About

I have been a practicing psychologist for many years, seeing many individuals, couples and families. This has been a continuous learning experience dealing with the complexity of our human condition and I am humbled by the many ways we try to navigate through life.

I began as a teacher working first with children, and later with parents. This experience as well as raising my own children and being in a long term relationship have helped me to tune into the struggles and challenges my patients face. No education, amazing as it has been, has prepared me as much as my own lived experience.

My journey, as a clinical psychologist, has taken me from working in community mental health, in the UCLA hospital system, to Kaiser as a staff psychologist, to private practice, eventually becoming a psychoanalyst and now a certified emotionally focused therapist and supervisor.

My current interest in relationships developed from my immersion in learning about attachment, our brains, and how we process our feelings. While working with individuals in long term treatment, I often felt the presence of the other person who was not in treatment, not in the room. This led me to my fascination with attachment and emotional states which often seem to help make sense of the behaviors that otherwise may seem unexplainable.

As a psychologist, I have met a number of people who have been great teachers as they allow me into their world of emotions. Entering into another’s life with their uniquely personal details also serves as a reminder that we humans are all mostly seeking the same things: to matter, to be seen, to feel connection and to find meaning in how we live. These are the themes that I work with both with individuals and with couples and these themes inform most of what I do.

DEGREES

• B.A. University of California, Los Angeles, CA, Phi Beta Kappa

• M.A. California State University, Northridge, CA

• Ph.D. California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles, CA.

• Psy. D. Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles

LICENSES & CERTIFICATIONS

• Licensed Clinical Psychologist (PSY7317), California

• Certification as a Therapist who practices Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)

• Certification as an EFT Supervisor

• Certification as a Discernment Counselor

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• Member, American Psychological Association

• Member, California Psychological Association

• Member, Los Angeles County Psychological Association

• Member, Division 39, APA, Psychoanalytic Psychologists

• Member, Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles

• Founding Board Member, Los Angeles Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy, 2011-2014

• EFT Project member: "Caught in The Struggle" released in 2014 for national and international sale by International Center for Excellent in Emotionally Focused Therapy

• EFT Project member: "Sources of Inspiration" documentary. Release 2020. To view a trailer, learn more about the project, and purchase, please click here.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

See below for a collection of my recent publications:

• Integrating Attachment Theory and Neuroscience in Couple Therapy in J. Scharff and D. Scharff (Eds.) New Paradigms for Treating Relationships, Jason Aronson, New YorkGoldstein, S., and Thau, S.(2008)

• A Brain-Based Understanding From the Cradle to the Grave. In Dunham, S., Dermer, S. & Carson, J. (Eds.) Poisonous Parenting. New York: Routledge ( In Press)Goldstein, S. & Thau, S. (2011)

• Couples and Health: The Role of Attachment, Neurobiology, and Gender. Psychologist Psychanalyst Winter 2005, Goldstein, S. and Thau, S. (2005)

• Attachment Theory, Neuroscience and Couple Therapy Part 1