About Holly Gordon, DMH

Psychotherapist/Psychoanalyst

Education:
I am licensed as a psychologist. I have a Doctor of Mental Health (DMH) degree from UC Berkeley-UCSF. The DMH combined psychology and psychiatry training in two years at UC Berkeley and a three-year psychiatric residency at UCSF.

I am also a psychoanalyst, trained at San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis (SFCP). I have been in practice seeing adults, adolescents and couples for over 25 years.

Awards:
American Psychoanalytic Association Edith Sabshin Award for Excellence in Teaching

Positions Held:
Faculty and Training and Supervising Analyst, SFCP
Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, UCSF
Consultant, Baywell Psychiatry Group
Co-Chair, SFCP Extension Division Seminars
Director, SFCP Student Outreach Seminars

SFCP Committee Work:
Chair, Supervising Analyst Committee
Chair, SFCP Clinical Track, for instructors teaching clinical courses
SFCP Curriculum Committee
SFCP Curriculum Evaluation Committee
SFCP Admissions Committee

Community Service:
Consultant, Friends of the Children https://friendsofthechildren.org
Board Member, No Bully 2014-2018 https://www.nobully.org

Teaching:
I have taught case formulation, psychotherapy technique and adolescent development extensively at UCSF, CPMC, St Mary’s Hospital, SFCP Extension Division and SFCP training program for psychoanalysts

Public Speaking:

  • From Trauma to Representation and Relationship: Working with Mentors of Children in Situations of Family Violence, 2023 SFCP Child Colloquium
  • Understanding the Body in Clinical Work, 2020 Discussant, SFCP Dialogues in Contemporary Psychoanalysis
  • Building Resilience Through Relationship: Consulting to Mentors of At-Risk Children, 2019 SFCP Child Colloquium
  • Substance Abuse in an Adolescent Boy: Waking the Object, 2017 Discussant, SFCP Child Colloquium
  • Resolving Conflict in Couple Relationships, SFCP Public Lecture Series, Golden Gate Mothers’ Association, UCSF

Publications:

Gordon, H. (2022) Bringing Alpha Function to Children in the Storm of Family Violence, International Psychoanalytical Assn, Child and Adolescent Psychoanalysis Blog

VISIT SITE »

Gordon, H. (2020) Building a Bridge Out of Suffering: Using Attuned Relationships to Promote Affect Regulation with Mentors of At-Risk Children. Journal of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy. https://doi.org/10.1080/15289168.2020.1841360

Gordon, H. & DeNike, M. (2019) Solution Team: Outcomes of a Target-Centered Approach to Resolving School Bullying. Contemporary School Psychology.

Grants:
2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 Sophia Mirviss Foundation, Consulting to Friends of the Children, https://friendsofthechildren.org

Affiliations:
American Psychological Association
American Psychoanalytic Association
International Psychoanalytic Association
San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis

Testimonials
Having been the training director at UCSF for the past 18 years, I have first-hand knowledge of Psychiatry residents’ experience with Holly as a psychotherapy supervisor. She has uniformly been one of the most sought out and highly praised supervisors of psychotherapy. This is in large part due to her deep understanding of the psychotherapeutic process, and her ability to communicate this to others. This could only come from a therapist who is herself highly committed and effective.
Marc Jacobs, M.D.
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry UCSF

Dr. Holly Gordon is a wonderful teacher, a clear and careful thinker and a gifted clinician. I nominated her for a national award, the American Psychoanalytic Association Edith Sabshin Award for Teaching, because of her excellence as a teacher and program developer. I refer to her with confidence and am thrilled when she is able to accept a new patient.
Harriet Wolfe, M.D.
President, International Psychoanalytic Association
Past President, American Psychoanalytic Association
Past President, San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis
Faculty, Training and Supervising Analyst, SF Center for Psychoanalysis

As a mental health agency with a clinical training program, RAMS is always looking for master clinicians to serve as discussants and consultants for our complex clinical cases. We have had the pleasure of working with many distinguished and talented psychoanalysts who offer a wealth of clinical experience, profound theoretical knowledge, keen insight, and a gift for supportive listening. Yet, having Dr. Gordon as a consultant for our case conferences still feels like an incredible stroke of luck: not only does she embody all of these qualities, but she also has a real talent for drawing people out and encouraging their own thinking. Dr. Gordon has been participating in our case conferences for the past several years and each time the audience requests to invite her back. Her clinical wisdom and superb teaching skills are reasons enough for that, but even more importantly, the very way Dr. Gordon comes across – her respectful presence and subtle style – serves as gentle reminders of the delicate and sacred nature of our work.
Alla Volovich, Ph.D.
Director of Training RAMS, Inc. (Richmond Area Multi Services Mental Health Center)