ABOUT DR. JOSEPH H. TURNER

Dr. Joseph H. Turner is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and certified Psychoanalyst with a specialty in Primitive Mental States. Dr. Turner has multiple areas of expertise including pre and perinatal psychology, infant and toddler social-emotional development, lifespan development, developmental trauma, PTSD, psychosis, characterological disturbances, and severe anxiety and depression.  

 

Dr. Turner received a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University and a Masters in Forensic Psychology from California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. Turner’s forensic experience included Twin Towers Correctional Facility, Central Juvenile Hall, and Pacific Forensic Associates Inc. - Sharper Future all in downtown Los Angeles. Dr. Turner also worked at the Starview Adolescent Center Psychiatric Unit in Torrance, CA and he assisted research in the developmental psychopathology lab at Cal State, Los Angeles, and at the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences. Dr. Turner was also a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Integrated Substance Abuse Program at the UCLA Semel Institute.  

 

​During his doctoral studies, Dr. Turner received extensive training in early emotional development, neuroscience and the development of the brain, and psychodynamic psychotherapy. Clinical placements included the Pepperdine Graduate School of Education and Psychology clinic, Maple Counseling Center - Mindful Parenting Program, and Southbay TIES for Families. Dr. Turner’s experience was enriched with intensive training in infant mental health and neurodevelopmental assessment for children zero to three years of age.  Dr. Turner’s doctoral internship was at the Wright Institute Los Angeles where he worked with adults in the Hedda Bolgar clinic and the Susan Krevoy Eating Disorders Program. His doctoral dissertation was a study on the emotional experience of the mother and development of the prenate during pregnancy.  

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Professionally, Dr. Turner was a staff psychologist at Children's Institute, Inc. where he evaluated newborns, infants, and toddlers who were severely traumatized due to abuse or neglect. He was also the associate executive director at Well Baby Center, a non-profit community mental health clinic serving infants, children and families. Dr. Turner was also program director in the OCD and Anxiety Clinic at PCH Treatment Center in Mar Vista, CA. Dr. Turner has maintained a private practice since 2008, working in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and now in his detached home-office in downtown San Luis Obispo, CA. In addition to psychoanalytic work, Dr. Turner also conducts developmental assessments for infants and toddlers and psychological evaluations for adults in a forensic capacity. For the past 14 years, he has also worked as an adjunct professor in graduate training programs at Pepperdine University, Antioch University, the Wright Institute Los Angeles, the Psychoanalytic Center of California PPP, and most recently in the core program at the Psychoanalytic Center of California (PCC).