Dr. Lightman is a clinical psychologist who specializes in working with children, adolescents, and young adults. Her primary clinical interests are short-term goal directed interventions for the treatment of mood disorders, personality disorders, and relational conflict resolution. She offers individual therapy, family therapy, and parent support for behavior management training.

Dr. Lightman emphasizes helping individuals develop and integrate coping skills from a wide variety of approaches and resources to best manage difficult life stressors. Her approach to treatment is individualized and incorporates treatment techniques such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) to help individuals better manage emotional and behavioral difficulties. Such techniques teach skills to help individuals to better self-regulate their emotions, tolerate distress, improve interpersonal relations, and be more mindful of their thoughts and behaviors. Dr. Lightman also provides comprehensive psychological, psycho-educational, and developmental testing for the diagnosis of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder, and learning disabilities.

Dr. Lightman earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology at California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University. She completed her pre-doctoral training at the Youth Opportunity Center, where she conducted assessments and therapy to youth with severe emotional and behavioral difficulties. She then completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Minnesota. There she ran intensive outpatient group programs for children and adolescents with anxiety, depression, social difficulties, and behavioral disorders.

Dr. Malekjah is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and is also credentialed as a Health Service Provider in Psychology by the prestigious Council for the National Register. Dr. Malekjah provides counseling and psychological services with care by taking the time to listen to clients and helping them take an active role in their own psychological well-being. He uses a collaborative approach and incorporates empirically supported, evidence-based psychological treatment modalities to deliver high quality counseling and psychological services. Some therapeutic modalities used include Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Adlerian, Gestalt, Behavior Therapy (BT), Family Systems, Multicultural, Brief SolutionFocused, and Mindfulness. Dr. Malekjah focuses on instilling hope and optimism, increasing clients’ feelings of self-empowerment, personal growth and psychological health, and improving the quality of clients’ day-to-day lives by enhancing their subjective sense of well-being or happiness.

Dr. Malekjah completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology at the University of British Columbia. He completed a Master of Science Degree in Marriage, Family Therapy (MFT) at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) where he conducted research on the relationship between self-esteem and happiness. His clinical training at CSULB included performing non-directive play therapy with both sighted and visually impaired children, children with autism, ADD/ADHD, and those with multi-sensory deficits. Dr. Malekjah then completed a second Master’s Degree (MA) in Psychology as well as a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) in San Diego, where his doctoral research project involved studying sexual satisfaction and body image in men. This research was presented at the California Psychological Association (CPA) in 2008 and during that same year, his research was also accepted for presentation at the San Diego Psychological Association.

Dr. Malekjah’s diverse clinical experiences include providing care for patients at a psychiatric hospital and also, at a residential treatment facility focusing on crisis intervention and management of addictions. Dr. Malekjah’s Post-Doctorate training in San Diego involved working with visually impaired young adults and geriatrics. He has been an Adjunct Professor teaching graduate level psychology courses at the Adler School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Malekjah has also had a private practice working with children, adolescents, families, couples, and seniors and his clinical experience has entailed past work with depressive disorders, anxiety and panic disorders, PTSD, grief/loss, ADD/ADHD, workplace conflict, OCD, chronic pain, relationship/marital difficulties and infidelity, substance use/abuse, anger management, body image concerns, LGBTQIA-related counseling, life adjustment or transitions, sexual concerns, and emotional management.

Dr. Dorin graduated with a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in Psychology before earning his M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University, Malibu. He then continued his studies at Pepperdine University in West Los Angeles and received his Doctorate of Psychology. This program is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) and meets strict academic requirements to ensure the students receive the best training possible in providing therapy.

Overall, Dr. Dorin’s experience has ranged from working with patients between the ages of 2 to 75 with considerable experience working with children, adolescents, adults, and families. Among these age groups, he has worked with people representing various cultures and backgrounds. He has also worked in schools with children and adolescents experiencing emotional and behavioral problems. Additionally, Dr. Dorin has provided a range of psychological assessments to children on the autism spectrum and those affected by genetic disorders and learning disabilities.

Dr. Dorin most recent work has been as a staff psychologist at adult assisted living homes, where he treated patients experiencing a number of emotional and behavioral problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia. In addition to this, Dr. Dorin continued with a group practice at Harbor Psychiatry Mental Health, Newport Beach. He enjoys working collaboratively with his patients and providing guidance in finding solutions. Above all, he believes that the relationship between patient and therapist is the cornerstone in achieving the patient’s goals.

