Vincent Barbieri, Ph.D. (Hillcrest)

(He/Him/His) Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Barbieri is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and San Diego Therapist (CA Licensed Psychologist PSY 34899) at Hillcrest Psychological Associates who specializes in individual therapy working with adults and adolescents, treating a wide range of anxiety and depressive disorders in addition to trauma, grief, relationship conflict, and Borderline Personality Disorder.

Dr. Barbieri received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from American University in 2022 where he was formally trained for 5 years in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) at The Wake Kendall Group, a DBT-Linehan Board Certified DBT Program located in Washington, D.C. This behavioral perspective will become evident when working with Dr. Barbieri, however his style pulls from many different therapeutic treatments such Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Rogerian Therapy, and Mentalization-Based Therapy.

Prior to receiving his PhD, Dr. Barbieri was a research coordinator at Columbia University’s Substance Treatment and Research Service and received a Master of Arts in the Clinical Psychology program at Teachers College, Columbia University in 2014. He has participated in a number of research labs primarily focused on studying emotions, first at Georgetown University’s Culture and Emotions Lab, then at Columbia University’s Loss, Trauma and Emotion Lab, followed by American University’s Interpersonal Emotion Lab where he researched the emotional components of Borderline Personality Disorder.

Dr. Barbieri strives to create authentic relationships with his clients where pretentious jargon-speak is left at the door. His therapeutic style is direct and compassionate, jargon-free and analogy-strong, often using humor and irreverence when appropriate in session. Dr. Barbieri subscribes to the maxim that every person is doing the best they can at any given moment, and his approach is constantly balancing the drive to build agency in a client’s life with the vital development of self-compassion and self-love. Much of what compels him as a psychologist is to help guide people back to the profound feeling of being enough, and helping clients recognize that nothing needs to be added to who they are to feel whole. Therapy is less a process of constructing, but rather one of chiseling away in order to see what beautiful sculpture lies beneath, waiting to be exposed.

Dr. Barbieri recently completed his internship at a community mental health center in south Florida and has a particular passion working with marginalized populations who would otherwise not have access to quality mental health services.

Dr. Barbieri is an in-network therapist for Cigna, Anthem Blue Cross, Lyra and Aetna.

Education:
Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, American University, 2022
M.A. Clinical Psychology, American University, 2018
M.A. Psychology in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2014
B.A. Psychology, Georgetown University, 2012