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Joel L. Becker, Ph.D.,
Clinical Director  Joel
L. Becker, Ph.D. received his doctorate in 1977 from the University of
Georgia. He did his internship at the Massachusetts Mental Health
Center where he was a Clinical Fellow in Psychology in the Department
of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Becker founded Behavior
Associates and The Boston Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy in
the late 1970’s. These were the early years of Cognitive-Behavior
Therapy and Dr. Becker studied and interacted with the early leaders
and pioneers in the field (e.g. Aaron Beck, Albert Ellis, B.F. Skinner
and others). He was active in the early years of his professional
association serving as chair of several important committees including
Professional Issues. During his years in Boston, Dr. Becker was on the
clinical faculty of Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts School of
Professional Psychology, the Veteran’s Administration and several
psychoanalytical institutes (as a consulting CBT practitioner).
Dr. Becker moved to the Los Angeles area in 1990
to assume the position of Co-Director to the Center for Cognitive
Therapy in Beverly Hills. In addition to his responsibilities at the
center, Dr. Becker has remained very active in the training of new
clinicians. He is currently an Associate Clinical Professor in the
Department of Psychology at UCLA and a Clinical Associate at USC where
he teaches and supervises doctoral candidates in psychology. Also, he
holds an appointment as an Assistant Clinical Professor in the
Department of Psychiatry and Bio-Behavioral Sciences at the Geffen
School of Medicine at UCLA where he teaches and supervises psychiatric
residents.
Dr. Becker was a visiting professor during the
1999-2000 academic year at the University of Parma and at the
University of Florence, Italy. In Italy he was involved in training
graduate students in Cognitive-Behavior Therapy. During that year he
also attended L’instituto per L’arte and Restauro where he received a
certificate in Trompe L’Oiel and mural painting. Jayson L. Mystkowski, Ph.D., Associate Clinical Director
 Dr.
Jayson L. Mystkowski received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from
UCLA and his B.A. in Psychology from Northwestern University. At UCLA,
where he is currently an Assistant Clinical Professor, Dr. Mystkowski
acquired a strong foundation in the application of behavior theories to
the understanding and treatment of anxiety disorders, and has published
several papers on this topic. His clinical training is diverse, with
time spent on anxiety treatment studies at UCLA, practicum and
post-doctoral training at the West LA VA, an internship at UCLA Student
Psychological Services, and a Psychological Assistantship under Dr. Joel
Becker, before becoming Associate Clinical Director of Cognitive
Behavior Associates in December, 2005. While trained as a generalist,
Dr. Mystkowski mainly practices within a cognitive-behavioral framework
specializing in the treatment of adults with anxiety and mood disorders,
relational problems and phase of life transitions. In addition, he has
special training in the psychological treatment of Irritable Bowel
Syndrome (IBS), crisis intervention, as well as an extensive background
working with LGBT clients. Dr. Mystkowski currently has openings for
individual therapy clients, in addition to openings in several therapy
groups: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Support Group, Social Anxiety Group, and Gay Men’s Support Group. Dr.
Mystkowski is able to offer his clients flexible hours (including
evenings), a reasonable sliding scale, and he accepts
Medicare. Dr. Mystkowski is also a Diplomate of the Academy of Cognitive
Therapy, as a certified Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist.
Click here to see Dr. Mystkowski's book chapter on problems with phobia treatment
Click here to see Dr. Mystkowski's book chapter on improving phobia treatment
Click here to see Dr. Mystkowski's article on CBT for Panic Disorder
Click here to read Dr. Mystkowski's brief article on Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Pamela D. Elfenbaum, Ph.D.
Dr. Pamela Elfenbaum received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from USC, her Masters in Public Health from UCLA, and her B.A. in Psychology from UC Berkeley. Dr. Elfenbaum completed her internship at UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services and a post-doctoral fellowship at Loyola Marymount University. Dr. Elfenbaum also received specialized training in Mind/Body Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and also completed couples training through the Gottman Institute. She has extensive research and consulting experience in evidenced based practices, binge drinking and tobacco and other drug use, and health promotion and prevention programs. Her clinical experience is wide-ranging including training at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Center, and Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Elfenbaum uses a CBT focus and specializes in treatment of adults with anxiety and mood disorders, couples/relationships, stress management (e.g. sleep, work or family life distress, work/life balance) and mind/body medicine. Dr. Elfenbaum currently has openings for individual therapy clients and will be starting a sleep group shortly. Dr. Elfenbaum is able to offer flexible therapy hours.  Click here to download Dr. Elfenbaum's CV
Melissa M. Magaro, Ph.D.  Dr. Magaro received her B.A. from the Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon. Dr. Magaro completed Ph.D. in clinical psychology, in 2008, at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where she worked with Dr. John Weisz and Dr. Michelle Craske receiving comprehensive training in the assessment and treatment of emotional disorders. She completed a one year APA-accredited internship at UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and went on to complete a one year post-doctoral fellowship at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center specializing in evidence-base treatment for severe mental illness. Dr. Magaro has extensive training in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). She was recently named a Beck Scholar, an honor that affords her the opportunity to train with leaders in the field at the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research. Additionally, Dr. Magaro remains active in research, training and clinical supervision as part of her commitment to the dissemination of evidence-based treatments. Dr. Magaro has worked with Dr. Joel Becker and CBA for the past three years specializing in the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders.
Click here to download Dr. Magaro's CV
Rusty A. Wiggs, Executive Director
Rusty A. Wiggs is the Executive Director of the Cognitive Behavior Therapy Institute and Cognitive Behavior Associates. Mr. Wiggs has a diverse background having graduated from California State University at Northridge with a major in Film and T.V. production. He handles the administrative matters for the practice. Mr. Gilberto Quiroz Jr., Administrative Assistant
Mr. Quiroz just completed his first year at UCLA as a pre-med Physiological Sciences major. In high-school Mr. Quiroz was a varsity athlete, President and gold-medalist of his Academic Decathlon team and very active within the academic community. Gilbert manages all of the day-to day-operations at our practice and is in charge of website design and marketing.
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