Welcome, I’m Dr. Dana Girard, a licensed clinical psychologist. I received my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, CA, where I studied western psychology and eastern philosophy. My post-graduate studies included: The Process Therapy Institute in Santa Clara, CA, for certified training in Process Therapy, a depth-oriented psychotherapy; The Institute for Rapid Resolution Therapy in Los Angeles, CA, for certified training in Rapid Resolution Therapy, an insight-oriented cognitive behavioral therapy; and The Greater Sacramento Regional EMDR Network in Sacramento, CA, for certified training in EMDR Therapy, a structured, neuroscience-based therapy.   

My professional experience also includes developmental and managerial experiences as a clinical director for Bay Area non-profits whose focuses have included diversity and inclusion education, substance rehabilitation programs, wellness center development, intern supervision management, and community mental health. 

My approach to working through traumatic experiences is a focus on post-traumatic growth: identifying client strengths and their effective applications, combining them with evidence-based therapies, and collaboratively developing self-defined success stories. 

My strengths as a clinician come from my professional and personal experiences as an African American woman growing up in a working-class neighborhood, where I experienced the challenges that sustained poverty and pain, and the affirmations that allowed people to rise above them.