Practitioner Profiles

Stuart H. Freedenfeld, MD
Board Certified Family Practice
Medical Director

Scott P R Berk, MD
Board Certified Family Practice

John Salerno, Ph.D. MSW
Certified Biofeedback Clinician

Charlie Erica Fall, B.A.,
Consultant in Autism Nutrition

Kim Hamada, RN
Autism Nurse Consultant

Stuart H. Freedenfeld, MD

Dr. Freedenfeld received his Bachelor of Science Degree with Distinction from the University of Rochester in 1970. He received his Medical Degree, with honors, from the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 1975. He completed a three-year residency in Family Practice at Hunterdon Medical Center in 1978 and served as chief resident there from 1977-1978. He became board certified and a diplomat of the Academy of Family Practice in 1978, and was re-certified in 1984, 1990, 1996 and 2002. Dr. Freedenfeld served as clinical instructor at Delaware Valley Family Health Center until opening his practice in December 1978. He served as president of the Hunterdon County Medical Society from 1985-86. He presently holds a position as clinical instructor with the Rutgers Medical School and was chairman of the Quality Advisory Committee of a major health maintenance organization from 1992-2001. Dr. Freedenfeld is licensed to practice medicine and surgery in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He lives in Sergeantsville with his wife, Maureen, and daughters, Sara and Allison, and enjoys playing and coaching soccer, skiing, scuba diving and photography.

In 1988, Dr. Freedenfeld began studying herbal medicine, nutritional therapies and homeopathy, and gradually offered these as options for his patients. Over the years, he has undertaken hundreds of hours of additional study to gain expertise in traditional herbalism, Chinese herbalism, homeopathy, nutritional medicine and IV therapies such as chelation. He has become recognized as one of the leading experts on the integration of multiple forms of healing. He offers consultation on the most complex and challenging problems of our day. His forte is in the areas of chronic fatigue, chronic pain, allergy, autoimmune disease, colitis, heart and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, detoxification, longevity and health maintenance. He believes there is a vast array of routes to health and healing, and teaches the integration of the routes most appropriate to the individual.

More about Dr. Freedenfeld

Scott P R Berk, MD

sprberk@stocktonfp.com

Dr. Berk grew up in Ocean Township in Monmouth County, NJ. He attended Cook College, receiving his Bachelor of Science Degree in Biochemistry from Rutgers University. He received his Medical Degree from UMDNJ - New Jersey Medical School in Newark. He then moved to the Lehigh Valley, completing his residency in Family Practice at Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown, PA.

During his training, Dr. Berk found that his approach to patient care included patient education that emphasizes prevention of disease. In addition, he found himself offering alternative therapies to his patients, including herbal remedies and nutritional supplements.

Today, Dr. Berk practices an integrative approach to medicine, combining modern allopathic techniques with today's forward-thinking traditional therapies. Dr. Berk emphasizes the importance of diet and nutrition, including a healthy lifestyle, for maintaining his patients' health and well-being.

Dr Berk understands how imperative hormones are to human homeostasis. Therefore, he includes evaluation of various hormone levels and offers bio-identical hormone replacement as a treatment option. In particular, Dr Berk offers women The Wiley Protocol.

Although trained as an allopathic physician, Dr. Berk is certified through the American Academy of Osteopathy to perform basic Osteopathic Manipulation (i.e. adjustments).

Dr. Berk is a member of the American College for Advancement in Medicine and is licensed to practice medicine in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

He lives in Holland Township with his wife Jeanne and their pets. He is an airplane pilot and certified flight instructor at Alexandria Field in Pittstown, NJ. An avid archer, Dr. Berk can be found at Ren Faires throughout NJ through the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).

Always involved in community service, Dr. Berk has served within the Kiwanis family since high school (Key Club), college (Circle K), and medical school (Newark Kiwanis). He is now helping to serve the needs of Hunterdon county children as an active member of the No. Hunterdon - Clinton Kiwanis club

John Salerno, Ph.D. MSW

Board Certified in Pain Management
Certified Biofeedback Clinician
BCIA, Fellow
Certified in Clinical Hypnotherapy

Dr. Salerno completed his doctoral studies with an emphasis in psychophysiology and nueropsychology. He has considerable experience in the field of behavioral medicine for the management of a variety of medical conditions.

For many years, Dr. Salerno has advocated for integrative primary care practice as a major health care direction for the future. Although he has consulted for acute care hospitals and rehabilitation facilities in the area of behavioral medicine, it is in the primary care setting that he sees the truly preventive/early intervention value of integrative practice. In addition to his involvement with Stockton Family Practice, Dr. Salerno is associated with a medical nutrition group practice and was recently invited to join the consulting staff at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

Dr. Salerno has successfully treated a wide variety of medical conditions including, but not limited to, vascular, musculoskeletal, neurological, gastrointestinal, immune system, psychosomatic illness, and acute/chronic pain. The treatment modalities which Dr. Salerno utilizes are selected based on each individual’s needs. These treatments include neurotherapy/biofeedback, micro-electrotherapy, nutritional supplement therapy, neurolinguistic therapy, hypnotherapy, stress management, attention training, and brief psychotherapy when appropriate.

