Our Story & Heritage

A 35-Year Tradition of Compassionate Care

Continuing Debbie Oppenheim & Associates’ commitment to high-quality, evidence-based speech, language, cognitive, and swallowing therapy in the San Fernando Valley.

Practice Heritage

Honoring Our Roots, Embracing the Future

For more than 35 years, Debbie Oppenheim & Associates has been a trusted private practice providing speech, language, cognitive, and swallowing therapy in Encino, California.

As Debbie Oppenheim retires, Andrea Hughson, M.A., Speech Pathology Services, Inc. proudly continues the practice’s longstanding commitment to clinical excellence and individualized care.

Our mission is to provide personalized treatment that supports each patient’s success at home, at school, in the workplace, in social settings, and throughout everyday life. We understand that every individual has unique strengths and challenges, and we tailor therapy to meet each person’s specific needs and goals.

Our Core Values

  • Clinical Excellence: Evidence-based interventions backed by continuous clinical education and ASHA best practices.
  • Compassionate Relationships: Creating a warm, supportive, and collaborative space where every family feels heard and valued.
  • Empowered Communication: Believing everyone deserves the opportunity to communicate confidently and connect with others.
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At Andrea Hughson, M.A., Speech Pathology Services, Inc., we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to communicate confidently, connect with others, and feel understood.
Andrea Hughson, M.A., CCC-SLP Practice Director

Encino Clinic Location

16133 Ventura Blvd. Suite 400, Encino, CA 91436

Phone: (818) 990-5715 • (818) 724-7406

Email Our Office
Dedicated Clinicians

Meet Our Clinical Care Team

Our team of licensed and certified speech-language pathologists is dedicated to creating a warm, supportive, and collaborative environment.

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Andrea Hughson, M.A., CCC-SLP

Practice Owner & Speech-Language Pathologist

Dedicated to personalized, evidence-based speech, language, and cognitive-communication therapy across the lifespan, fostering meaningful partnerships with patients and families.

Key Focus Areas:
Pediatric Language & ASDMotor Speech (CAS)Social CommunicationTelehealth
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Susan Kohler

Speech-Language Pathologist

Recognized for her smart, kind, and compassionate clinical approach in supporting adult neurological recovery, stroke rehabilitation, and cognitive-linguistic care.

Key Focus Areas:
Stroke RecoveryAdult Neurological CareCognitive CommunicationVoice Therapy
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Alison Lewis, M.S., CCC-SLP

Speech-Language Pathologist

Dedicated speech-language pathologist providing individualized, evidence-based therapy to help patients develop clear speech, rich language skills, and functional communication confidence.

Key Focus Areas:
Pediatric Speech & ArticulationLanguage DevelopmentSocial CommunicationSchool-Age Therapy
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Samantha Zwillinger, M.S., CCC-SLP

Speech-Language Pathologist

Earned her M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology from USC and specializes in pediatric care, supporting children with speech sound disorders, language delays, fluency, and AAC systems.

Key Focus Areas:
Pediatric Speech & LanguageAAC Systems (TouchChat, LAMP, Proloquo2Go)Speech Sound & FluencySocial & Pragmatic Language
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Kristina Kalfa

Speech-Language Pathologist

Welcoming new pediatric and adult patients to our clinical practice. Kristina is dedicated to compassionate, goal-driven speech and language therapy.

Key Focus Areas:
Speech & Language TherapyPediatric InterventionCommunication Development
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Practice Administration 1st Point of Contact

Chaira Cancel

Office & Practice Manager

Chaira is our office manager and the first point of contact for new and returning patients. She assists with new patient inquiries, evaluation scheduling, intake documentation, and billing coordination. Reach out to Chaira directly to begin your care with our practice.

Family & Patient Reviews

Words from Our Community

Read genuine reflections from patients and families who have walked this journey with our clinicians over the past decades.

“Speech Therapist Debbie Oppenheim is a phenomenal clinician with extreme patience, knowledge, creativity, and a consistently positive and encouraging disposition. We first met Debbie about 25 years ago when she worked with our 15-year-old son, and more recently with our 7-year-old grandson. She was able to keep his interest during sessions with fun, engaging activities that targeted the sounds he needed to improve. He made amazing progress in a short period of time. She is an amazing person who has made a meaningful difference in their lives.”
Parent & Grandparent Treated 25 years ago and recently with 7-year-old grandson Legacy
“My son began his journey at Debbie Oppenheim, M.A., & Associates (now Andrea Hughson, M.A., Speech Pathology Services, Inc.) in January 2021. Working with Andrea made such a difference. Over the past two and a half years, my son has made incredible progress—he went from pointing and crying to using three-word sentences, and most recently spontaneous five-word sentences. Andrea truly feels like part of our family. She was there when we received his autism diagnosis and has continued to work closely with us as his needs evolve. I would wholeheartedly recommend Andrea Hughson to anyone in need of speech therapy services.”
Parent of Pediatric Patient Diagnosed with Mixed Expressive-Receptive Language Disorder & Autism Pediatric
“My children have been patients of Debbie’s for six years. Debbie and her team have been the most respectful, empathetic, and professional providers. Both of my children have developed their language skills with the specialized support of her team. They listen to your concerns and provide helpful tools and suggestions to improve language skills. Working as a team with the therapists is key to seeing the best results.”
Parent of Two Children Patients for 6 years Pediatric
“Andrea is amazing. She’s a great speech therapist. My son loves her. She’s very caring. They are very punctual and also keep a clean office.”
Parent of Pediatric Client Pediatric
“Andrea helped my daughter so much. She easily dealt with my toddler’s meltdowns in a calm way, helped her catch up to her speech age level in a fun, playful manner, built up her confidence, and asked us to reach out to her with any questions afterwards. Thanks Andrea 😊”
Parent of Toddler Pediatric
“Susan Kohler is the best. She is smart and kind. She is helping with my speech after I had a stroke.”
Adult Stroke Patient Adult Recovery
“Samantha has been awesome with my 3-year-old son with noticeable improvements every session. The best thing is he has fun and enjoys going, so it’s not a hassle every week, which is nice.”
Parent of 3-Year-Old Pediatric
“This business is amazing! My Autistic son is learning how to talk. Samantha is Asher’s speech pathologist and she’s incredibly inspiring. I can’t thank them enough for the work that they do.”
Parent of Asher Pediatric
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