Faculty Spotlight #19

Sita G. Patel, Ph.D.

Dr. Sita G. Patel received her B.A. from Vassar College and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. She completed her predoctoral internship at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons (St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital), and her postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco (Community Academic Research Training Alliance). Prior to joining the Palo Alto University faculty, Dr. Patel was an Adjunct Instructor at New York University, University of San Francisco, and U.C. Berkeley, teaching courses on Educational, Abnormal, and Cultural Psychology. Dr. Patel was awarded a U.C. Berkeley Dissertation Award in 2006, an American Psychological Foundation Graduate Research Award in 2008, and an NIH Health Disparities Research Loan Repayment grant in 2009.

Dr. Patel is a licensed clinical psychologist with experience conducting cognitive behavioral therapies for adolescents, adults, and families from diverse cultural backgrounds. Areas of specialty include treatment for anxiety and depression related to acculturation, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy as applied to a broad range of psychopathology.

Dr. Patel’s research focuses on immigrant mental health, including acculturative stress, psychological adjustment, and access to treatment for mental illness among immigrant and minority populations. Her current projects include: (1) acculturation issues for adolescent immigrants from over 40 countries of origin (e.g., neighborhood environment, academic achievement, discrimination, cognitive appraisal of stressors); (2) a qualitative analysis of California policies related to Limited-English- Proficiency adults in mental health care; and (3) a community-based participatory evaluation of cultural competency in a local mental health clinic.

Dr. Patel is originally from San Francisco, lived in New York for 10 years, and has worked as a community psychologist in Cape Town, South Africa. She currently lives in San Francisco with her husband and two young children.