Victoria Curea, Psy.D, LMFT
PAST TO PRESENT
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I earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in screenwriting from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. For several years, I enjoyed my career in entertainment interviewing performers, engaging with writers and evaluating the appeal of dramatic storylines. When writing was my primary focus, I was most drawn to rich, psychologically complex characters and stories. This curiosity led me to earn my master's degree in clinical psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles in 1998. A few years later, I opened my own practice.
Early in my career, I developed collaborative relationships with individuals from many different mental health disciplines including psychiatrists, psychologists, cognitive-behavioral therapists and registered dieticians. Those compassionate and highly skilled practitioners are to whom I refer when a patient requires adjunctive care.
In 2010, I became an adjunct faculty member at Antioch University where I continue to instruct graduate level, clinical psychology students in a variety of subjects including: Psychoanalytic Personality Theory, Assessment of Psychopathology and Treatment Planning, Couples Counseling, Process of Therapy, and Child and Adolescent Development.
In 2014, I completed psychoanalytic training at LAISPS (The Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies) and earned my doctorate in 2016. I have maintained very close ties to the institute, developing the "LAISPS Student Society" for master's level students eager to learn more about psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. While still a senior candidate, I developed the "Altered States of Body and Mind Training Program: A psychoanalytic exploration of Substance Abuse and Eating Disorders," now several years running. I currently serve on The LAISPS Board of Directors and am faculty in their Psychoanalytic Training Program.
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ETHOS
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It has been a pleasure for me to supervise associates in my practice, supporting the growth of their unique clinical minds. Encouraging diversity in the field of psychoanalysis is a priority and to that end, supervision regularly examines issues of inclusion, race, gender, sexuality, ability, and age, to name a few.
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Like so many of my patients, colleagues and friends, I have spent the last several years endeavoring to understand our rapidly (at times violently) shifting social and political landscapes. There are often powerful, psychological dynamics underscoring our need to maintain the status quo. We typically avoid what makes us uncomfortable, and yet it is precisely the exploration of this discomfort which requires our full attention. I believe psychoanalysis provides a thoughtful container for disparate points of view, and primitive thoughts and feelings which, when closeted or unchecked, can multiply in intensity.
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I very much value the environment and believe we can learn a great deal from observing nature. I don't think I've ever met a cat I didn't like... but I can't say the same for a very territorial goose I met once in childhood. Perhaps she was just having a bad day.