Dr. Rebecca Pittenger

License No.	State
CPSY25875	California

While I consider myself to be a generalist practitioner, I particularly enjoy working with trauma/PTSD, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, panic disorder, grief and loss, and depression. Additionally, I am very interested in working with creative people (e.g., artists, musicians, and writers), members of the LGBTQ+ community, and individuals who incorporate spirituality into their healing process.

Because every client who comes to therapy is unique, I have found it valuable to take a flexible, integrative approach to therapy, tailoring treatment to each individual’s presenting concerns, preferences, and personality characteristics. Additionally, I find great value in drawing on clients’ strengths and treating them as whole individuals, rather than as sets of symptoms. In tailoring therapy to each client’s needs, I draw upon evidence-based techniques, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

Additionally, I am a practitioner of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) therapy, which has been found to be an effective treatment for trauma. Not only has EMDR been shown help people resolve major traumas (e.g., military combat trauma), but it also is an effective means of helping people heal from other disturbing life events (e.g., being bullied as a child).

I graduated from Bryn Mawr College with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, before attending Dartmouth College, where I studied music cognition, graduating with a Ph.D. in experimental psychology. My doctoral dissertation, “Affective and Perceptual Judgments of Major and Minor Musical Stimuli,” investigated some of the determinants of music’s emotional meaning.

After Dartmouth, I re-specialized in clinical psychology at Palo Alto University. While at PAU, I trained at The Shyness Clinic in Los Altos, specializing in group and individual cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety. I completed my internship at the University of Southern California Student Counseling Services, where I worked with both graduate and undergraduate students, providing time-limited therapy, crisis intervention, and group therapy.

I pursued my post-doctoral training at Kaiser Permanente, Santa Clara, where I provided individual therapy, group therapy, and psychological assessments. While at Kaiser, I co-led Dialectical Behavioral Therapy groups, a Social Anxiety Group, a Young Women’s Group, and Panic Recovery groups.

Degrees/Certifications

• Dartmouth College - Ph.D.
• Bryn Mawr College - A.B.