Abbie Wolfson, PhD

Abbie Wolfson, PhD is a Clinical Psychologist in Private Practice with over 30 years of experience. Dr. Wolfson works from a Psychotherapy Integration perspective and tailors her approach to each clients needs. She believes that change can only take place if client's feel understood and that problems important to them remain the focus of therapy. Dr. Wolfson helps clients address struggles with the way they relate to themselves and others, struggles with their emotions, thoughts, identity, and all relationship difficulties (Parent-Child, Romantic Partners, Peers etc.) When important to the client, she addresses difficulties they experience due to the the broader contexts of their life such as work, spirituality, sexuality, aging, community, and society. Depending on the client's needs, individual therapy sessions could be structured and focus on skills and coping or could be process/depth oriented and focus on building insight, understanding, and compassion. Likewise couples therapy, depending on what is causing friction or distress for the couple, can be focused on developing skills such as clearer communication, or can be focused on strengthening emotional bonds and intimacy. Dr. Wolfson has training in multiple types of psychotherapy (including Systems, Psychodynamic, Cognitive Behavioral, Relational, Attachment and Solution Focused) and training in multiple modalities (Individual, Couple, Family, Group, Intensive Outpatient). She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Boston University and her Masters in Psychodynamic Clinical Psychology at Bridgewater State College. She completed her internship with a Behavioral Medicine and Family Therapy focus at the Palo Alto VA Healthcare System and her Postdoctoral Training at Stanford University Department of Psychiatry. Predoctoral training included training at: The Massachusetts Mental Health Center, The Cambridge Youth Guidance Center, The Danielsen Institute and The Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University, as well as, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Although she has experience in working with clients from infancy to older adults, her current focus is on clients over age 16. In addition to her private practice she works with students at the University of Southern California and is an Assistant Clinical Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine at USC. Research areas have included Parent-Child interaction, Psychopharmacology, Adult Attachment, and the Therapeutic Alliance in Couples Therapy.