Dr. Shenasi, Psy.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in psychotherapy and psychological testing.  She obtained her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2009 from the American School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University and completed a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from UC San Diego.

Dr. Shenasi’s clinical experiences have allowed her to work across a variety of settings such as private clinics, schools, medical offices, homes, and community outreach.  She has had the opportunity to help people from all stages of life, ranging from infancy to older adult.  During her predoctoral internship at Santa Ana College, Dr. Shenasi received clinical training in psychotherapy, group therapy, case management, psychological testing, and outreach services.  Dr. Shenasi completed a post-doctoral internship at Novata Behavioral Health, where she provided supervision, training, consultation, therapy and testing services.  Other training experiences include Family Service Agency of Long Beach, South Bay Child Guidance Center, Western Youth Services, Children’s Hospital of San Diego and San Diego VA Healthcare System.

Dr. Shenasi’s strives to provide a collaborative, culturally-informed and nonjudgmental approach to meet the individual where they are in order to facilitate meaningful change. Dr. Shenasi offers help for wide variety of problems including: Adjustment, Anger, Acculturation/Immigration, Anxiety, Panic, Depression, Bipolar, Grief/Loss, Divorce, Family, Parenting, Impulsive/Compulsive behaviors, Self-esteem, Social Skills, Sleep/Insomnia, Pregnancy/Peri- and Post-partum, Body image, Trauma and Relationship issues. Her primary orientations are Client-Centered and Cognitive behavioral, but she integrates different treatment strategies based on the individual’s needs and varying abilities.  These often include Family-Focused, Trauma-Focused, Mindfulness, Play-based, Solution-Focused and Narrative strategies.

Dr. Shenasi also enjoys providing psychological testing to help determine diagnosis and to aid in treatment planning for ADHD, learning disability, personality disorder, developmental disability, and autism. She currently splits her time between Brain Wellness Institute, and her private practice in Newport Beach.

Kimberly Baerresen, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in clinical neuropsychology, cognitive rehabilitation, and psychotherapy. She obtained her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2014 from Loma Linda University. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Healthcare System and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Long Beach Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. She also received clinical training at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and UCLA’s Longevity Center. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, Division 40 (Neuropsychology) and the International Neuropsychological Society.

Dr. Baerresen’s clinical specialties include:

• Neuropsychological assessment and management of adult patients with neurological injuries or illnesses (e.g., traumatic brain injury, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, Parkinson’s disease).
• Cognitive enhancement therapies (e.g., UCLA’s Brain Boot Camp) aimed at improving memory, executive functioning, attention, processing speed, and language in both individual and group formats.
• Psychotherapy: Dr. Baerresen works with patients and their families in order to assist in coping with functional losses related to neurological injury or illness. She also assists patients who are experiencing anxiety, depression, as well as adjustment-related difficulties (i.e. relationship stress, life transitions) from primarily a cognitive behavioral framework (CBT). In order to provide the maximum care to each patient, Dr. Baerresen adopts the biopsychosocial model—considering all aspects of the patient (e.g., medical, psychological, spiritual, relational and environmental) when formulating a treatment plan and implementing therapeutic interventions.

Dr. Davidson is a psychological assistant working under the direct supervision of Dr. Julia Evans (License # PSY28398). She completed her PsyD at Alliant International University in 2016 and is currently completing post-doctoral hours. Her clinical training experiences have primarily involved conducting therapy and psychological assessments with children, adolescents, and their families in a variety of clinical environments. She has worked at private practices, schools, residential treatment facilities, in-homes, and in community mental health clinics.  She specializes in treating and addressing  behavioral difficulties, depression and anxiety disorders, childhood abuse and neglect, disrupted family environments, legal involvement, and cognitive and developmental delays. Additionally, she has extensive experience working with victims of trauma in addition to patients with dual diagnoses and suicidal ideation.

Dr. Davidson is experienced in conducting Dialectical Behavior therapy, for both groups and individuals, as well as cognitive, personality, ADHD, and learning disorder assessments. Her therapeutic orientation tends to be a combination of psychodynamic/systems and behavioral. My particular interests include working with youth and adults who have experienced trauma, and individuals affected by anxiety.