Your Recovery Team - Anna Mccarthy, PHD

Dr. Anna McCarthy completed her BA in psychology (graduating cum laude) and MA in psychology (graduating summa cum laude) at CSULB. While completing her MA, Dr. McCarthy was the graduate student liaison for Division 29 of the American Psychological Association, and also received numerous awards and accolades including winning first place at the California State University Student Research Competition for her research on dating violence. Dr. McCarthy completed her PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Houston. The PhD program is a CBT-based training program, and endorses the Boulder Model of training and therefore emphasizes the integration of scientist-practitioner stances. While in Houston, Dr. McCarthy engaged in clinical training at Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor Medical School and MD Anderson Cancer Center. She went on to complete her pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the VA Long Beach Healthcare System, where she worked with Veterans presenting with a wide range of mental health issues, including PTSD, depression, severe mental illness, addiction and dual diagnoses, and personality disorders.

Since that time she has completed post-doctoral certifications in Cognitive Processing Therapy (an empirically supported treatment for PTSD, endorsed by the National Center for PTSD), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (a mindfulness-based empirically supported treatment for depression) and Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy (an empirically supported treatment for relationship issues). Dr. McCarthy has extensive experience working with victims of trauma (childhood, interpersonal, sexual, combat, natural disasters etc.) and has worked in residential and outpatient drug/alcohol treatment facilities as well as working as the program director of the Mindful Healing Outpatient Program. Her work with an alcohol dependent trauma victim was featured on the season premiere of the Emmy award-winning TV show "Intervention" (first broadcast on national TV June 28th 2010). Dr. McCarthy spent several years working as a staff psychologist at the VA Long Beach Healthcare System where she and a colleague developed a three part orientation program for Veterans seeking psychological services that reduced wait time for services, helped Veterans obtain the specific services they needed, and prepared them to make the most of mental health services available to them. This program has gone on to be replicated by other VA hospitals and clinics across the nation. While at the VA she also worked as supervisor of “The Anxiety, Depression and Relationship Issues Clinic.”

Dr. McCarthy is currently in full-time private practice in Newport Beach, California, where she provides services to individuals, couples and families presenting with a wide range of treatment issues, and provides case management services to patients needing adjunct support. In addition to her private practice, Dr. McCarthy has been invited to speak about psychological issues to wide audiences (including professional groups, residential treatment programs, medical students and as an expert panelist on a PBS documentary).

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