Donna Gable, PhD

Specialties

My specialty is to adapt in-​depth therapy to the specific needs of adults, adolescents, or couples. This means getting beneath the surface of your concern, however it’s presenting itself, whether it’s through feelings of anxiety, sadness or loneliness, or problems with substances or relationship difficulties, before exploring solutions.

Today, emotional or psychological challenges exist in a complicated world. Texts and social media make it seem smaller, and bring us together in many ways.

But in some ways these diversions influence us to choose immediacy over intimacy, encourage us to give up our privacy, and prevent us from maintaining realistic expectations of ourselves. It’s easy to feel lonely.

Psychotherapy is a tried and true way to address all kinds of psychological issues, but I also think it can help with this kind of isolation, as well as the comparison with others, often online, that erodes self-​esteem.

I keep this in mind as I help my patients, teens to seniors, learn to function successfully.

I help couples repair relationships damaged by unmet expectations or loss of empathy, or complicated by an extra-​marital affair. I also work with parents and children who want to re-​connect, help business leaders excel, and men and women recover from the loss of a relationship or a loved one.

I offer a an initial consultation by phone, if you’d like to know more about how I can help you address what you’re facing.

History

Established in 1992.

Dr. Gable has been practicing psychotherapy in Santa Monica, and now Topanga Canyon, for over 20 years, and is trained in psycho-​dynamic and psychoanalytic methods of treatment.

This ensures that you have an opportunity not only to explore how your past experiences may have shaped you, but also see the effect they have had on your relationships, including your relationship with yourself!

She also provides practical cognitive-​behavioral tools to help you change unwanted behaviors after you have learned their source. This combined way of working is successful in dealing with many kinds of issues, and seems to work well for all types of people.

Meet the Business Owner

Donna G.

Business Owner

I began training as a psychologist in my 30’s. Starting as an older graduate student allowed me to make more informed decisions about the orientation I’d choose, as well as the path my career would follow.

Having experienced parenthood and learned first-​hand how our childhood experiences influence our ability to meet its challenges, I became convinced that beginning at the beginning, with child development, would help me be a better therapist. And in fact it helps me work better with everyone, couples, adolescents and adults. Since everyone starts out as a child, it will help me understand you.

I was also better able to decide on a theoretical orientation that I felt would really work. Having had some therapy that wasn’t always helpful led me to do careful research on the kinds of information I’d use to help the patients I’d later treat.

To me, being a psychotherapist is more than a satisfying profession. It’s something that informs all aspects of my life.