2012-2013 PPTP/Foundations Incoming Students Bios

Tanya Aly, Psy.D
I received my doctorate from CSPP, LA in 1992. I was drawn to working in community mental health settings, and I worked at UCSF and Westside Services. Recently I became disillusioned with the state of affairs of community mental health and jumped over to the private sector. I am currently in the midst of building a full time private practice.

Kristina Antonson, M.D.
I am originally from Alexandria, Virginia.  I got my PhD in cell biology from The Rockefeller University and my MD from Cornell. During my time in graduate school I became interested in psychiatry and psychoanalysis.  I live with my husband Paul who is an illustrator, our dog, and two cats.

Alexis Armenakis, M.D.
I am a 4th year psychiatry resident at UCSF. I completed my MD at UCSF as well. I am currently the chief resident at the San Francisco VA Hospital, and I split my time between there and Langley Porter seeing patients and teaching trainees.  I’ve been curious about psychoanalytic thinking since my undergraduate degree in psychology, but my interests have really solidified during residency training while seeing therapy patients and working with analytically oriented supervisors. I’m also interested in geriatrics, women’s health, and end of life care.

Flávio Casoy, M.D.
I am a PGY4 psychiatry resident at UCSF.  My clinical interests center on public sector psychiatry, particularly caring for homeless populations, and psychoanalytic thought.  Currently, I serve as Chief Resident at San Francisco General Hospital.  My main interest for PPTP is to learn how to think more deeply about my patients, deepen my theoretical knowledge base and apply psychoanalytic thinking in community settings.  I have had a taste of this at the General’s Infant Parent Psychotherapy and Child Trauma Programs.  In my spare time, I enjoy hanging out with my friends; attending plays, movies, concerts; and engaging in political activism.

David Capitolo, MFT
I have a private practice in downtown San Francisco and in San Rafael. I am one of eight men in the United States that is a Certified Teaching Member of the Sandplay Therapists of America. Even though I have a Jungian background (having seen a Jungian analyst for 13 years), I have now been seeing a Bionian Psychoanalyst multiple times a week for the past seven years. That ongoing work plus two SFCP yearlong courses have drawn me to expand my interest and understanding of the foundations of psychoanalysis.

Flora Chan, Psy.D.
I am a graduate of the Wright Institute in Berkeley.  I will be officially receiving my degree in Clinical Psychology in September 2012 upon completion of my pre-doctoral internship at Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc. (RAMS).  I will be collecting my post-doctoral hours at Outpatient Services at RAMS as a staff therapist.

Jan Chess, PhD, MFT.
My current work setting is in private practice in Davis and Sacramento although I am a Bay Area transplant.  I have been enamored of relational analytic (including Kohut and Stolorow) for over two decades.  To date, my learning has been self-directed and supplemented within a collegial context.  Trauma treatment is an area of specialization where I've been influenced by the work of Bromberg and Donnel Stern.  I'm excited about the professional camaraderie  PPTP offers and look forward to meeting everyone.

Anne Fleming, M.D.
I am an Associate Professor at UCSF, and work part-time on the San Francisco General Consult-Liaison Psychiatry Service and part-time in my faculty psychotherapy practice.  I've been at UCSF for 12 years and have kept up an active outpatient practice and psychotherapy supervision throughout that time.  As I expand my practice, I am very excited to deepen my psychoanalytic training through PPTP.

Bartholomew Hatler, MFTI
I am a recent grad of California Institute of Integral Studies' Integral Counseling Psychology (MA) program and currently an MFTI. I have a 10+ year practice in bodywork/massage therapy and bring an interest in both analytic and depth psychotherapy and somatic influences in therapy. I live in the city and practice aikido and enjoy swimming outdoors... where it's warm enough to do so (typically Marin & East Bay).

Josie Howard, M.D.
I was raised in Austin, Texas and received a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology with a focus in Medical Anthropology from Princeton University.  While doing research for my senior thesis on Dr. Dean Ornish's program for treating heart disease patients, I fell in love with San Francisco, eventually finding my way back to the Bay area for medical school and residency at UCSF.  I currently have a private practice in General Adult Psychiatry with a subspecialty in Psychodermatology located in Union Square.  Additionally, I am on the medical staff for Hastings School of Law Student Health Services, serve on the Medical Advisory Board for Clinic by the Bay, and am on volunteer faculty at UCSF in the Departments of Psychiatry and Dermatology.

Kathy Marshall, M.D.
I am a 4th year general psychiatry resident at UC Davis. I have a husband, a baby boy named Axel, and a cat.

Jonathan Moss, MA, MFTI
I see individuals and couples in private practice internship in Noe Valley. I am interested in the intersection of psychoanalysis, depth psychology, attachment theory, and relational approaches to treatment.

Anna Neary, M.A., MFTI
I am currently completing my M.F.T. Internship at the Marina Counseling Center, where I work with a variety of patients in a private practice setting. I received my M.A. in Counseling Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, after finishing my practicum at Pierce Street Integral Counseling Center, a place in which I first became exposed to, and interested in, psychoanalytic thought. Recently, I worked as a summer "camp therapist" for junior high and high school aged campers in Yosemite, one of my favorite places in the world! I also hold a Master's Degree in English Literature from a previous academic life, and continue to get inspired by works of fiction and poetry. I'm looking forward to going deeper into my psychoanalytically oriented training, and to getting more involved in the SFCP community.

