Why waste any more time? Life is precious.

I am a licensed clinical psychologist with over 25 years of clinical experience specializing in the rapid resolution of psychological symptoms. Often referred to as the best psychologist in Los Angeles, if you are looking for excellence and discretion, you have come to the right place.

In addition to private consulting, I hold an appointment as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and have been rated as one of UCLA's best voluntary clinical professors.

Current Professional Work 

Clinical Pursuits

I maintain a private consulting practice in Los Angeles, California where I consult with individuals and couples via weekly or monthly appointments. I also provide remote consulting for out-of-town clients.

My work with clients has always been active and focused; based on full collaboration with the goal of removing distressing symptoms and helping people regain or achieve their highest level of functioning as quickly as possible.

 Specializations, Advanced Degrees, Certificates, and Areas of Focus

My teaching and consulting has been informed by the many different therapeutic modalities I trained in which I combine when curating healing or consulting plans for each individual client. Among my scholarly pursuits, I have studied and obtained advanced training in Attachment-Based Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy, Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy, Attachment Therapy, EMDR, Emotionally Focused Therapy, EFT Couples Therapy, Gottman Couples Therapy, Grief Recovery (w/ GRI certification), Interpersonal Neurobiology, ISTDP, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and Sex Therapy.

My work with clients focuses on removing obstacles to the buried emotions and experiences or memories that are driving the current or chronic symptoms and issues. The surface issues rarely tell us the whole story about the origin or source of suffering or stuckness. Just as anxiety can operate as a “signal” or symptom of a problem which serves to block access to the complex emotions driving it, I guide clients to the unconscious engine of their symptoms. We address and reduce surface anxiety so we can get beyond it and other presenting symptoms, issues, or blockages to access the source, facilitate healing, and achieve fulfillment of each client’s potential (freeing the mind of being held captive by suffering or paralysis and taking active steps to prevent recurrence).

Teaching

Based on my love of teaching, I have committed substantial time and energey to supervising, lecturing, and conducting clinical training groups for mental health professionals, in the US and abroad, who wish to achieve more success with clients or learn Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP). I founded and teach a 1-2 year course on ISTDP and Accelerated Psychotherapy for UCLA psychiatry residents and faculty at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.

My passion for teaching is irrepressible and resulted in my being honored with the Distinguished Teaching Award by the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences for my “Outstanding Clinical Faculty Teaching” at the David Geffen School of Medicine.

Educational and Professional Training

I obtained my undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley where I was a University Merit Scholar and a recipient of the Presidential Undergraduate Fellowship. I subsequently earned a Master’s degree and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and Organizational Behavior from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). My post-degree professional training includes over 25 years of clinical experience.

I have specialized in Attachment-Based ISTDP and empirically validated, solution-focused therapies for over twenty-five years. I have pursued advanced training in many accelerated models of attachment-based individual, couples and sex psychotherapy, grief recovery, executive coaching, organizational behavior, interpersonal neurobiology, trauma treatment, emotion regulation, anger management, and mindful parenting. I have studied or taught alongside talented scholars, clinicians, and executive coaches including: Allan Abbass, Walter Brackelmanns, Andrew Christensen, Samuel Culbert, Habib Davanloo, Michele Weiner-Davis, Diana Fosha, Jon Frederickson, Joshua Golden, John Gottman, Josette ten Have-de Labije, Sue Johnson, Mary Main, Robert Neborsky, Pat Ogden, Allan Schore, Daniel J. Siegel, Marion Solomon, Stan Tatkin, and Bob Tannenbaum.

Additionally, I remain a scholar of Human Sexuality and the ways in which people can use sex or work or other activities to avoid intimacy. I taught and trained at UC Berkeley’s and UCLA’s Human Sexuality Programs. At UCLA, I worked with Drs. Joe & Peggy Golden and Dr. Lee Blackwell in the Human Sexuality Program at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute to help couples having difficulty sustaining emotionally and sexually intimate relationships. Specifically, I provided relationship therapy and sex therapy to couples who sought out our help to resolve their relationship problems which were frequently exacerbated by sexual acting out (one or both partners having affairs, abusing pornography, or avoiding sexual engagement). In addition to treating sexual dysfunction, I became skilled in helping individuals and couples notice and eliminate relationship-destructive behaviors, resolve relationship trauma, take ownership of their authentic feelings and desires, however controversial, and increase the overall quality of their most intimate and important relationships.

