Dr Diana Adams Ed.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Welcome to my website!
I am a licensed psychologist with over 30 years of clinical practice in behavioral medicine. My areas of expertise are working with people with chronic pain and any other medical disorder that causes changes in mood or function. I specialize in treating pain and medical conditions complicated by trauma or childhood abuse. The patients I work with may have Major Depression, PTSD or other psychiatric illness. I also see patients without medical issues for Individual Psychotherapy and provide therapy for physicians and residents.
I’ve placed a contact form below and a link to my professional email account, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments regarding my practice.
A little bit about me.
I have worked in both inpatient and outpatient Pain Management Treatment settings. I began working in Chronic Pain Management at the Behavioral Medicine Pain and Stress Management Clinic at California Pacific Medical Center. In this inpatient setting, patients were admitted for behavioral treatment of chronic pain for a period of about four weeks. Medical assessment, individual psychotherapy which included cognitive behavioral therapy, relaxation therapy and self-hypnosis pain management strategies, physical therapy, medication management, restoration of sleep and work with the family all were integral parts of this multidisciplinary treatment.
The UCSF Pain Management Program was also a multidisciplinary pain management program that was primarily out patient. I was able to work with scientists pioneering our understanding of the very complex neurology of pain. At UCSF, psychological treatments were coordinated with medical interventions. I saw patients and their families in individual psychotherapy. I developed the eight-week psychoeducational pain management group treatment program. Our treatment team included: anesthesia, neurology, neurosurgery, internal medicine, psychiatry, PhD pharmacy and physical therapy professionals.
I left UCSF to begin a private practice in Palo Alto. I also joined the Stanford Department of Psychiatry Clinical Faculty. My role was a liaison between the Stanford Pain Management Team and Psychiatry.
At that time, patients needing more intensive pain management or psychiatric intervention were admitted to Stanford Hospital for treatment. As a member of the Stanford Medical Staff, I provided inpatient treatment to my patients and consultation. As a member of the Clinical Faculty, I taught Residents in both Psychiatry and Pain Management, Nursing and others disciplines about our changing understanding of pain as well as behavioral treatments for pain.
By then, I began working with patients with other medical conditions causing changes in their mood or ability to function.
This was also a time when our understanding that psychological trauma and psychiatric illness could interact with chronic pain and other medical disease advanced. I lectured widely about our evolving understanding of chronic pain. I also began to see patients who had PTSD associated with medical treatments or interventions.
In addition to my practice, I continue to teach at Stanford in the Internal Medicine Resident’s Clinic.
Areas of expertise in Behavioral Medicine
Individual Psychotherapy
I also see patients in Individual psychotherapy for treatment of:
Major Depression
Dysthymia
Adjustment Disorder
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Acute Stress Disorder
Stressors associated with life, family or work
Sometimes these anxieties may be related to legal issues. Patients may be referred to me by an Attorney or Forensic Psychiatrist to help support that person through the legal process. I am not a forensic psychologist. I do not do forensic evaluations. I am not a legal expert and will not serve as a legal expert witness.
Therapy for Physicians and Residents
My entire career has been in Hospitals and Clinics working with Physicians. Since coming to Stanford in 1995, I have been involved with Medical Staff Leadership. I have served in a role that is most unusual for a psychologist. Stanford’s Medical Staff includes Faculty Physicians and Psychologists, Clinical Staff Physicians and Psychologists and Community Physicians and Psychologists. Stanford’s Medical Executive Committee has representatives from all three groups of the Active Medical Staffs. I was fortunate enough to be elected to represent the Community Medical Staff in Psychiatry as Deputy Chief for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences for five consecutive two year terms. I was a voting member on Stanford’s Medical Executive Committee for ten years. I also served also on several Medical Staff Committees involved with Medical Staff conduct and wellness. I was involved with the Vanderbilt PARS program from its inception at Stanford.
Because of my knowledge of the workings of a Medical Staff and the unique pressures on Physicians, I work with Physicians and Residents coping with these issues.
When we first meet
Your first session will be a two-hour interview. It will be structured because that allows me to get the most accurate picture of who you are and what our goals for treatment will be.
My Practice has changed with COVID, I am working remotely now.
I will ask you about the issues bringing you in for treatment. If you are coming in with a medical issue, I will ask you how it started, what it feels like, what has been done to treat it. What makes it better or worse.
I will ask you about you sleep now. What “normal” sleep was for you.
What medications you take.
Your prior medical history: any illnesses, accidents, injuries, surgeries or falls.
I will ask you about you family so I get to know you better.
Your education and work.
I will then ask you about your mood, your memory and your ability to concentrate.
Past psychological or psychiatric treatment or hospitalizations.
What are your goals for treatment?
We will then talk about what I think and where we go from here.
It is a lot to cover. We can take a break if you need one. It is important to me that you are comfortable.
Family
Chronic pain, medical illness or disease not only affects the patient but also loved ones involved in a person’s care. If the patient would like, I ask the significant other to join at least one session. This is important for several reasons. It is important for the family member to meet me and see what our sessions are like. It is very helpful for me to meet the others involved in my patients life. It is also an opportunity to help the family better understand what the patient is going through, his or her diagnosis and medical or psychological care. I try to make this a positive experience for the patient and family. Usually, the session is conducted with the patient and the family member together. Sometimes over the course of treatment, the patient invites more family members to come to a session.
I ask the significant other three things:
How does that person see the pain, medical illness or disability affect the patient?
How does the patient’s pain, illness or disability affect the significant other or family?
Is there anything the significant other can tell me about the patient that might help me help the patient?
Sometimes, we learn that a family member is stressed and depressed and may need a referral for help.
There are patients who prefer to not invite anyone else to a therapy session. This is respected.
Academic Appointments
Education
Whats an Ed.D. anyway?
In the Unites States, there are three doctoral degrees the allow one to qualify for licensure as a psychologist: Ph.D., Ed.D. and Psy.D. Each state may develop its own licensing criteria. In the US and most of Canada, there is only one exam for licensure as a psychologist. Because the requirements are so strict, all education and training to become a psychologist are the same for each degree program.
The only difference in the requirements for the degrees is that the Ph.D. and Ed.D. require original research and dissertation in addition to the clinical education and training requirements. A PsyD is a clinical only degree and does not require a dissertation.
Contact
530 Lytton Ave 2nd Floor, #2160, Palo Alto, CA 94301
650 327-7117
Please feel welcome to contact me with any questions you may have regarding my practice or to schedule an appointment.