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My Therapy Approach

My therapy approach is open and honest. I show up as both a human and psychologist, and do not emphasize a professional power hierarchy. Thus, my clients often tell me that they feel invited to ask questions when they wonder what I am thinking. I use cognitive behavioral therapy and draw upon feminist, multicultural and psychodynamic theories as well. I am a strong advocate for racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality and rights, and human rights more broadly. I am not value neutral on such topics.

My Training

I completed my PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in August of 2017. I then completed my predoctoral clinical internship at VA Eastern Colorado Denver VAMC and my postdoctoral fellowship in eating disorders at EDCare of Denver. I have been honored to receive excellent clinical training in evidence based psychotherapies, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. Additionally, I have completed training on complex trauma through the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. I pursued my PhD after completing a BA in Psychology with Honors at the University of Chicago (where I also minored in Music).

Areas of Expertise

  • disordered eating

  • relational distress

  • couples

  • LGBTQ+ health

  • women’s health

  • trauma and PTSD

  • health at every size®

  • depression

  • anxiety

  • grief

  • body distress

  • gender and identity

My Research:

My scholarship most broadly centers disordered eating as a social justice issue that is fueled by all types of oppression, including, but not limited to, racism, sizeism, sexism, cisism, ableism, classism, and healthism. I use mostly qualitative methods with some mixed methods approaches in my research to center the voices of those too often not heard regarding their experiences of disordered eating and body distress. My areas of scholarly and clinical specialization include disordered eating, body distress, LGBTQ+ health, trauma, and anti-weight stigma. I am a small-bodied, white, able-bodied, queer, and Jewish person doing this work and aim to leverage my power and privilege, while acknowledging the limitations of my positionalities in seeing the vast range of issues connected to my areas of work. See http://portfolio.du.edu/Lisa.Brownstone for more information about my scholarship.