“Dr. Robin Kay has been an advocate for emancipating men from the shackles of traditional male gender role expectations (e.g., be strong, never cry, hide your feelings, tough it out…). To paraphrase renowned author, men’s psychological health advocate, and masterful psychotherapist Terrence Real, “men’s willingness to downplay weakness and pain has been named a factor in their shorter life span. The (average) ten year longevity difference between men and women turns out to have little to do with genes. Men typically wait longer to acknowledge that they are sick, take longer to get help, and once they get treatment, they do not comply with it as well as women do.” It is emcumbent upon us as an evolved society to make optimizing male mental health a priority, to improve relationship quality, allow men to shine as parents, and decrease violence nationwide. (Photo below by Ian Stauffer on Unsplash)

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Psychotherapy

Good psychotherapy should help you see and make sense of the way your mind is working so you can change how you see and treat yourself, your feelings, and the people in your life who matter to you. We are often a slave to our automatic ways of thinking and behaving. A skilled, experienced psychotherapist should possess the ability to help you see yourself through a different, more accurate lens, and help you make changes in your thoughts and actions so you can improve your quality of life.

Popular culture has mischaracterized psychotherapy as a passive process where the patient talks or vents, and the psychotherapist listens, nods or even nods off. Venting to your psychotherapist, although sometimes temporarily relieving, generally does not lead to lasting change. Passive listening on the part of a psychotherapist is not enough to heal your trauma or remodel your mind. As in any successful relationship, to be effective, psychotherapy requires attunement, engagement, honest communication, courage, and collaboration.

If you decide you'd like to make an appointment for psychotherapy, you should feel comfortable with the doctor you choose to help you and understand the proposed plan to help you achieve your goals.

If you are interested in pursuing psychotherapy to help you resolve your difficulties, you should ask the doctor many questions so that...

1) you have a secure understanding of what you can expect,

2) you can assess whether the doctor’s particular way of working appeals to you.

As a psychotherapy or coaching client, you are a consumer.

It is your right to ask questions, to have expectations, and to become informed about what you are signing up for. 

Remember, all psychotherapy is NOT created equal; psychotherapists and methods can differ greatly in their effectiveness.

Dana Foundation’s video shows us how psychotherapy can often change the brain and help people modify destructive behaviors to create positive and enduring mood and behavior changes.

The implications of brain neuroplasticity are astounding. Neuroplasticity research shows that psychotherapy leads to positive brain changes. Our brains can adapt and become more resilient no matter how old we are.

• Learning is central to promoting neuroplastic brain growth. Psychotherapy will equip you with newly learned skills and techniques to handle your feelings, reality, and behavior in ways that promote your success.

• As your brain changes in your favor, maladaptive habits will die off and will be replaced with more adaptive habits, behaviors and feeling management strategies.

• The Dana Foundation is devoted to advancing neuroscience that benefits societies across the world. They explore the “connections between neuroscience and society’s challenges and opportunities.” The Dana Foundation has a mission to “maximize the potential of the field to do good.” Check out the Dana Foundation for more information and resources about neuroscience and brain awareness. https://dana.org/

Recognition for Outstanding Clinical Teaching

Dr. Kay has been honored with the AWARD FOR "Outstanding Clinical Faculty Teaching"
By the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.

"You have single-handedly taught us the most important lessons of being a listener, a healer, a therapist. Learning from you has been transformative for me and my patients. I am not exaggerating by saying your course and supervision were the highlight of my entire residency."
 

"Dr. Kay's course was by far my favorite clinical experience during all of residency.  Dr. Kay presented videotaped therapy sessions at each meeting, and discussed technique, her thought process, and the longitudinal impact of her work on each patient. I will never forget the first class when she showed her work and began to outline techniques.  It was as if a lightbulb went on in the room and we all realized this was entirely different from any training we ever had before.”

"Dr. Kay's AB-ISTDP clinic is the most clinically important thing that someone can do in residency, especially if that someone wants to really learn how to do therapy. Many other clinics/types of therapy discuss theory a lot, but this shows the actual work being done, which gives much better insight into technique and effect. Real patient learning.” 

“I think your course is one of the most valuable experiences I have had in my residency education." 

“There is no equal to seeing therapy in action, and having a skilled clinician narrate the moment-to-moment process for you.  
Dr. Kay is also among the kindest, warmest, and most genuine mentors I found during residency.   I am so grateful to have been guided by her both professionally and personally over the last several years."

"If you want to practice psychotherapy, learning AB-ISTDP from Dr. Kay will forever impact your work by strengthening your observational skills, deepening your understanding of human emotions, and teaching you to block defenses that get in the way of the therapeutic process.”        

“Dr. Kay brings energy to the learning experience that is unusually motivating; my classmates and I leave the weekly seminar feeling rejuvenated and motivated to try to implement the therapy with our own patients.
I would count this experience as the most valuable psychotherapeutic learning of my four years of residency.”

"Dr. Kay's course was a valuable introduction to AB-ISTDP which has been the most challenging and rewarding learning experience for me as a psychiatrist. It has expanded my ability to care for both therapy and medication patients and provides a framework for understanding and approaching patients that is clear, practical, and more informative than the DSM."