Faculty Profile: Doris Bersing

San Francisco and Sausalito Rotary Club- April-May 2010. Aging in Place

2010 Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit. June 15-16, 2010. Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA - High Tech - High Touch: Eldercare in the XXI Century

Aging in America, the 2011 Annual Conference of the American Society on Aging- April 2011. High Tech - High Touch: An Approach to Aging in Place

1984 – 1988 PhD Clinical Psychology – Honorable mention. Research on Gestalt Therapy,
Personalization, and Crises. Universite De Toulouse-Le Mirail – France

1982 – 1984 M.A. in Psychology, major in Clinical Psychology and
Education. Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail – France

1980 – 1982 M.A in Professional Counseling, major in Humanistic and Existential Theories.
Centro de Entrenamiento en Psicoterapia y Educacion – Venezuela

1977 – 1980 M.A in Transactional Analysis and Body Oriented Approaches. Psicogrupo; Spain, Venezuela-, Brasil.

1971 – 1977 Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (Licentiate in Psychology). Honoris Cum Laude
Universidad Catolica Andres Bello – Venezuela
 

2009 - Present Living Well Assisted Living at Home – President and Founder

• Design and founded Living Well, a company to provide individualized care to elders at home.
• Serve as the president of the Board providing ongoing advise and implementing best practices in senior care
• Perform assessments and psychological evaluations as needed for difficult cases

2004 - Present Saybrook University - San Francisco, CA

Teaching Faculty & Director of Clinical Training

• Director of Clinical Training and Teaching Faculty for different clinical courses
• Instructor for Gero-Psychology, Counseling Skills, special populations seminars &
• Psychopathology courses.
• Designed syllabus, reader, and coursework materials, taught courses.

2002-Present California Institute Of Integral Studies (CIIS)- San Francisco, CA

Graduate School of Professional Counseling- Adjunct Faculty

• Designing programs on Gero-psychology
• Instructor for Aging and Cross Cultural Psychology & Professional Ethics and Family Law.
• Designed syllabus, reader, and coursework materials, taught courses.

1979- Present Private Practice and Consultant in Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy and Geropsychology.

United States, Europe, Caribbean, and South America

• Performed Psychological and Forensic Evaluations.
• Developed and provided comprehensive psychological services for seniors including: crisis intervention; short and long-term psychotherapy; alcohol and drug counseling; support in transitional placements and ongoing support for institutional living, groups; elderly counseling; psychotherapy and support services for victims of crime, and torture survivors.
• Administered and supervised intensive psychotherapy programs and cases using
• different humanistic approaches (cognitive-behavioral, Gestalt, Psychodrama and
• others) to promote self-esteem and personal growth.
• Designed responsive and comprehensive programs for women dealing with abuse and
• gender issues (domestic violence, abuse, incest, self-esteem, sexual identity)

• Expert witness for the U.S Supreme Court in Political Asylum and Domestic Violence matters. U.S. 1995- ongoing.

• Member of Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects from Research Risks. Center for Applied Local Research- Cal Research- CA-USA

• Advisory Council for the UCSF Collaboration (Institute of Health & Aging; School of Medicine and the National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health; and Lesbian Health Research Center)

• Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland-- Department of Psychiatry- Advisory Board member

Bersing Doris – Maturity Matters, January 2009- High Tech-High Touch: Eldercare in the XXI Century

Bersing Doris- Aging Today, Nov. 2008. Feminism and Ageism.

Bersing Doris- Aging Today, Feb. 2006- the person behind the label of Dementia.

S.D. Taylor and D.S. Bersing. Integration of Vocational Services within Women and Children's Treatment. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Policies, Protocols, and Treatment Modalities. US CSAT, 2000.

Book - Self Esteem For Women: Utopia or Truth in the New Age. (1995) Caracas-VZLA

Book - Living: A Fragile Equilibrium. Comparative Study in Gestalt Therapy and Personnalisation (1994) Holos XXI Ed. Venezuela.

Book CHAPTER - Gestalt Therapy and Cognitive Therapy. Luz Colina et al UCV Pub. Caracas-VZLA.

Gestalt Therapy and Personnalisation. Université de Toulouse le Mirail. Puf Fr. Ed. 2/ 1989.

Academic performance and Gestalt Therapy. Puf Fr. Ed. 8/1986.

Dominga and the visitor: Cancer Today. "Ultimas Noticias". Caracas, 1981.

