Marina Bystritsky, Ph.D.

My name is Marina Bystritsky and I am a psychotherapist with more than 20 years of experience in the mental health field. I find joy and fulfillment though my work and believe wholeheartedly that under the right conditions, anyone can heal.

 

My professional background includes a bachelor’s degree from NYU; a doctorate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, received in 1999 and specialized training in the treatment of anxiety disorders at the UCLA Anxiety Disorders Clinic.

 

Since that time I have gained extensive experience, working with patients in clinics and private practice. In addition to my private practice, I serve as adjunct faculty at UCSF. Before I moved to San Francisco in 2014, I provided weekly supervision to psychiatry residents at the OCD Clinic at Stanford for ten years.

 

Beyond my education and professional training, I bring my personal experience to my work. I grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia and moved to New York after high school. Over the years I moved from New York to Los Angeles, and from Los Angeles to the Bay Area. I have been living a reach and eventful life: I experienced joy and sorrow, achievement and loss; I have made good and bad decisions and learned from the consequences as best I could.

 

I have been practicing yoga for over 25 years and mindfulness meditation for almost 15. I am also an amateur artist and street photographer, world traveler and nature lover.

 

More recently, I am a graduate of the California Institute of Integral Studies post graduate program in Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy and Research. I have a strong interest in non-ordinary states of consciousness as a potential healing modality and means for spiritual development.