Dr. Salerno is completing a two-year certification program leading to board certification in neuropsychology.

Kim Hamada, RN

Kimberly Hamada is a Registered Nurse licensed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She graduated from Abington Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in 1992 and was active as a class officer. She began her nursing career as a staff nurse on a busy medical surgical unit at Abington Memorial Hospital and soon advanced to the charge nurse position. She continued with her education and became certified as a CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) instructor and earned certification as an IV (intravenous) nurse. Utilizing these skills she became a Certified Infusion Therapy Nurse at Abington Hospital.

Kim began her search for answers to the questions autism presented when her own son, Eric was diagnosed with autism at the age of twenty months. A Pediatric Neurologist advised Kim, that Eric would be developmentally challenged for the rest of his life and forewarned Kim that there was nothing she could do to alter this state. She was told that Eric would be dependent on his family for most of his care and that various physical and speech therapies were available but these were unlikely to be of much help. She was specifically warned that nutritional therapies were useless and that the related theories were completely bogus.

Undeterred, Kim immediately went home and began her own research. She investigated all available treatment options: conventional, pharmaceutical, dietary, and non-conventional modalities. All options were explored for the sake of her son. This search eventually led her to the DAN (Defeat Autism Now) group that has pioneered innovative, scientifically based treatments for Autism. Kim soon realized that much more research would be required and immediately stepped up to the challenge. She discovered that Autism is not a single disorder but encompasses a wide spectrum of disorders including, ADD (attention deficit disorder), ADHD (attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity), PDD (pervasive developmental disorder), and Asperger’s Syndrome (a form of high functioning Autism). She then realized that her older son, Luke, who had been diagnosed with ADHD, might also benefit from the program. She was especially intrigued by the idea that dietary changes had had such a profound affect on so many children who had been diagnosed on the Autism spectrum.

She began to implement some of the DAN! recommendations including dietary changes for both her sons. Soon she became filled with hope. A world that had seemed so dark and desperate now seemed filled with endless possibilities. Kim read and studied tirelessly but soon realized that she needed some help in sorting out the myriad of biomedical interventions available. She was referred to Stockton Family Practice and Dr. Stuart Freedenfeld to help her in her quest. Working with Dr. Freedenfeld over many months she saw first hand the positive results made possible through biomedical interventions. Dr. Freedenfeld also recognized the knowledge that Kim had gained from her research and felt that Kim would be a great asset to other parents who were struggling to make sense of this complicated disorder. He recognized her remarkable knowledge base, and knew she would have the empathy and understanding desperately needed by parents of affected children. Kim agreed to offer her services to patients Stockton Family Practice and has been a respected member of the team since October 2004. Kim continues to attend the DAN conferences twice a year along with Dr. Freedenfeld where she gets updates in the latest research and newest protocols for nutritional and biomedical treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder.

She collaborates with Dr. Freedenfeld to set up protocols for the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder and is a great resource to parents wading through the quagmire of tests and treatment options available for their children. Kim feels a special place in her heart for these families and though, the job can be overwhelming at times, she has never felt as rewarded as she does when working with these very special children and their parents.

Charlie Erica Fall, B.A., Honors Consultant in
Autism Nutrition

:: Testimonials ::

Charlie graduated from Warwick University in England where she earned her Bachelor of Arts with Full Honors in Comparative American Studies.  She went on to earn special Certifications in Whole Foods Preparation and Cooking from Derby College, England in 1990. 

In the US, Charlie trained in the special dietary needs of autistic children with Maureen McDonnell, RN.  Ms. McDonnell has organized the nationally recognized DAN! Conferences since their inception. 

Since 2003 Charlie has served as Outreach Coordinator for the DAN! Conferences.  In this role she attends all National and all Mini-DAN! Conferences.  Participating in these training seminars has given Charlie opportunities to continually update her knowledge and stay current with the latest thinking and treatment options for clients in the autism and ADD spectrum.

Charlie has been working with autism spectrum children since 1995 and provides individualized dietary consultation based on whole foods, naturally prepared and tailored to each child’s unique needs.

As a Nutrition Consultant, Charlie’s role is to help her clients understand, prepare for, and implement whatever dietary prescription is recommended. 

She will help to explain and implement the gluten and casein free, soy free, sugar free, and other specific avoidance diets such as salicylate and phenol free diets.  She will help to construct a meal plan that takes into consideration any IgG-reactive foods and will help plan a rotation diet. She will instruct in, and support a Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) if that is advised.  

Her aim is to provide the needed information and support to allow her clients to feel confident in their ability to implement any required dietary changes.

For convenience she is available for office visits and phone consultations for follow up and supportive needs.