DEBORAH CAROL SCHILLER, Ph.D.
814 Willowglen Rd.
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
(805) 284-8824 (phone)
(805) 563-9058 (fax)
dcschiller@cox.net
EDUCATION and CREDENTIALS
Licensed Psychologist, (2003). PSY 19411.
Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles, California (1991). Individual and Family Clinical Psychology proficiency.
M.A., Clinical Psychology, California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles, California (1989).
Master of Professional Writing, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California (1985). Specialization in screenwriting.
B.A., cum laude, Pomona College, Claremont, California (1977) in English Literature.
AWARDS
Legacy Award for Distinguished Clinical Service from the Santa Barbara County Psychological Association (2020).
Nominated for Best Dissertation Award, California School of Professional Psychology (1991).
Grant from The Society for The Psychological Study of Social Issues, a division of APA, to support my dissertation research (1990).
California School of Professional Psychology Research Award (1989).
CLINICAL EXPERIENCES
PRIVATE PRACTICE, Santa Barbara, California (January 1, 2006 – present). Provided individual, couple and family therapy as part of a general practice, with an emphasis on anxious or depressed adults who may be stuck in relationship quagmires, parenting, helping women form healthy relationships with their mothers and children, and the concerns of artists.
REGISTERED PSYCHOLOGIST, C.A.L.M. (Child Abuse Listening & Mediation), Santa Barbara, California (July 2001-July 2002). Clinical supervisor for the Family Thriving Program, a research project examining the prevention of child abuse, funded by the National Institutes of Health and administered through CALM and the Interdisciplinary Program in Human Development at UCSB. Provided individual and family therapy to clients with unusually traumatic histories of child abuse and/or domestic violence. Taught parenting classes for voluntary and court-referred clients. Initiated a pilot advanced parenting class. Served as parenting specialist for the Great Beginnings home visitation team. Coordinated initial intensive training program for new home visitors in the Great Beginnings program and Family Thriving Program. Conducted intakes and wrote assessment reports.
REGISTERED PSYCHOLOGIST, Family Life Counseling Service, Santa Maria, California (September 1999-March 2001). Treated clients who were court-referred for substance abuse and domestic violence. Provided individual and family therapy to an ethnically diverse, primarily low-income population. Most clients had substance abuse and child abuse histories and a high degree of psychopathology. Led a women’s group. Interfaced with probation and various social service agencies.
POST-DOCTORAL INTERN, Early Childhood Center, Thalians Mental Health Center, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California. (September 1996-August 1998). Co-led mother-toddler group focusing on healthy attachment and normal development. Observed mother-toddler dyads. Made clinical interventions to promote healthy separation. Received training in infant and toddler development and in Warmline protocols. Provided assistance to parents via the Warmline. Attended case conferences and staff meetings.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCES
CONSULTANT. Provided suggestions for recommended training for home visitors, and for supervisors of home visitors, to representatives from Johns Hopkins University and the state of Hawaii for a pilot program implementing the experimental condition of the Family Thriving Program statewide in Hawaii, with particular emphasis on maintaining fidelity of program implementation and avoiding drift (November 2005).
CLINICAL SUPERVISOR, Family Thriving Program, a research project examining the prevention of child abuse, funded by the National Institutes of Health and administered through CALM and the Interdisciplinary Program in Human Development at UCSB (July 2001-December 2005). The overall goal of the project was reducing the incidence of child abuse in families with newborns having mild to moderate medical problems, using a home visitation approach and an attributional manipulation in one experimental condition. Responsible for monitoring the fidelity of program implementation, supervising home visitors, creating a resource handbook, and arranging in-service training for home visitors. Daphne Bugental, Ph.D., Principal Investigator.
DISSERTATION, “The Effect of Additional Context on The Usage of Moral Orientation in The Measurement of Moral Reasoning: An Examination of Sex Differences” (1991). Conducted a study investigating sex bias in Lawrence Kohlberg’s instrument to measure moral reasoning as well as Carol Gilligan’s claim that context influences moral orientation use.
RESEARCH ASSISTANT, Brentwood Veterans Administration Medical Center, Los Angeles, California (1989). Participated in the development of a behavioral scale to assess skill acquisition among participants in a research project on Behavioral Family Therapy with veterans with schizophrenia and their families. The overall goal of the project was examining the relationship between skill acquisition and outcome in schizophrenia. Shirley Glynn, Ph.D., Supervisor.
