Areti Vassilopoulos, PhD, is a pediatric health psychologist who specializes in supporting children, teens, and young adults coping with chronic pain, headaches and migraines, functional neurological disorder (a condition where neurological symptoms like weakness or movement problems have no clear medical cause), muscular dystrophy, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and related sleep issues. She works closely with pediatric neurology to provide integrated care and ongoing support for patients managing these complex conditions.
Vassilopoulos guides patients and families through evidence-based therapies and helps them develop strategies to improve daily function and overall quality of life. She also leads workshops, such as the Comfort Ability Program, which teach coping skills for managing pain and functional symptoms in children and adolescents.
As assistant professor of clinical pediatrics and child psychology at Yale School of Medicine, Vassilopoulos’s research focuses on improving treatment outcomes and understanding the links between physical health and behavior in young people. She studies topics like headache management, sleep disruption, functional neurological symptoms, transitions from pediatric to adult medical care, and pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis. She is also co-chair of the psychological therapy group for the Functional Neurological Disorder Society.
Dr. Vassilopoulos received her doctoral degree at Nova Southeastern University and completed an internship in pediatric psychology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Kennedy Krieger Institute. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatry consultation and pediatric transplant services at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital.
