Perpetually faithful to the scientist-practitioner model, Dr. Kiritsis envisions the trajectory of his career as one that amalgamates assessment, clinical practice, and research. He has complemented his education and experience in psychology/neuropsychology with formal education and training in neurology, neurologic assessment, and select neurodiagnostic techniques (i.e., EEGs, EMGs, EVs, and so forth), and is currently completing additional medical studies in pain management. Dr. Kiritsis considers himself eclectic, integrative, and transtheoretical when it comes to therapeutic style, and he draws upon techniques from the psychodynamic, humanistic-existential, and transpersonal traditions as well as the evidence-based behavioral therapies like ACT, CBT, and DBT. He believes illumination and cultivation of personal strengths, trust in the process, and self-discovery to be fundamental aspects to efficacious psychotherapy. He is also trained in clinical hypnosis.
"For me, being a multidisciplinary clinician is
of paramount importance as it allows me to serve my patients' multiple needs and address their diagnostic and prognostic questions in an integral manner. I am passionate about lifelong education in health care, and I am voluminously invested in best practices and the best possible outcome for all my patients."
Accreditations
- Board-certified clinical psychologist in California, USA (license number #PSY32702)
- Certified clinical hypnotherapist (Palo Alto School of Hypnotherapy)
- NIH Stroke Scale Certification - Test Group A (American Stroke Association)
Postlicensure, Postdoctoral, and Predoctoral Training
Dr. Kiritsis has completed a Master of Science in Medicine (MScMed) with The University of Sydney in clinical neurophysiology; areas of emphasis were clinical neurophysiology, clinical epidemiology, clinical neurology, and ethical/professional practice. He is currently completing another MScMed in pain management from the same university and postlicensure requirements for board-certification as a clinical neuropsychologist with Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, CA. Dr. Kiritsis is currently employed with Attentive Cognitive Mental Health (ACMH) which renders psychotherapy, crisis, and capacity assessment services to members of our community that are traditionally underserved (i.e., geriatric residents of skilled nursing facilities). He is the resident clinical psychologist for Vale Healthcare Center in San Pablo, CA, Windsor Gardens Care Center of Hayward in Hayward, CA, Peninsula Post-Acute in Burlingame, CA, and Brookside Skilled Nursing Hospital in San Mateo, CA.
Dr. Kiritsis has eight years of clinical and psychological assessment experience with heterogeneous clinical populations and has worked in numerous health care settings (i.e., community health care centers, inpatient psychiatric hospital, university clinic, etc.) His postdoctoral fellowship at the Community Institute for Psychotherapy (CIP) in San Rafael, CA, involved working with individuals diagnosed with neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric, and organic illnesses. As a predoctoral intern he assessed and counseled middle-schoolers with behavioral issues at Davidson Middle School and members of the geriatric population suffering from neurodegenerative conditions at Skyview Bay Club in San Rafael. During his year-long inpatient residency at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, CA, he led groups and conducted individual therapy for inpatients amidst the throes of psychotic decompensation.
Half of his postdoctoral internship and predoctoral fellowship involved psychological and neuropsychological assessment, liaison work, and outreach services. The other half was individual psychotherapy work with SMI patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, anxiety and/or depressive disorders, and various personality disorders. Many of the assessment referrals at CIP pertained to the clarification of ADD/ADHD and other neurodevelopmental questions for both children and adults, however he also assessed patients with severe and mild TBI and the neuropsychological sequelae associated with an ischemic stroke and a transient ischemic attack; with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asperger's type); and with complex neurocognitive co-morbidities, for instance, the co-occurrence of intellectual disability and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia in a middle aged man. At El Camino Hospital, on the other hand, the assessment cases were more heterogenous (i.e., a diagnostic assortment of neurocognitive, neuropsychiatric, and personality disorders).
His volunteer and service work in clinical psychology has encompassed endeavors that are disparate and heterogenous in scope and subject; from offering psychoeducation and counseling to US war veterans suffering from PTSD, anxiety, and depression via Sponsor a Vet for Life (a non-profit organization based in Wharton, NJ), to teaching quantitative research methods, neuropsychology, psychopharmacology, and clinical psychology to graduate students in the guise of adjunct professor, to serving as a psychometrician/evaluator for the Tests of Dyslexia (TOD) standardization study sponsored by Western Psychological Services (WPS).
Education
Neuropsychology Certificate, Fielding Graduate University, USA (completing)
Master of Science in Medicine (Pain Management), The University of Sydney, AUS (completing)
Master of Science in Medicine (Clinical Neurophysiology), The University of Sydney, AUS
Doctor of Psychology (Clinical Psychology), Sofia University, USA
Master of Arts in Psychology, Sofia University, USA
Master of Arts in History, Exeter University, UK
Graduate Diploma in Professional Writing and Speech, Latrobe University, AUS
Bachelor of Behavioral Science, Latrobe University, AUS
Professional Recognition and Honors
Dr. Kiritsis was elected for inclusion in the 2023 Doctors' edition of the Best of California Magazine for excellence in medicine. To date, Dr. Kiritsis has authored six books including the creative compendium Confessions of a Split Mind (2017) and is the recipient of twenty book/literary awards, including the Paracelsus Award by the Alchemy Guild. More recently, he won a Reader Views Reviewer's Choice Silver Award in the category of Societal Issues for The Creative Advantages of Schizophrenia (2019) and a Pacific Book Award for the same book in the category of Best Psychology Book, as well as a Best Books Finalist Award at American Book Fest for A Critical Investigation into Precognitive Dreams: Dreamscaping without My Timekeeper (2020) in the category of Science.