“Your well-being becomes my genuine concern”

Those words are important to me as they define the kind of doctor I want to be for you. There may be certain things in your life that you would like to change or changes in your life that you would like to talk to someone about. I would like to help.

I have over two decades of experience in the field of mental health, providing psychological services to hundreds of individuals and families in the San Diego community over the years. I consider myself to be an almost San Diego native, having lived here far longer than my time outside of the city. I took my first steps on the path of becoming a mental health practitioner while working with the San Diego Police Department as a member of their Crisis Intervention Team. Our team was often called on by police officers in the field to offer emotional support and resources to the people of San Diego who were actively dealing with traumatic events in their lives. This included critical incidents such as natural deaths, suicides, homicides, missing children, accidents and natural disasters.

I attended graduate school at the American Psychological Association accredited California School of Professional Psychology at AIU San Diego, where I graduated with honors in 2008 with a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology. It was also during this time that I was given an opportunity to guest lecture at the prestigious Faculty of Clinical Psychology at Kyoto Bunkyo University in Kyoto, Japan. My doctoral research dissertation studied the effects of violent video games on aggressive cognitions and aggressive behaviors in children.
 
My first internship was with the Community Research Foundation in San Diego at one of their short-term acute residential treatment centers, referred to as the START program. This program offered a home like environment as an alternative to voluntary hospitalization for adults who were experiencing a mental health crisis that was considered too severe to be managed on an outpatient basis. Our team provided psychological assessment and daily therapy in both an individualized and group setting. We also provided social service community resources to assist our residents in developing and achieving their goals during their stay.

Afterwards, I interned at the Mental Health Department of Home Start in San Diego, where I provided psychological therapy to children and adolescents and to their families. At Home Start, we provided home based and office based trauma-focused individual therapy for children under the age of 18, who at some point had been victims of severe abuse. My training at Home Start also included working with adult survivors of childhood abuse.

In the years that followed, I have worked within a private practice office setting in San Diego.

My experience extends beyond the world of academia and mental health, as for over thirty years I have worked with several businesses … from writing computer code and designing systems for technology start-ups run by a handful of employees ... to personally operating and managing half-billion dollar accounts for larger international Fortune 100 corporations. These experiences have helped to make me better able to understand the real-world challenges and concerns we are all faced with each day.

While I see individuals and families from many diverse backgrounds, I specialize in several areas. A large part of my practice is dedicated to working with school age children and adolescents and I have successfully treated some of the most difficult and complex child and adolescent issues. I also specialize in the treatment of depression, anxiety, existential crisis, and childhood trauma in my work with adults.

My approach to working with you focuses on the recognition and development of your personal abilities and strengths. I take the time to completely understand the situation that brings you to me. I consider what I do to be highly specialized and designed specifically for your needs. Sometimes, being a human isn’t always easy. I would like to help make some of those things that may be troubling you easier to overcome. If you feel that life has gotten away from you or one of your loved ones, I can help to get your life back.

People often have demanding schedules throughout the day, children are busy in school, and it may be difficult to find the time to meet with someone during the morning or early afternoon hours. For your convenience, I offer late afternoon and early evening appointments during the weekday and also offer appointments on Saturday as well. To schedule an appointment, please call my office at 619-403-9399 or you can send an email directly to me at jeff@doctorzook.com. 

Well-being for modern Life.

Jeff