Research Interests & Areas of Specialization

• Eating disorders, with a particular interest in male populations
• Philosophical problems in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy
• The intersection of technology and psychoanalysis

Education

• Certificate in Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California, 2018
• Board Certification in Clinical Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), 2018
• Certified Eating Disorders Specialist (CEDS), International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals, 2017
• PsyD (Psychology), Argosy University, 2011
• MA (Psychology), Argosy University, 2009
• AB (Philosophy), Brown University, 2006

Professional & Teaching Experience

• 2012 – Present: Department Chair and Associate Professor, Golden Gate University
• 2013 – Present: Psychoanalyst and Licensed Psychologist in private practice, Berkeley, CA
• • 2021 – Present: Editorial Board, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
• 2015 – Present: Editorial Board, Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention
• 2013 – Present: National Association for Males with Eating Disorders, Executive Co-director
• 2012: Adjunct Faculty, Argosy University / San Francisco Bay Area
• 2011: Postdoctoral Fellow, Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland: Early Childhood Mental Health Department
• 2010: Predoctoral Intern, National Asian-American Psychology Training Center at RAMS, Inc.

Selected Publications

Books:

• Burke, N., Michaels, L., Muhr, J., & Wooldridge, T. (Eds.) (Expected 2022). Advancing Psychotherapy for the Next Generation: Rehumanizing Mental Health Policy and Practice. New York: Routledge.
• Wooldridge, T. (Expected 2022). Eating disorders: The Routledge introductions to contemporary psychoanalysis. (Introductions to Contemporary Psychoanalysis Book Series). New York: Routledge.
• Wooldridge, T. (2019). Ghosts of the unremembered past. IPBooks. (Also available as an audiobook on Audible.com)
• Wooldridge, T. (Ed.) (2018). Psychoanalytic treatment of eating disorders: When words fail and bodies speak. (Relational Perspectives Book Series). New York: Routledge.
• Wooldridge, T. (2016). Understanding anorexia nervosa in males: An integrative approach. New York: Routledge.

Journal Articles:

• Wooldridge, T. (in press). Anorexia nervosa, psychic death, and the subjugation of need. Psychoanalytic Dialogues.
• Wooldridge, T. (in press). “How his hair is growing thin!”: On the emotional significance of male-pattern hair loss. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
• Wooldridge, T. (2019). Ghosts of the unremembered past. IPBooks. (Also available as an audiobook on Audible.com)
• Wooldridge, T. (in press). Boys and their muscles: The paternal object in muscle dysmorphia. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child.
• Wooldridge, T. (2021). Book review: Re-thinking eating disorders: Language, emotion, and the brain. Routledge, New York, 2018, 213 pp. Psychodynamic Psychiatry, 49(3).
• Wooldridge, T.. (2021). Prologue: Advancing Psychotherapy for the Next Generation: Rehumanizing Mental Health Policy and Practice. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 41(8).
• Wooldridge, T. (2021). Abjection, traumatic themes, and alexithymia in anorexia nervosa. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 57(2), 327 – 353.
• Wooldridge, T. (2021). Anorexia nervosa and the paternal function. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 69(1), 7-32.
• Wooldridge, T. (2021). Alexithymia, meaning-making, and management: Response to Novack. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 31(2), 197 – 204.
• Wooldridge, T. (in press). Anorexia nervosa and the paternal function. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
• Wooldridge, T. (2018). Finding freedom: An exploration of the relationship between agency, motility, and aggression. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 65(1), 41 – 58.
• Wooldridge, T. (2018). The entropic body: Primitive anxieties and secondary skin formation in anorexia nervosa. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 28(2), 189 – 202.
• Wooldridge, T. (2018). Anorexia nervosa and the analyst’s paternal function: Response to Schoen, Zerbe, and Boulware. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 28(2), 228 – 233.
• Aafjes-van Doorn, K. & Wooldridge, T. (2018). The complexity of loss during a forced termination: A case illustration. British Journal of Psychotherapy.
• Wooldridge, T. (2017). Now I see me, now I don’t: Computer-based screen services and narcissistic psychopathology. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, 14(2), 193 – 205.
• Wooldridge, T. & Lemberg, R. (2016). Macho, Bravado, and Eating Disorders: Special Issues in Diagnosing and Treating Men. Psychiatric Times.
• Cohn, L., Murray, S., Wooldridge, T., & Walen, A. (2016). Including the excluded: Males and gender minorities in eating disorder prevention. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 24(1).
• Murray, S.B., Griffiths, S., Hazery, L., Shen, T., Wooldridge, T. & Mond, J.M. (2016). Go big or go home: A thematic content analysis of pro-muscularity websites. Body Image, 16, 17 – 20.
• Wooldridge, T. (2015). Primitive anxieties and secondary skin formation in anorexia nervosa. fort da, 21(1), 74 – 84.
• Wooldridge, T. (2014). The enigma of ana: A psychoanalytic exploration of pro-ana forums. The Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 13(3).
• Wooldridge, T. (2014). It’s hard to hold an enigma: Response to discussants. The Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 13(3).
• Wooldridge, T., Dwiwardani, C., & Prasad, S. (2014). Cultural training in internship: A relational model founded on cultural humility. Psychotherapy Bulletin, 49(3), 19 – 26.
• Wooldridge, T., Mok, C., & Chiu, S. (2014). A qualitative content analysis of male participation in pro-ana forums. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 22(2).
• Wooldridge, T. & Lytle, P. (2012). An overview of anorexia nervosa in adolescent males. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 20(5), 368-378.

