Our Partners

Dr. Ron Lelito is a New York State licensed psychologist and graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo. In addition to his doctoral training, Dr. Lelito completed advanced training in pain management and biofeedback through the Behavioral Medicine Research and Training Foundation. Dr. Lelito is board certified in biofeedback and is an associate member of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Dr. Lelito offers a full range of health psychology treatment including surgical evaluation and preparation, pain management, biofeedback, weight management, smoking cessation, treatment of sleep disorders, stress management and psychotherapy.

Dr. Lelito has also received training and provided services in the areas of community mental health, substance abuse, severely and persistently mentally ill populations, inpatient mental health treatment, individual and group psychotherapy, family therapy, community-based services to the developmentally disabled, emergency room evaluation and triage, neuropsychological evaluations, and Independent Medical Exams. Dr. Lelito has also provided psychological consultation to mental health treatment facilities, federal health and mental health treatment programs, public schools, and personal injury and disability attorneys.

In 2005, Dr. Lelito established a private practice in Buffalo, New York specializing in pain management and bariatric consultation. Over the years, the need for bariatric consultation has grown substantially and Dr. Lelito's practice now focuses exclusively on surgical weight management. To date, Dr. Lelito has worked with over 2000 bariatric surgery candidates.

Dr. Lelito follows guidelines published by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (Suggestions for the Presurgical Psychological Evaluation of Bariatric Surgery Candidates: Allied Health Sciences Section Ad Hoc Behavioral Health Committee, October 2004).

These guidelines include behavioral assessment of weight loss history, current eating habits, physical activities, substance abuse, health related risk-taking behavior, post-surgical compliance and adherence, legal history, cognitive and emotional functioning, comprehension of procedures and capacity to make medical decisions, coping skills, psychopathology, developmental history, current stressors, social support, motivation, and expectations. Committee recommendations include utilization of clinical interview, review of medical history, neurocognitive assessment, behavioral assessment, and psychological testing.