Brooke Pomerantz, LCSW
I am in private practice with adolescents and adults in downtown San Francisco. Prior to working in private practice full-time, I was a clinical social worker at Langley Porter-UCSF in the Partial Hospitalization Program for five years.  I was inspired to learn more about psychoanalytic psychotherapy through my own treatment and through my clinical internship on the Adolescent Inpatient Unit at McAuley Institute-St. Mary's Medical Center.

Blake Rawdin, MD, MPH
I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, attended Yale College, where I studied Ethics, Politics, and Economics, and have since been in the Bay Area.  After 2 years in management consulting, I decided to pursue medicine.  As a fourth year psychiatry resident at UCSF now, I'm researching inflammation and oxidative stress in depression. My clinical and research interests are in yoga, mindfulness, Ayurvedic medicine, and psychodynamic and somatic psychotherapies.

Nicholas Rosenlicht, M.D.
I was raised mainly in Berkeley, but travelled extensively as a child. After College (UC Berkeley) I worked in environmental biology (and as an auto mechanic) for a few years. I attended Case Western Reserve University for my M.D., and UCLA for my psychiatric residency.  I have been on faculty at UCLA, UC Davis, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson, and (finally) UCSF for the past 15 years. I work out of the SFVA splitting time between general outpatient work and C-L. My research and publications have been mainly in the areas of basic sleep research, pharmacological treatment of mood disorders, and evidence based medicine/conflicts of interest. My current research is in memory function in sleep and insomnia, treatment resistant depression, and rTMS. In addition, I have maintained a small private practice for most of my career, a combination of therapy and psychopharmacology. I am looking forward to learning about the advances in psychoanalytic theory/practice of the last 20 years!

Sally Sharrock, MFT
I am an English transplant.  I grew up in the UK, and found a home in the Bay Area in 1994.  I hold a Bachelor of science in Psychology from University of London and a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University.  In 2003 I became a licensed MFT.  My post graduate training has been at a number of community mental health clinics in LA and San Jose, including Didi Hirsch, Child and Family Guidance Center, and Center for Survivors of Torture at AACI.  I recently began my private practice in the south bay working primarily with children, adolescents, and young adults. My interest is in British Object relations theory.  I have taken several courses and seminars at SFCP, and I am excited to now be part of SFCP’s PPTP. 

Margaret Shirley, M.D.
I am currently in training as a fourth year psychiatric resident at UCSF. I have always been very curious about psychoanalytic thinking, have enjoyed Adam Goldyne's theories of mind course through the program, and am eager to learn more through PPTP.

Judith Street, M.D.
I received my MD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, then completed Psychiatry residency at UCSF in December 2011, where my interest in psychoanalytic thinking and attachment theory first blossomed.  I now work part-time at Richmond Area Multi-Services (RAMS)where I provide medication management for primarily Russian-speaking clients, and have started my own part-time private practice in order to focus on dynamic psychotherapy.  I am particularly interested in the treatment of anxiety disorders and of peripartum mental illness.

Emily Watters, M.D.
I am a psychiatrist in San Francisco and split my time between community psychiatry and private practice.  I trained at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago where I also served as chief resident. Much of my training there had a psychodynamic focus and I have found it invaluable to my work. I am also on faculty at UCSF where I supervise medical students in facilitating a women's group at a local homeless shelter.  In my private practice, I mainly work with undergraduate students.  I love working with this age group and the challenges it brings.  I am greatly looking forward to this program and hope to keep growing as a psychotherapist.

Grace Yan, Psy.D.
I was born and raised in China. I completed the Psy.D. program at California Institute of Integral Studies and the pre-doctoral internship at Richmond Area Multiservices Inc. (Rams). I was drawn to psychoanalytic theories very early on, and after two years at Rams, I became very interested in exploring its application cross-culturally. I am currently getting my post-doctoral hours at Rams. My plan is to continue work within a community mental health setting while building a small private practice. My other interest in life is Buddhism, which I have been studying and practicing for many years. The intersection of the two disciplines is always fascinating to me.

Amy Yang, M.D.
After completing a psychiatry residency at Brown University, I went on to do a one-year fellowship in public psychiatry at Columbia University.  Now as I return to full-time clinical practice in San Francisco, I'm looking to sharpen my understanding and skills in providing therapy.  My particular interests include systems-focused therapy (including family work); identifying and promoting strengths; and maintaining engagement even during difficult transferential interactions.

Michael Yap, Psy.D.
I am currently a fourth-year doctoral student at the Wright Institute, working on my dissertation and applying for internships.  I came to the Bay Area from Honolulu, Hawaii to see if psychotherapy might captivate to me.  It did, and I enrolled in a graduate school program which resulted in a change of career trajectory.  Previously, I had extensively studied traditional Chinese medicine in China.

Susanne Zago, MFT
I currently work for the San Francisco Department of Public Health doing psychotherapy with uninsured young adults.  Having grown up with immigrant and working-class parents in the Italian side of Switzerland and seeing their struggles, I am committed to supporting low-income and marginalized populations.  I have always worked in community mental health settings including trauma clinics, treatment centers for youth involved in criminal justice system, and in school related services for low-income and homeless youth.

I am looking forward to attending this 2-year course and continue deepening my psychoanalytic knowledge and engage in stimulating collective learning as well as examining the influence of family, gender, ethnicity and class on subjectivity and on unconscious processes. I began my investigation into human behavior at the University of Amsterdam, where I studied and obtained a B.A. in Social and Cultural Anthropology.  When I moved to the US I shifted my focus towards mental processes and studied clinical psychology at a Masters level at New College of California.