My psychology training began years before I read my first science journal, as an artist. Prior to pursuing my doctoral degree from the American School of Professional Psychology, I received a Master of Fine Arts degree. I believe my years of training as an artist were formative in making me an effective therapist.
As an artist, I learned how to listen to myself and listen more closely to those I interact with. I learned how my own creativity can impact people on a deeply emotional level. Most importantly, I became fascinated by how human connection and creative expression can lead to individual growth.
It is not a coincidence that during my doctoral training, I would find the field of psychoanalytic psychology, which differs from other fields in that it focuses on the unconscious mind and human relationship. Upon completion of my dissertation, "An Investigation of Unconscious Communication from an Intersubjective and Relational Perspective", I went on to pursue post-doctoral training in the two year psychoanalytic psychotherapy internship program at the Access Institute.
I believe the artist and the patient are engaged in a similar journey. The artist, regardless of his/her mode of expression, pursues his/her work because there is something inside him/her that needs to be known, needs to be heard, and most importantly needs to make contact with others. I have seen this same pursuit in the eyes of many of my patients.
Currently, I work with children, adolescents, adults and couples in private practice in San Francisco and I also supervise and train intern therapists from local graduate psychology programs.
Jonathan Lichtenstein, Psy.D. 1774 Union Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
415-267-6199
