Bio
Credentials
Dr. Schwartz, a San Diego psychologist, combines psychotherapy, biofeedback, and hypnotherapy to maximize therapy effectiveness and create a truly “integrated practice.” He treats adolescents, adults, and elderly with a wide variety of issues. He not only uses academic/clinical training but his own personal experiences to assist people with all aspects of life’s hardships…physical and emotional.
“Over the years, I have found that integrating the physical data of biofeedback and the insight of both psychotherapy and hypnotherapy an extremely effective approach in my practice. It is my goal to use all available tools to address all sides of health…physical, emotional, cognitive, social, behavioral, and even spiritual.”
Dr. Schwartz received his Ph.D at the California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego, CA and his B.A. in Psychology at Columbia University in the City of New York.
In addition to biofeedback, he is also skilled in group and individual psychotherapy with adults, adolescents, and children. Over the years, he has provided services in the Sharp Healthcare System (Pain Rehabilitation Department; Neuropsychology Department), Scripps Clinic, Division of Mental Health (DMH), and Scripps Clinic, Division of Integrative Medicine.
Furthermore, Dr. Schwartz is certified in Advanced Hypnotherapy and finds this a very effective tool that can be added to either biofeedback or psychotherapy.
As a cancer survivor and bone marrow transplant recipient, he also provides counseling to cancer patients and works with local non-profit cancer organizations for the prevention and treatment of cancer. [please visit www.columbia.edu/cu/record/23/23/29.html]
Personal Bio
My general philosophy, in and out of session, is to “integrate” human connection, cooperation, and problem solving with physiological, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social, and spiritual understanding and exploration.
Clinically, my goal is to work hand-in-hand with clients addressing all these factors to improve mood, create more insight into life, reduce physiological discomfort, and increase overall general health and well-being. As a partner in wellness, rather than a lecturer or teacher per se, I often find that my sessions are a two-way street; with both parties learning from each other.
Surviving cancer has reinforced my personal and professional efforts concerning this “integration.” I feel the progress that I make with clients goes beyond biofeedback and/or reducing negative symptoms to where it becomes more about how can we live better, create more meaning and purpose in our lives and generate more things to look forward to, and finally, to live more in the moment rather than in the future or the past.
As cliché as this may sound, I try as much as possible to “practice what I preach.” That means being as active as I can, trying different indoor and outdoor sports; spending time with my friends, family, and my dog Sasha (who, as a therapy dog, may meet you in session if you like); but most of all I try to sit back and experience and learn about life for whatever it throws me; the good, bad, and ugly. Again, just my own personal philosophy, but if I’m just here (on this Earth) to experience life, it takes a lot of burden off of what I have to do and what I should do. And certainly helps with the question, “Why?” Such as, “Why did I get cancer?” And what is amazing to me, is that some goals in life in which the harder you try, the more you push away the solution or goal. “Letting go” may be the only solution, and if you spend some time with me; I’ll tell you what “letting go” means to me. Generally speaking, living on this planet is a never ending task (challenging but rewarding) to balance my energies between reaching goals (the future), “being in the moment” (the present), and learning (or reminiscing) about what has happened before (the past).