Julia Dobner-Pereira (she/they), PsyD, RDT, is a psychologist, drama therapist, and artist. Julia earned her doctorate in Clinical and School Psychology at James Madison University, and Master of Arts degree in Drama Therapy from New York University. Presently, Julia sees patients in private practice in New York City and engages in research and consultation, as well as writing and theatre projects. Julia was previously an Assistant Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, seeing patients in an Advanced Medicine Clinic focused on serving HIV+ individuals, and then in a long-term outpatient clinic. Julia completed a postdoctoral fellowship in LGBTQ+ Healthcare and Psychosocial Rehabilitation at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System and Yale University, where they provided clinical care and engaged in projects to improve affirming care for LGBTQ+ Veterans. Julia completed their pre-doctoral internship at the Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology at Boston University/Boston Medical Center.
Dr. Dobner-Pereira’s clinical specialties include serving the LGBTQ+ community and working with individuals with chronic and complex trauma histories. Julia also enjoys working with healthcare workers, artists, and those experiencing or recovering from major illnesses. Julia’s clinical research interests include integrating drama therapy with an attachment-based interpersonal approach to therapy called Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy, queering psychotherapy, and improving systems to promote trauma-informed, liberated health care.
In all her roles in life, Julia loves delving into the depths of the mysterious oceanic spaces between us and within us. Julia writes poetry and prose, and creates auto-ethnographic therapeutic theatre, most recently about illness as a spiritual portal. Julia loves spending time with her family and extended dear ones. They also enjoy singing, exploring the natural world, and gathering.
Selected Publications
Dobner-Pereira, Julia, "Healing attachment wounds: Drama therapy within an interpersonal theoretical frame as a group treatment modality" (2021). Dissertations, 2020-current. 40. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/diss202029/40
Critchfield, K. L., Dobner-Pereira, J., Stucker, E. I., (2021). The Case of Sharon Considered from the Vantage Point of Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy. Pragmatic Case Studies in Psychotherapy, 17(1), 42-62. http://pcsp.libraries.rutgers.edu
Critchfield, K. L., Dobner-Pereira, J., Stucker, E. I., (2021). Interpersonal Wishes and Fears with Regard to Internalized Attachment Figures: Differing Focus of Two Case Formulation Methods that use SASB. Pragmatic Case Studies in Psychotherapy, 17(1), 85-103. http://pcsp.libraries.rutgers.edu
Critchfield, K.L., Dobner-Pereira, J., Panizo, M.T., & Drucker, K. (2018). Beyond the borderline: Expanding our repertoire to address relational patterns and power dynamics attendant to diverse personality disorders. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 43 (3)