Education & Clinical Training

Dr. Anderson graduated from Stanford University in Psychology with Great Distinction and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and the Cap and Gown Honor Society. She received advanced graduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, and the California School of Professional Psychology.

Dr. Anderson has received intensive postgraduate training in couples and family therapy. She has had rigorous training in couples therapy from the Couples Institute in Menlo Park and advanced training in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy with Dr. Sue Johnson. She completed an externship in family therapy at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic and further family therapy training at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto as well as the Georgetown Family Center in Washington, D.C.

Her clinical training included an internship at the Stanford Department of Psychiatry and the Palo Alto VA Hospital; an APA- approved internship at the University of California, Irvine Counseling Center and the UCI Department of Psychiatry. She was selected for a special internship with the National Institute of Mental Health in Washington, D.C. where she spent two years of intensive training at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in group psychotherapy, family therapy and inpatient psychiatric and forensic treatment.

Teaching & Consulting

Dr. Anderson is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine (UCI) where she teaches and supervises Psychiatry residents in Couples and Family Therapy. She also frequently provides specialized training in couples therapy to many Southern California mental health agencies. Dr. Anderson also offers ongoing consultation groups for more intense clinical supervision of licensed professionals wanting postgraduate clinical training in marital therapy. Additionally, she is an Adjunct Professor at the California School of Professional Psychology teaching various Advanced Couples Therapy courses.

Community Service

Dr. Anderson serves as founder and President of the Foundation for the Contemporary Family, a non-profit foundation whose mission is to support innovative research, clinical training, and community programs that address the important issues facing contemporary families. She has been instrumental in bringing many internationally renowned clinicians and researchers to Orange County to provide cutting-edge training for the mental health community.

Under her leadership, the Foundation has been busy fulfilling its mission:

Professional Organizations