• Expert witness for the U.S Supreme Court in Political Asylum and Domestic Violence
  matters. U.S. 1995- ongoing.
  Member of Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects from
  Research Risks. Center for Applied Local Research- Cal Research- CA-USA 2001-2007
• Expert witness for the U.S Supreme Court in Political Asylum and Domestic Violence
  matters. U.S. 1995- ongoing.
  • Member of Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects from
  Research Risks. Center for Applied Local Research- Cal Research- CA-USA 2001-2007
• Presenter at the Professional Fiduciary Association of California Fall Conference. High Tech-High Touch: Eldercare in the XXI Century. Santa Rosa, CA November 8, 2009
• Presenter at the National Council on the Aging (NCOA) and the American Society onAging (ASA). Aging Women, dementia Care, and sensitivity training. Washington, D.C 2008.
• Presenter at the Institute on Aging. Educational Conference on topics of aging women and effective approaches to Dementia care.
• National Council on the Aging (NCOA) and the American Society on Aging (ASA). Anaheim, California 2006
• Presenter at the SF Senior Roundtable- baby Boomers and their psychological needs-2006
• Designer and moderator of the Daring to Age Well Series. San Francisco- 2006
• Presenter at the AGHE Annual Meeting and Educational Leadership Conference is the premier national forum for discussing ideas and issues in gerontological and geriatric education. Indianapolis, Indiana. 2006
• Presenter at the 2005 Towards a New Shift on Aging at San Francisco State University.
• Presenter at the 2004 WHO-Renee Cassini Conference in Montreal "Ageing Well". Papers on dementia and Aging for Baby Boomers.
• Presenter at the Future of Medicine Conference -Holistic Health at SFSU - October 2004
• Presenter at the 2004 Residential Care Facilities Conference. San Francisco, CA. January 2004
• Consultant for Substance Abuse non-profit organizations in developing appropriate services. Marin Services for Women, Larkspur, CA 2003-2006
• Presenter at the 4th Annual Conference for Homelessness and Women’s Issues in Residential Care. San Francisco & Bay Area, CA 2000.
• Presenter at the 3rd Annual Conference for Perinatal Homeless Issues in residential Treatment. Oakland, CA 1999.
• Address at the 2008 Annual Meeting Vedanta Society of Northern California. Yoga and Psychology. Olema, CA.May 1998.
• Address in the 7th Annual Conference International Society for the Study of Energy Medicine. Boulder, CO. Healing the Soul: Vibrational Medicine in Psychotherapy. 06/1997
• Address in the 34th Annual Conference AHP. Tacoma, WA: A new perspective in Psychology of Women. August 14-19, 1996.
• Lecturer at the Learning Annex Public programs. Alternative Therapies for Emotional Well-being. San Francisco, CA. July 1996.
• Presenter at 74th Conferencia de la Sociedad Venezolana de Psiquiatria. (Venezuelan Socisty of Psychiatry) Caracas-Venezuela. 1992.
• Keynote Speaker at XX Encuentro Interdisciplinario de Psycologia Aplicada a La Medicina. Buenos Aires- Argentina. 1991.
• Keynote Speaker at Mujeres detras las barras. Barcelona, España. December 1990.
• Presenter at II Encuentro Interdisciplinario para el avance de la medicina alternativa. San Juan-Puerto Rico 1989.
• Presenter at La Société Française de Gestalt: IV Journées d’étude. Paris, France. 1988.
• Présenter at La Société Française de Gestalt: I Journées d’étude. Bordeaux, France.1984.
• Presenter at the Second Interdisciplinary Encounter on Cognitive Development and Treatment Options. Caracas- Venezuela 1975.

• Feminism and Ageism
• Humanistic and Existential Therapies to address the so called mental illnesses
• Unusual states of consciousness including schizophrenia and other psychosis
• Best practices to address people with dementia
• Gero-psychology
• Psychopharmacology for the elder
• Aging and Long Term Care
• Gender Issues

I enjoyed mentoring Saybrook students who are interested in humanistic-existential psychology research.

As Director of Clinical Training, I am available to help students plan their clinical training while at Saybrook. This would include discussion of the student’s eventual professional goals and the most appropriate practicum and internship training sites to facilitate reaching their goals. For students who decide to approach an agency without a preexisting training program and construct a program, we can discuss the desired components such a program and career implications of the various choices.

Research Expertise Rating Guide:

1. studied in a class or have read intensively on my own
2. special training in the form of a workshop or equivalent
3. taught a class in, or supervised research using this method (research practicum, on a dissertation or master's committee
4. used in research myself
5. published or presented at conferences my research using this method

Methods Traditionally Considered As Quantitative (But Need Not Be)

Methods That Could Use Quantitative Or Qualitative Methods

Methods Primarily Associated With Qualitative Research (But May Also Use Quantitative)

Types of Analysis