designed to help toddlers and preschoolers make successful transitions into and out of home care. These publications received the First Place Editor’s Choice Award from the National Association for the Education of Young Children for the best book/product for children. She also published Foundations for Success in the Early School Years with D. Kim Reid, Ph.D, a series of handouts for parents and teachers which identified strategies to help three-, four-, and five-year-olds learn and grow at home and school.
Dr. Little has been a consultant to numerous educational and psychiatric facilities including the Callier Center for Communication Disorders, the Dallas Independent School District, Collin County Cooperative School, and Scottish Rite Hospital. She frequently lectures to both lay and professional audiences and has a large local following. Both a wife and mother, she brings both personal and professional insights to her writing and teaching. When not in her Dallas office, she can be found with her husband cooking, cycling back roads in Europe, or hiking trails near Santa Fe.
Described by her colleagues as the "mother whisperer," her thoughtful, gentle way of interacting with parents and families establishes trust that leads to change.
Find Dr. Little on Instagram.
