Dr. Carolyn Clarke is a Psychological Associate working under the clinical supervision of Dr. Abascal (PSY 22748). Dr. Clarke has had an interest in mental health and wellness for over 20 years. Her first career centered around teaching yoga and mindfulness to children. After becoming a certified yoga instructor for children, she went on to own and operate a children’s yoga studio and publish a book series on yoga and mindfulness for children.

In 2017, Dr. Clarke decided to pursue a career as a psychologist to help clients achieve wellness more directly and to work with adolescents, young adolescents, and adults. She explored the topic of mindfulness, self-compassion, and stress for her dissertation, and maintained a strong interest in mindfulness in the various clinical settings in which she trained. In her first clinical placement, she received training in couples counseling at the Alliant Couple and Family Clinic. Soon after, Dr. Clarke received intensive training in eating disorders at UCSD Center for Healthy Eating and Activity Research (CHEAR), treating a wide range of eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, avoidant-restrictive feeding intake disorder (ARFID), and binge eating disorder) at the outpatient, intensive outpatient (IOP), and partial hospitalization (PHP) levels of care.  She realized her love for working with college students at the University of San Diego (USD) College Counseling Center, where she focused on stress management and anxiety. Most recently, Dr. Clarke completed an APA-accredited doctoral internship in Health Service Psychology at the University of San Francisco Counseling and Psychological Services (USF-CAPS), where she provided multicultural integrative therapy to students for a variety of mental health needs, including depression, anxiety, OCD, disordered eating, and relationship issues. 

Dr. Clarke received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Alliant University in 2022. Her various clinical experiences led to her integrative approach to therapy using self-compassion, mindfulness, and behavioral evidence-based practices like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). She believes in meeting clients where they are at with compassion, kindness, and a sense of humor to help them meet their therapy goals, gain insight, and increase self-compassion.

When she isn’t meeting with clients, you can probably find Dr. Clarke at the beach soaking up the San Diego sunshine. She enjoys cooking new recipes, reading a good book, and learning how to watercolor paint. She loves learning about anything French, and she hopes to be fluent one day!