About the Coach

Phyllis Kramer Hirschkop is a licensed social worker and caregivers' coach with over 25 years of wide and diverse clinical and professional experience in Washington, D.C.  She holds a Diplomate in Clinical Social Work, the highest certification conferred by her profession.  She is a graduate of New York University and received her Masters Degree in Social Work from Catholic University.

Ms. Hirschkop has worked in public schools, with families and their troubled children, in a private hospital with emotionally ill adults, and, in over 20 years of private practice, with individuals, couples, families, and groups.  She has assisted corporations, such as the Sperry and Mitre Corporations and Fannie Mae, in resolving disputes between employees and supervisors and helping employees resolve family problems.

From her private psychotherapeutic practice, she brings to her work with adult children of aging parents wide expertise and extensive experience in dealing with troubled family relationships.  She works to help these adult children cope more effectively with the challenges concerning their parents, especially when no immediate solutions to them appear available.

The daughter of two 87-year-old parents, Ms. Hirschkop has spoken to the members of many community groups and organizations, including churches, synagogues, government agencies, and women's groups to help them understand the feelings that the challenges of dealing with elderly parents may arouse and to introduce them to the resources that are available to help them deal more effectively with their situations.