SOPHIE DAVIS-COHEN, LCSW

claudia feldman, Ph.D., clinical director

Dr. Feldman is a licensed psychologist (PSY25130) and psychoanalyst. She has a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the California Graduate Institute and a Ph.D. from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. After graduating, Dr. Feldman completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy at WILA. In 2020, Dr. Feldman graduated as a psychoanalyst from the New Center for Psychoanalysis. She has a special interest in family dynamics, individual differences, intimacy, and relatedness. Dr. Feldman continues to see patients in her private practice. She is fluent in Portuguese and English.

Michele Gomes, Psy.D., executive Director

Dr. Gomes is a licensed psychologist (PSY23227) and psychoanalyst who splits her time between her two passions: working with a diverse group of adults and couples in her private practice and leading WILA. Her unique educational background in Multicultural Community Psychology, Women’s Studies, Psychoanalysis, and Computer Programming reflects the range of interests and skills she brings to her work. Prior to her clinical practice, Dr. Gomes spent several years at the UCLA School of Public Health assisting with epidemiological research on sexual and racial minority health disparities. Dr. Gomes became a Psychoanalyst at the New Center for Psychoanalysis in 2017. At NCP, she teaches, sits on the Board of Directors, and is active on many committees including co-founding the Committee on Diversities and Sociocultural Issues. Dr. Gomes is committed to a non-profit way of life and hopes to expand the reach and role of psychoanalytic ideas in the community.

Christine Highland, LCSW

Chrissy Highland is a licensed Clinical Social Worker who practices psychotherapy virtually with patients in New Jersey and California. She holds a Master’s degree from the Smith College School for Social Work and completed a two-year Postgraduate Fellowship at the Wright Institute Los Angeles, where she now serves as a clinical supervisor. She is currently a psychoanalytic candidate at the Center for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis of New Jersey where she is advancing her training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy.

AIMEE MARTINEZ, Psy.D., Director OF CLINICAL RELATIONS

Dr. Martinez is a licensed psychologist (PSY28937). She completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at WILA. In addition to her private practice, she acts as the Director of Clinical Relations for WILA and facilitates institutional and trainee development in professional marketing. She co-facilitates the Therapeutic Identity and Professional Development track aimed at giving trainees unique opportunities to utilize creativity and make psychoanalytic thought more accessible to the community. Currently, Aimee is an Advanced Clinical Associate in psychoanalytic training at the New Center for Psychoanalysis. Prior to pursuing clinical training, Aimee worked in entertainment sports and event marketing, skills she now applies to develop clinical referral relationships. Although she possesses extensive marketing experience, her true passion lies in the creativity of psychoanalytic clinical work.  She is particularly drawn to working with emerging adults supporting post-collegiate anxiety and identity formation, those in creative industries, mental health clinicians and former college athletes.

LAUREN MOSES, Psy.D.

STEPHEN C. PHILLIPS, J.D., PSY.D.

Dr. Phillips is a licensed Psychologist (PSY17868) in Beverly Hills, CA. He performs individual and couples therapy and practices criminal and civil forensics.  Dr. Phillips is a Past President of the Los Angeles County Psychological Association and a former member of the California Psychological Association’s Ethics Committee.  In 2013, Dr. Phillips was appointed to the California Board of Psychology, the licensing and regulatory board for psychologists, by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr.  In 2016, he became President of the Board of Psychology.  Dr. Phillips is also a member of the California State Bar (SBN101223). Dr. Phillips’ clientele is drawn from a variety of walks of life, including medical and legal professionals, people in the entertainment industry, those struggling with or recovering from chemical or behavioral addictions, members of the gay and lesbian community, late adolescent males, other psychotherapists, and persons seeking therapy as a result of criminal behavior. In addition, Dr. Phillips is a frequent forensic consultant and expert in criminal matters, primarily in federal court, and civil litigation. He is a popular presenter at continuing education courses on a variety of topics, including ethics, clinical supervision, diversity concerns, and chemical and behavioral addictions. Dr. Phillips enjoys faculty appointments at the California School of Professional Psychology – Los Angeles and the Wright Institute Los Angeles, a psychoanalytic postgraduate training program and community mental health clinic, where he also serves as a member of the Board of Directors and is its former chair.  Prior to entering clinical psychology, he was a partner in a Century City law firm.  He is also a volunteer supervisor and instructor at a variety of community mental health agencies.  Besides conducting his own practice, Dr. Phillips frequently is called upon to supervise and consult with psychologists in training and licensed mental health professionals.

Meg sheehan, Ph.D.

Dr. Sheehan is a licensed psychologist (PSY11549) who did her undergraduate studies at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, studying philosophy and math. She got her M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology, writing her dissertation on intimacy and loneliness through the prism of attachment theory. She did her predoctoral internship at Wright Institute Los Angeles, and did her Postdoctoral hours at Patton State Hospital working with a forensically committed, severely mentally ill population. She completed a certificate in psychoanalytic psychotherapy at the Psychoanalytic Center of California in Los Angeles. Meg maintained a full time private practice for 35 years and now supervises at Wright Institute Los Angeles and reads literature and psychoanalysis. She is particularly interested in primitive mental states.

gabrielle taylor, Ph.D.

Dr. Taylor is a licensed psychologist (PSY22054) and psychoanalyst in full time private practice in Pasadena where she sees couples and individuals. She is a graduate and active member of the New Center for Psychoanalysis. She spent 12 years, including 8 years as Clinical Director, at Rose City Center — a nonprofit mental health clinic that trains predoctoral and postdoctoral graduate students in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. Dr. Taylor achieved her Master’s and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Fuller School of Psychology in Pasadena. She is passionate about Psychoanalysis and its helpfulness for all persons. She takes a particular interest in trauma, body issues, couples and spirituality. She practices yoga daily and has completed a 200 hour teacher training to be certified with Yoga Alliance.

peter wolson, ph.d.

Dr. Wolson is a licensed psychologist (PSY3377) and a training and supervising analyst at the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies (LAISPS). He has been Past-President and Dean of LAISPS and is on its faculty. He is a core faculty member, supervisor, and teacher at Wright Institute Los Angeles. He is a founding member of the Confederation of Independent Psychoanalytic Societies (CIPS), and  has published psychoanalytic papers on the influence of adaptive grandiosity on artistic creativity and fatherhood, on the existential dimension of psychoanalysis, on the relational unconscious and on the therapeutic importance of analytic love. In addition, he has published a number of op-ed pieces in the Los Angeles Times and blogs in the Huffington Post, Counterpunch, and Thomson Reuters illustrating how a psychoanalytic perspective on contemporary political and cultural issues can deepen the public’s understanding. His private practice, which includes psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic therapy, conjoint and family therapy, is located in Beverly Hills.

Allen Yasser, ph.d., director emeritus

Dr. Yasser is a licensed psychologist (PSY3856). Dr. Yasser, along with Hedda Bolgar, Elizabeth Cooley and Nancy Wood  founded WILA in 1974. Dr. Yasser was initially Director of the WILA Psychotherapy Clinic. In 1981 he was appointed Director of WILA’s Postgraduate Center, which incorporated our Postdoctoral Fellowship program, the WILA Internship and the Psychotherapy Clinic. In 1987 he became WILA’s Executive Director and in 2016 WILA’s Director Emeritus, his current position. Dr. Yasser received his Ph.D. from SUNY at Buffalo. He completed a two year postdoctoral fellowship in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Yasser is also a graduate of the training program in psychoanalysis at the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalysis. His long time professional interests include the practice, teaching and supervision of Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and institutional development and administration.