Psy.D. Program Graduate Profiles: David Windstrom

David Windstrom

Background:
Psy.D., Wright Institute (Dissertation title: "The Effect of Sexual Orientation on Ideal vs. Perceived Body Image Discrepancy as a Measure of Body Dissatisfaction in Men and its Relationship to Shame")
BA, UC Berkeley (Communications)

David transitioned from a former career as a software engineer/computer programmer for Charles Schwab & Co. to obtain his doctorate at the Wright. He currently lives in Portland and has a passion for amateur astronomy, jazz and classical music, and hiking.

Current Work:
David maintains a private practice in Portland, Oregon, with a specialty in complex anxiety conditions involving underlying trauma. After finishing his postdoctoral residency at Kaiser-Permanente Medical Center in Santa Rosa, he worked as a staff psychologist in the Psychiatry Department for four years, providing psychotherapy and psychodiagnostic consultations. David developed one of the first group programs for Social Anxiety Disorder at Kaiser, and served on the Northern Region Best Practices Committee for the development of treatment guidelines. He also co-led the year-long anxiety treatment training seminars for postdocs at Kaiser.

I worked with a very caring, committed team that placed highest priority on providing services within a large health maintenance organization. I had the opportunity to be a patient advocate at a time when services are diminishing. I often had a direct impact on service access, enabling me to make a difference for people in great distress.

David re-located to Portland in 2005, where he provides individual and couples therapy, and teaches part-time. His website is: http://www.davidwindstrom.com.

The APA Internship:
David's APA accredited internship was with the Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital (CT), a large psychiatric hospital. He completed three rotations: psychological assessment, trauma recovery track (a partial hospitalization program for women chronically sexually abused as children), and in the locked inpatient unit.

My internship was a life-changing experience - it was the place I needed to be. There was a real commitment to mentoring and a smaller, more advantageous ratio of interns to supervisors...I was supervised by a number of people from different disciplines - from psychodynamic to behavioral orientations - so it was a very rich opportunity to interact with people from different backgrounds and philosophies. They really cared about the interns. The training director was a brilliant clinician and a fine teacher who blended the masculine and feminine, the intuitive and analytic - well matched for me.

About the Wright:

The Case Conference was very important, with an outstanding leader. The format provided a good balance of didactic learning, case supervision, and attention to individual issues that emerged from the clinical work. The opportunity to form important supportive bonds within a small community seemed unique to the Wright.

I chose the Wright because it was APA accredited, and offered a sense of community, a tradition of social responsibility, and a firm underpinning in psychodynamic theory balanced with an eclectic exposure to other disciplines.

David's practica included a third year placement at the Westside Crisis and Outpatient Clinic, formerly providing culturally competent mental health and other social services to San Francisco residents with a focus on African American and other minority communities. His second year practica was at San Leandro Community Counseling, and the first year at Institute for Labor and Mental Health.

All three practica were important experiences with crisis work, child and family oriented work, and work-stress related counseling.