ABOUT DR. FISHKIN

Gerald Loren Fishkin

OFFICE ADDRESS: 5855 East Naples Plaza, Suite 303, Long Beach, CA 90803

 

EDUCATION

1967 California State University, Long Beach, Psychology/Cultural Anthropology, BA

 

1969 Brigham Young University Psychology, Clinical – Personality Theory, MS

 

1978 United States International University, Clinical Psychology, Ph.D.

 

LICENSES AND CREDENTIALS

1970 California Board of Behavioral Sciences – Marriage, Family and Child Therapist

License Number: MFT 3490

 

1970 California Community College -- Credentials Authorizing Instruction and Service in:

Psychology, Counseling, Basic Education, Sociology, and Special Education

 

1978 California State Board of Behavioral Sciences – Certificate in Clinical Hypnosis

License Number 120

 

PROFESSIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE

1979 – Present Psychotherapist consultant Child, adolescent and adult psychotherapy, family therapy, psychological/forensic evaluation, and hospital consultation. Consultant to police and fire departments regarding employee stress reduction and crisis intervention counseling and training. Conducted workshops and seminars for corporations regarding the identification and intervention of employee stress. Corporate consultant for employee Critical Incident Debriefing.

 

1991 – 1998 “AMERICAN FIRE JOURNAL” Behavioral Science Editor. Wrote and reviewed articles regarding psychological and mental health concerns of firefighters and paramedics.

 

BOOKS

1988 Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Police Burnout Signs, Symptoms and Solutions

 

1989 Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Firefighter and Paramedic Burnout: The Survival Guide

 

1994 Loren Publications American Dream, American Burnout: How to Cope When it All Gets to Be Too Much

 

2016 Parkhurst Brothers Publishing The Science of Shame and It’s Treatment

 

HONORS AND AWARDS

1978 – Present Biography, Who's Who in the West

 

1996 Featured Speaker – Stop Burnout From Ruining Your Life National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) Convention Washington, DC March

 

2010 Keynote Speaker ─ Stress, Survival & Growth California Association of Highway Patrolmen, Annual Conference San Diego, CA

 

 

 

      "I was born in the Bronx, New York, on August 16, 1944 and now live in Southern California. I’ve been married 28 years; my wife, Kathy, and I are the parents of an eight-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Cooper. My hobbies include golf, photography, travel, magic, and food.

 

      I live with a bicoastal sensitivity and sensibility. Whatever the confluence of East and West is, I seem to have it. I’ve always known that my road through the domain of psychology would lead me to the clinician’s chair, which I have occupied since 1970, I find that my life is a daily adventure—I’m always learning from my patients.

 

     The day I was born, my father, who was in the army, received the message via the Red Cross while he was on Normandy Hill in France. I was two years old when I first met him. Shortly after that, we moved to Yonkers, New York. When we lived in Yonkers, I experienced one home burglary and two house fires, but I also enjoyed myself in my free time, spending the majority of it competing in yo-yo tournaments and hanging out at Sid Caesar’s brother’s novelty and magic shop. Like my father, who was an engineer and a scientist, I was intrigued by the way things work and wanted to know everything about it. Magic tricks were my earliest vehicle for this.

 

     We lived in Yonkers until I was 12 years old, when we abruptly moved to Los Angeles. By age 13, I had gotten involved in many local community theater organizations and began an occupation with acting that lasted until my sophomore year of college. I was extremely successful in gaining starring roles in nearly all the college plays. But I got bored. I had a minor in psychology, and at the end of my sophomore year, I made psychology my major. I selected cultural anthropology as my new minor; with psychology, I had a sturdy vehicle for understanding. I’m never satisfied with surface answers; I’m always looking more deeply into life."

      - Gerald Loren Fishkin, Ph.D.

 

     Dr. Gerald Loren Fishkin earned his MS and PhD degrees in clinical psychology, and has been in private practice since 1970. He did his post-doctorate in London in 1978 under the supervision of Dr. Harold Greenwald, founder of Direct-Decision Therapy. While completing his doctorate in 1978, Dr. Fishkin had the honor of serving as graduate assistant to Viktor Frankl, MD, founder of Logo Therapy and author of Man’s Search for Meaning.

 

     Dr. Fishkin holds full clinical membership in the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. He has also held full membership in the American Psychological Association, the British Psychological Society, and many other professional associations and affiliations. He has been adjunct professor of police science and administration of justice at Long Beach City College; California State University, Long Beach; and, since 1971, at University of Southern California, where he developed and taught basic police-recruit and advanced officer’s training programs in applied psychology for law enforcement. He has led workshops in police officer standards and training, focusing on such topics as the sexually deviant, mentally ill, and aggressive offender.

 

     An expert in clinical and forensic hypnosis, Dr. Fishkin has worked with witnesses of violent crimes in scene reconstruction and has aided in suspect identification. He is also a certified senior mediator for the State of California Superior Court and has been an expert witness in several high-profile cases.

In 1980, Dr. Fishkin delivered the keynote address on the growing incidence of police stress and burnout at the annual conference of the California Organization of Police and Sheriffs in Sacramento. As an innovative mental health practitioner, he was recognized for his work in police-stress management by the Long Beach Police Officers Association in Southern California as the recipient of their Outstanding Achievement Award in 1982.

 

     Dr. Fishkin’s first book, Police Burnout: Signs, Symptoms and Solutions, was published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Legal and Professional Publications, Inc., in February 1988. In this book, Dr. Fishkin isolated the specific factors that lead to burnout and realistic solutions that work. His second book, Firefighter and Paramedic Burnout: The Survival Guide—The Role You Play was published in December, 1989. Dr. Fishkin’s third book, American Dream, American Burnout: How to Cope When It All Gets to Be Too Much, identifies specific signs of and solutions for the pressing and alarming reality in today’s fast-paced society. His fourth book, The Science of Shame and Its Treatment, will be published by Parkhurst Brothers Publishers in March, 2016. The Science of Shame is the first book based on the neuroscientific study of shame, including toxic shame, which is seen as the foundation of addictions and many mood and personality disorders. The book will be distributed by the University of Chicago Press Distribution Center.

 

     Dr. Fishkin has also authored over 200 newspaper and magazine articles on various topics related to human behavior and has served as behavioral science editor for the American Fire Journal. He has appeared on over 200 nationally syndicated radio and television shows including the ones hosted by Michael Jackson and Ray Briem on KABC-AM talk radio, and was featured on Geraldo on CBS television. His biography has appeared in Who’s Who in the West since 1978. Dr. Fishkin has a full-time private clinical practice on Naples Island in Long Beach, California.