Dr. Farshid Afsarifard is a clinical and forensic psychologist. He received his master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Cleveland State University and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Fielding Institute in Santa Barbara, California. Dr. Afsarifard was trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) by Dr. Marsha Linehan, at University of Washington. He has been utilizing this approach in treatment of a variety of mental health disorders since 1998. He has developed many programs over the years based on this approach. He works with children, adolescents, adults, and geriatric patients. Dr. Afsarifard specializes in performing diagnostic assessments and developing effective treatment plans. His therapeutic interests include treatment of borderline personality disorder, mood disorders and addictions. He conducts psychological evaluations for clinical and forensic purposes utilizing standardized psychological tests and diagnostic interviews.

As a forensic psychologist Dr. Afsarifard serves as an expert witness in state and Federal courts providing testimony on criminal and civil cases. He specializes in child custody evaluation as well as civil and criminal competencies.

He has extensive experience in healthcare administration and program development. He was the President and Chief Executive Officer at Laurelwood Hospital for 11 years. He started PBHS in 2006 with the goal of providing evidence-based outpatient mental health and addiction recovery treatment in a validating and respectful setting.

Dr. Afsarifard has co-authored several book chapters on clinical and forensic aspects of methamphetamine use. He has also co-authored a book on equivocal child abuse cases. His doctoral dissertation is on the effect of abuse of children of alcoholics. He lectures on ethical and legal issues in psychology; mindfully based stress reduction; use of meditation in treatment of psychological problems; and topics related to psychological development throughout the life span.