RESEARCH ASSISTANT, Brentwood Veterans Administration Medical Center, Los Angeles, California (1988). Rated Camberwell Family Interview (CFI) tapes for relatives' perceptions of incidents precipitating hospitalization of mentally ill patients. Shirley Glynn, Ph.D., Supervisor.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES
MEMBER, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (2007-present): Served as Member-at-Large, attended Board meetings, contributed ideas to revise SBCPA website content and increase membership.
SCREENWRITER (1986): Collaborated with Robert Pirosh, an Academy-Award winning screenwriter, on an original screenplay.
MEMBER, BOARD OF TRUSTEES (1984-86): Windward School, Los Angeles, California. Elected to position of Faculty Trustee. Participated in budgetary and long-range planning and formulation of educational and philosophical policy.
TEACHER (1979-86): Windward School, Los Angeles, California. Taught Advanced Placement English literature and expository writing, cultural anthropology, math, debate and women's studies to junior and senior high school students.
PRESENTATIONS
“Why Are We So Crazy about Food?” at University of California, Santa Barbara, Academic Staff and Assistance Program. This lively presentation on the psychology of food examines an assortment of fascinating food issues, including mindless eating, hyper-palatability, the question of food addiction, and the obesity epidemic in the US. Cheesecake-eating rats, supertasters, picky eaters, and food restricters are also explored. Research, clinical and anecdotal material is included (January 23, 2019).
“How to Be a Better Camp Counselor,” training at Camp Haverim, Santa Barbara. This talk presents basic skills for counselors, including how to create safety and belonging for campers, model positive behaviors, encourage cooperation, set limits, and process and solve difficult situations. (July 11, 2018 and July 7, 2017).
“Increasing Children’s Resilience through The Healing Power of Story,” at the Santa Barbara County Psychological Association salon for continuing education. This talk offers experiential and didactic training in how adults can increase a child’s resilience when the child experiences loss, trauma, separation, or a difficult or painful change. Topics include the easy-to-learn technique of constructing a narrative, and making a Little Book, for a child who is suffering. This technique is one way psychologists can increase a child’s resilience and support parents and other significant adults in a child’s life (teachers, grandparents, caregivers) when that child faces a difficult or painful change. This class has value even for psychologists who work exclusively with adults. My talk draws on narrative psychology and first-hand clinical experience. I demonstrate with case material how this technique can be healing to children and reparative for adults. Examples of Little Books will be displayed and discussed (February 26, 2016).
“Therapeutic Assessment as Psychotherapy Consultation,” presented by Steve Smith, Ph.D. and Deborah C. Schiller, Ph.D. This presentation described a three-year study conducted at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where patients in ongoing psychotherapy were offered Therapeutic Assessment (TA) in a consultation model and feedback was provided to patients and therapists in a joint feedback session. I presented the case study to highlight the TA technique and discussed my perspective as referring therapist, participant in the research and witness to the feedback session and the effects of the feedback session on the client and the progress of the therapy (January 10, 2014).
“Non-Academic Career Options,” presentation at University of California at Santa Barbara Women’s Center. This informal talk included a summary of my career path, decision-making and the possibilities of being an entrepreneur as well as answering questions from the audience of UCSB students (November 3, 2011).
“On Shaky Ground: A Narrative of Special Needs, Counter-transference, and Clinical Decision-making in the Treatment of A Client with Parkinson’s Disease,” presentation at Psychiatric Grand Rounds at Cottage Hospital. This case conference (a reading from a chapter) narrates some clinical interactions with a client with Parkinson’s disease. The narrative focuses on the therapist’s process of decision-making in the face of perplexing Parkinsonian symptoms. The narrative highlights counter-transference issues that can be used to guide treatment planning for clients with special needs. Some basic knowledge of Parkinson’s disease is presented (November 10, 2010).
“On the Edge: A Narrative of Domestic Violence, Counter-transference and Clinical Decision-making,” presentation to interns and staff at New Beginnings Counseling Center, Santa Barbara (June 14, 2010). This case conference (a reading from a chapter) narrates a cliff-hanger of a psychotherapy client facing life-threatening problems. The narrative emphasizes counter-transference issues, and trauma and treatment considerations in very complex, challenging circumstances.
“On Shaky Ground: A Narrative of Special Needs, Counter-transference, and Clinical Decision-making in the Treatment of A Client with Parkinson’s Disease,” presentation at the Santa Barbara County Psychological Association salon for continuing education (October 30, 2009).
“The Seven Principles for Making Long-Term Relationships Work,” presentation to faculty and staff at the University of California at Santa Barbara’s Learn-at-Lunch program. Based on psychologist John Gottman’s 35 years of research on couples, this presentation examines how to develop an emotionally intelligent relationship, which enables partners to keep negative thoughts and feelings (which all couples have) from overwhelming positive ones. This presentation also explains the difference between solvable and perpetual problems (and how to manage each more successfully), the secret of happy couples (making and receiving repair attempts), the crucial difference between complaints and criticism, and the five predictors of divorce and their antidotes (May 6, 2009).
