Roberta Diddel, Ph.D.

Disability 101 Founder, Dr. Roberta Diddel

Roberta M. Diddel, Ph.D. is the founder and Executive Director of Disability 101, a non-profit organization providing high quality, consistently available programs to help people with disabling medical conditions, their families and professional providers learn to adapt and thrive.

Roberta Diddel also serves as a Lecturer in Psychology at Rice University, where she teaches and advises students interested in clinical psychology and has taught courses and presented workshops in the Continuing Studies Department at Rice University since 1991 and at The Women’s Institute in Houston on topics such as The Psychology of Health and Illness, Making Your Anger Work For You, The Nature of Emotions, The Psychology of Communication, The Meaning of Life, and The Psychology of Loss and Uncertainty.

Roberta Diddel serves on the Clinical Advisory Committee of the M.S. Society Lone Star Chapter and has served as a Board member for AIDS Houston, Houston, as well as a trainer in the American Psychological Associations office on HIV. She received her Bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Wesleyan University in Connecticut and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Boston University.

Dr. Diddel frequently lectures for Disability 101 and she also has a private practice in Houston, helping patients meet the challenges of personal loss, life change, chronic illness, brain injury, chronic pain and cognitive deficits related to illness. She has a relaxed style, employing humor, using personal stories and optimism to encourage patients to manage personal challenges. She focuses on helping patients and their families understand and change their patterns of thinking and acting, in order to make good choices and positively influence the quality of their lives.