Ilene Sackler Lefcourt established the Sackler Lefcourt Center for Child Development over 30 years ago and continues to be a pioneer in the fields of infant mental health and parenting. Ms. Sackler Lefcourt was an Affiliate Scholar at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research from 1989-1994 and in 1995 joined the faculty of the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research Parent-Infant Program. Ms. Sackler Lefcourt is also on the Weill Cornell Medical Center Infant Psychiatry Program faculty and the Rockefeller University Parents and Science Professional Advisory Council.
Alyson McCormick, MSW, has been the director of the Center's Play Program since 2000. She holds a Masters degree from Hunter College School of Social Work and is a guest lecturer at The Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research Parent-Infant Program. Ms. McCormick also leads Mother-Baby Groups for the Margaret S. Mahler Child Development Foundation.
All Play Group leaders are graduate or post-graduate students in training programs in child development or psychology.