“Siblings’ Experiences with Childhood Cancer,” presentation to a parent support group of recent research, Cancer Center, Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara. Presentation included interactive discussion with parents about family issues between parents, ill children and their healthy siblings. (March 11, 2009).
“Increasing Your Child’s Resilience through the Power of Story,” presentation to parents at Discoveries Learning Center, Santa Barbara. This talk offers experiential and didactic training in how adults can increase a child’s resilience when the child experiences loss, trauma, separation, or a difficult or painful change. Topics include the easy-to-learn technique of constructing a narrative, and making a Little Book, for a child who is suffering (May 21. 2008).
“The Story of Alex: Treatment of a Survivor,” case conference presentation at the Hosford Counseling and Psychological Services Clinic, University of California at Santa Barbara. Presentation discussed the highlights of treatment of an unusual client, including past physical and sexual abuse, focusing on controversial symptoms (current domestic violence, suicidality, homicidality, hospitalization, and reportedly being hit by lightning and possessing psychic powers etc.) and the creation of an appropriate treatment plan addressing these symptoms. Additional topics include transference and countertransference issues in treatment (March 11, 2008).
“Increasing Your Child’s Resilience through the Power of Story,” presentation to parents at Starr-King Parent-Child Workshop, Santa Barbara. (March 10, 2008).
“Managing Stress for Parents of A Child with Cancer, with Particular Focus on the Marital Unit,” presentation for and facilitation of a parent support group, Cancer Center, Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara. Interactive discussion with parents, including identifying stressors, quantifying stress levels of actual group members as well as experiential process of members noticing their own priorities and value judgments about self-care, when parenting a child with cancer, and how those value judgments and other life demands tend to undermine the attempt to take care of oneself. Other topics include identifying favorite ways to relax and nourish oneself and how to go about taking care of one’s own needs when facing a life-threatening illness in one’s child. Specific time and attention are given to parents’ tendencies to argue over who is working harder to help the ill child and how gender roles and individual personalities tend to influence parents’ ability to take care of themselves, both individually and as a couple (October 3, 2007).
“Is A Child in Your Life Hurting? Learn How to Increase Your Child’s Resilience through The Power of Story,” workshop through Santa Barbara City College, Adult Education program. Designed for parents, grandparents, therapists, teachers, caregivers and friends of young children, this workshop offers both experiential and didactic training in how adults can increase a child’s resilience when the child experiences loss, trauma, separation, or a difficult or painful change. Topics include the easy-to-learn technique of constructing a narrative, and making a Little Book, for a child who is suffering. Examples, materials, opportunity and support are provided, and class members make their own Little Books to take home for immediate use and healing. Especially helpful for issues of children aged 2-7, but adaptable for older children as well (September 29, 2007)
“The Story of Alex: Treatment of a Survivor,” case conference presentation at the Student Counseling Center, Student Health Services, University of California at Santa Barbara. (October 3, 2006).
“Full of Ourselves: Advancing Girl Power, Health and Leadership,” presentation and ongoing elective class for 6th, 7th and 8th grade girls at Santa Barbara Middle School, with Noemi Doohan, M.D. Developed by professionals at Harvard Medical School, this research-validated program helps girls stay healthy and confident by teaching them healthy attitudes and behaviors about eating, exercise and body image. Topics include self and body acceptance, media literacy and ways to counter unhealthy media messages, responding to teasing and bullying based on weight, techniques for dealing with stress, nutrition basics, the power of positive thinking and action, and the importance of healthy relationships. Participants develop leadership skills by designing and leading activities for younger girls (September 2006-December 2006).
“Developmental Milestones of Infants, Toddlers and Young Children,” identifying and explaining the cognitive, emotional and physical landmarks of human development and their interrelationship, presented to the home visitors in the Family Thriving Program at UCSB (October, 2003).
“How to Help Infants and Toddlers Be Better Sleepers,” focusing on recommended sleep routines and parental interventions based on sleep research and an attachment perspective, presented to home visitors in the Great Beginnings team and Family Thriving Program at Child Abuse Listening & Mediation (November 13, 2001).
“Attachment Theory, Temperament, and Opportunity Creation for Infants,” presented as part of a training program for new home visitors in the Family Thriving Program and Great Beginnings program at
Child Abuse Listening & Mediation (September 26, 2001).
814 Willowglen Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93105 | PH (805) 284-8824 | dcs@drdeborahschiller.com Home