Kristopher Lichtanski

My education and training in clinical psychology began in Poland, where I was born and raised. I studied psychology at a graduate level there and completed clinical internships at the Demianowski Psychiatric Hospital, the J. Korczak Children Hospital, and the Rehabilitation Department of Wroclaw University Health Center (working with young adults undergoing rehabilitation following body-disfigurement trauma). Upon relocation to the San Francisco Bay Area, I received BA degree Summa cum Laude from San Jose State University, MA degree from New College of California, and Ph.D. degree from Capella University. My clinical placements here include University of California, San Francisco - AIDS Health Project; San Francisco Alternative Family Project; New College of California Counseling Center, City College of San Francisco Psychological Services, University of San Francisco Counseling and Psychological Services Center, and private practice settings.

Prior to joining Saybrook, I served for eight years as Core Faculty in the Graduate School of Psychology at New College of California, where I taught a range of graduate courses, mentored MA theses, and held appointments as Field Placement Director and later as Assistant Dean. I was also Lead Instructor for the "Consciousness and Imagination" and the "Social Construction of Identity" seminars in the School of Humanities at New College. Over the years, I held appointments as Adjunct Faculty at City College of San Francisco (Behavioral Sciences Department), University of San Francisco (Department of Community and Mental Health), and Northcentral University (Department of Psychology); I also served as Interim Training Coordinator at the University of San Francisco Counseling and Psychological Services Center, and as Core Faculty and Vice-President of Lutecium Psychoanalytic Group, dedicated to Lacanian psychoanalytic formation from a contemporary interdisciplinary perspective.

My primary research and clinical interests focus on multicultural psychology and psychotherapy (migration and acculturation in particular), psychology of gender identity and sexual orientation, psychology of family systems (blended families, alternative families, adoptions, parenting), life transitions, trauma recovery, stress management, chronic illness, and psychoneuroimmunology.

My current academic interests intersect psychology, philosophy (both East and West), cultural anthropology, and the humanities, and center around the psychology of individual differences, social construction of identity, consciousness and creativity, subjectivity, and healing practices across history and cultures.

Apart from psychology, I studied music and theater for many years. I am a professionally trained classical pianist and choral singer with II degree Music Diploma, and I performed in several contemporary theater productions both in Poland and the US. I currently reside in beautiful western part of Washington State.