I am a native of Los Angeles and received my PhD in Clinical Psychology at UCLA in 1985. In my role as CEO of PCH Treatment Center, I supervise, teach, and consult. I was also a psychologist at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Hospital, and I worked for many years in private clinical practice.
I have been on the UCLA faculty in the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior as clinical professor for many years. I’ve taught undergraduate and graduate-level psychology courses including Psychopathology, Psychological Assessment, Psychoanalysis, and Law and Ethics in Psychology.
I’ve presented my psychosocial model and vision for mental health both within the center as well as in the clinical and academic community. That model deemphasizes pejorative and often invalid diagnoses as well as promotes the appropriate use of psychiatric medications within a context-based approach. Our approach of not “othering” those labelled with psychiatric diagnoses fits within a general Social Justice model of mental healthcare.
As an artist, I started painting as a child and took about a 30 year hiatus... but my best paintings were always of figures and faces. Painting people was always interesting, and as I developed more I found that I would try to capture the inner essence of the subject rather than a more literal interpretation. When part of a workshop several years ago, the instructor (who was one of the best figure painters that I've known) would comment on my interpretation of the models by shaking her head and saying, "Psychologist!". While others were painting the same model, my paintings always seem to find an inner expression of angst or conflict in the faces. All of this has been pretty unconscious, as I haven't really sought out to paint like a "psychologist". I guess it's just how I've always seen things... One of my favorite figure painters, Lucien Freud, also always seems to capture the inner person (in a much more skillful way than I can ever dream to do...). I think it's why most of his paintings are of family members and friends...people that he knew well. I've found that I've had a similar experience with my own painting...my best are of people and/or animals that I know very well In recent years, I’ve studied with Bo Bartlett (my other favorite contemporary realist painter) in expanding my technique of painting narrative figures. Bo’s work has always captured the psychology of his subjects, and many of his paintings have a strong Social Justice theme. I also serve on the Board of the Bo Bartlett Center in Columbus, Georgia.