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Alexis Hershfield, EdM, PhD

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST –

PSY 33723

Dr. Alexis Hershfield is a clinical psychologist primarily specializing in treating anxiety and related disorders including Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Perinatal OCD, Social Phobia, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD), Specific Phobia, Body-Focused behaviors (BFRBs), depression, and life stressors. She is extensively trained in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Habit Reversal Training (HRT), and Exposure-Response Prevention (ERP). She also utilizes third wave CBT interventions including mindfulness and acceptance-based therapies.

Dr. Hershfield has trained across service settings and has provided assessment and interventions to children, adolescents, and adults. She has a special interest in addressing the unique mental health needs of women––particularly before, during, and after pregnancy. She is passionate about bringing science-backed interventions to the perinatal and maternal community and providing compassion-focused, flexible treatment to women.

Dr. Hershfield earned her M.A. and Ph.D. from the California School of Professional Psychology. She also holds a master’s degree in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She completed her predoctoral internship at Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services (Child and Family Track) and her postdoctoral fellowship at the Southern California OCD & Anxiety Program.

You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.

Training

  • Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2020-2022): OCD & Anxiety Program of Southern California
  • Pre-Doctoral Internship (2019-2020): Child and Family Track, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services

Education

  • PhD (2020): Clinical Psychology (Family Track), California School of Professional Psychology
  • MA (2007): Clinical Psychology, California School of Professional Psychology
  • EdM (2013): Human Development and Psychology, Harvard University
  • BA (2010): McGill University

Publications

  • Hershfield, A. (2019, September). Courtship 2.0: Uncoupling in the social media era. In Alliant International University ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. 2020. 27542510
  • Hershfield, A. (2018, September). Loyalties in families. In Encyclopedia of Couples and Family Therapy. (Vol. 1). New York, NY: Springer.
  • Hershfield, A. (2018, September). Norman Paul. In Encyclopedia of Couples and Family Therapy. (Vol. 1). New York, NY: Springer.
  • Hershfield, A. (2016, Fall). It’s complicated: The social lives of networked teens [Review of the book It’s complicated: The social lives of networked teens, by D. boyd]. The Family Psychologist. 32 (3), 32-33.
  • Hershfield, A. (2016, February 20). Baby Blues. APA Division 35 FEMPOP.
  • Hershfield, A. (2015, December 10). Teenage Anxiety and Emotional Disorders in Female Youth (2). APA Division 35 FEMPOP.
  • Hershfield, A. (2014, June 13). Teenage Anxiety and Emotional Disorders in Female Youth (1). DrDina.ca.
  • Hershfield, A. (2014, May 3). Do I have ADHD? DrDina.ca.

Scholarly and Community Presentations

  • Wegner, B., Tootell, A., Hershfield, A., & Hamel, J. (2020, August). Implementation and fidelity to Managing and Adapting Practices (MAP) at a community mental health setting. Talk presented to Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services executive team and Research and Evaluation Division, Inglewood, CA.
  • Hershfield, A. (2019, May). Assessment and intervention of pediatric OCD in community mental health settings. Talk presented to Didi Hirsch Child and Family Services, Glendale, CA.
  • Hershfield, A., & Park, D. (2019, March). Suicide prevention in school settings. Talk presented to the Santa Clarita School District Division of School Counsellors, Santa Clarita, CA.
  • Wang, P., Gersh, J., Hershfield, A., & Anderson, N. (2016, August). Mindfulness as a predictor for depression in young adults. Poster presented at the American Psychological Association Conference, Denver, CO. 
  • Wang, P., Hershfield, A., Gersh, J., Baveda, K., Asarnow, L., Berk, M., Avina, C., & Asarnow, J. (2016, August). Sleep disturbance in youths with severe suicidality & repetitive self-harm. Poster presented at the American Psychological Association Conference, Denver, CO. 
  • Hershfield, A.& Salerno, B. (2016, May). A model of problematic Internet use in adolescents. Poster presented at the California School of Professional Psychology Student Research Conference,   Alhambra, CA.
  • Gersh, J., Hershfield, A., Wang, P., & Anderson, N. (2016, April). Sleep disturbance in youths with severe suicidality & repetitive self-harm: Is sleep disturbance a marker of elevated risk? Poster presented at the California Psychological Association, Irvine, CA.
  • Hershfield, A., Wang, P., Gersh, J., & Anderson, N. (2016, April). Life stress and daily hassles in NSSI and disordered eating in young adults. Poster presented at the California Psychological Association Conference, Irvine, CA.
  • Hershfield, A., Ricci, T., & Goodman, A. (2015, August). Millenial generation: Unique clinical issues in family psychology. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association Conference, Toronto, ON.
  • Hershfield, A., Ricci, T., & Bell, T. (2015, August). MOVE: A proposed intervention for combating internalizing disorders in affluent girls. Poster presented at the American Psychological Association Conference, Toronto, ON.
  • Hershfield, A. (2015, April). An examination of early onset bipolar disorder. Poster presented at the Family, Child & Couple Conference of Southern California, Pasadena, CA.
  • Ellis A., Hershfield, A., & Vora P. (2015, April). Frontal asymmetry and distress tolerance in adolescent mood disorders. Poster presented at the American Anxiety and Depression Conference, Miami, FL.
  • Hershfield, A. (2013, April). The Digital age and how parents of today are coping. Paper presented at the Harvard Graduate School of Education Student Research Conference, Cambridge, MA.