Book Chapters:

• Wooldridge, T. (in press). Revisiting in the entropic body: When the body is canvas. In R. Hilty (Ed). When the body tells the story. London: Karnac.
• Wooldridge, T. (2019). Catastrophe and faith in anorexia nervosa. In A. Alisobhani & G. Cortorphine (Eds). Explorations in Bion’s “O” : Everything We Know Nothing About. New York: Routledge.
• Wooldridge, T. & Lytle, P. (2017). Web-Based Intervention for Adolescent Males with Anorexia Nervosa. In R. Valle & J. Klimo (Eds.), The changing faces of therapy: Innovative perspectives on current Issues, disorders, and assessment. San Francisco: Argosy University Press.
• Wooldridge, T. & Lytle, P. (2013). An overview of anorexia nervosa in males. In L. Cohn & R. Lemberg (Eds.), Current findings on males with eating disorders (pp. 23 – 33). New York: Routledge

Other Writing:

• Wooldridge, T. (2020). Dark feelings will haunt us until they are expressed in words. Retrieved from https://psyche.co/ideas/dark-feelings-will-haunt-us-until-they-are-expressed-in-words
• Wooldridge, T. (2019). Despite their dangers, pro-anorexia forums have much to teach us. Retrieved from https://aeon.co/ideas/despite-their-dangers-pro-anorexia-forums-have-much-to-teach-us.

Selected Presentations

• Wooldridge, T. (2021). Psychodynamic Treatment of Eating Disorders. Two week class for medical residents at the University of California Medical School.
• Wooldridge, T. (2021). Alexithymia and Abjection in Anorexia Nervosa. Presentation at Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc.
• Wooldridge, T. (2020). Psychodynamic Treatment of Eating Disorders. Two week class for medical residents at the University of California Medical School.
• Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California. “Psychic Organization III: Narcissism and Perversions” 8 week course for Psychoanalytic Candidates taught in 2019, 2020 (2x), and 2021.
• Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (NCSPP). “When Words Fail and Bodies Speak: Psychoanalytic Treatment of Eating Disorders.” 8-week course offered as part of the year-long Intensive Study Group (ISG) to students in East Bay and San Francisco in 2020.
• Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (NCSPP). “When Words Fail and Bodies Speak: Psychoanalytic Treatment of Eating Disorders.” 6-week standalone course offered in San Francisco in 2020.
• Wooldridge, T. (2019). Psychodynamic Treatment of Eating Disorders. Three week class for medical residents at the University of California Medical School.
• Wooldridge, T.. (2019). Rough-and-Tumble: Agency, Play, and the Analyst’s Paternal Function. Presentation at Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc.
• Wooldridge, T. (2019). Finding Freedom: Exploring the Relationship between Agency, Motility, and Aggression. Presentation at Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California.
• Wooldridge, T. (2018). Rough-and-Tumble: Agency, Play, and the Analyst’s Paternal Function. Presentation at the Eating Disorders, Compulsions, and Addictions Program at William Alanson White Institute.
• Wooldridge, T. (2017). Discussant for Kathryn Zerbe’s presentation, The secret life of secrets: Toxic effects of preconscious knowledge on the development of eating disorder, psychosomatic illness, and countertransference reactivity. Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California.
• Wooldridge, T. (2017). Eating Disorders Discussion Group. Presentation at the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) with Kathryn Zerbe, MD.
• Wooldridge, T. (2016). The entropic body: Primitive anxieties and secondary skin formation in anorexia nervosa. Presentation at the Eating Disorders, Compulsions, and Addictions Program at William Alanson White Institute with discussant Sarah Schoen, PhD.
• Wooldridge, T. (2016). The entropic body: The (mis)use of the body in patients with eating disorders. Presentation at Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc.
• Wooldridge, T. (2016). When words fail: The role of the body in managing primitive anxieties in patients with eating disorders. Symposium at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California with discussant Peter Goldberg, PhD.
• Wooldridge, T. (2014). Catastrophe and faith in anorexia nervosa. 8^th International Bion Conference. Los Angeles, CA.
• Wooldridge, T. (2014). The enigma of ana: A psychoanalytic exploration of pro-ana forums. Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology Scientific Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
• Wooldridge, T. & Chiu, S. (2013). A qualitative content analysis of male participation in pro-ana forums. Poster presented at the 2013 annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Honolulu, HI.
• Mok, C., Wooldridge, T., Christopher, S., Trafton, J., Kimerling, R., & Weaver, C. (2013). Complex trauma and criminality in veterans in recovery from substance abuse. Poster presented at the 2013 annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Philadelphia, PA.
• Wooldridge, T. “Psychodynamic Therapy with Eating Disorders.” Lecture at Notre Dame de Namur University / Department of Psychology, November 2013.
• Wooldridge, T. “Psychodynamic Therapy with the Borderline Couple.” Lecture at Notre Dame de Namur University / Department of Psychology, June 2013.
• Wooldridge, T. “An Exploration of a Therapist’s Biases about Couple’s Therapy.” Lecture at Argosy University / San Francisco Bay Area, December 2011.
• Reiss, S., Kennedy, C., Wooldridge, T., & Krishnamurthi, S. (2003). CLIME: An environment for constrained evolution. Demonstration at International Conference on Software Engineering.

Professional Associations

• Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC)
• International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy (IARPP)
• Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (NCSPP)
• Division 39, American Psychological Association
• International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (IAEDP)
• Alameda County Psychological Association (ACPA)

Honors & Awards

• 2018: Golden Gate University – Given Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Integration
• 2017: Two published articles chosen for “Top 25 Articles from 1993 – 2017” by Editor-in-Chief of Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention.
• 2013 – 2014: Nagel T. Miner Research Professor, Golden Gate University
• 2003: Royce Fellow, Brown University

Media & Interviews

• Psych Up Live with Dr. Suzanne Phillips. “Psychoanalytic treatment of eating disorders”
• ED Matters with Kathy Cortese. “Psychoanalytic Treatment of Eating Disorders”
• Psych Up Live with Dr. Suzanne Phillips. “Understanding anorexia nervosa in males”
• Stuff.co.nz. “Anorexia: A teen’s struggle and his mother’s love”
• Newsweek. “Where’s Ken? The abandonment of men in body positivity”
• WebMD. “Binge eating disorder in men”
• Slate.com. “Let them blog: The panic over pro-anorexia websites and social media isn’t healthy”
• Yahoo Health. “For young men, eating disorders aren’t always so obvious”
• Glammonitor, “Male eating disorders on the rise”
• Philadelphia Inquirer “Missing the signs in a boy’s eating disorder”
• Student Health 101 “What’s Batman got to do with body image and eating disorders?”
• Canadian Medical Association Journal. “Treatment challenges for men with eating disorders”
• National Post. “Anorexia hitting men increasingly hard: One in three cases in new study is male”
• Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun. “The new face of eating disorders: Men starving themselves to look like pictures in magazines”
• CBS San Francisco: About the Bay with Mike Sugerman.