About

James Tobin, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist (California License: PSY 22074) with a psychotherapy practice in Irvine, California. He also offers consultation services remotely to address personal and professional challenges. He has been licensed since 2001.

Dr. Tobin approaches his patients and clients from a developmental perspective that emphasizes the role of social relations in the formation of identity and the evolution of self-concept. For Dr. Tobin, one’s identity is rarely self-constructed but, instead, largely the product of others’ notions, wishes, and needs or difficulty in negotiating the needs of others vs. one’s self. The family of origin is the initial social system where one’s identity is typically created and defined by others, a process that often continues across the lifespan in diverse relational contexts including romantic relationships and professional work settings. To the degree that a person becomes tethered to others’ views of who he or she is, Dr. Tobin contends, the individual is held captive in a state of self-deception and, gradually, loses the capacity to generate a life that reflects one’s subjectivity and unique personhood.

Education and Clinical Training

Dr. Tobin received an A.B. magna cum laude in Psychology and Social Relations from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He completed his pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship in the joint child/adult track at the Massachusetts General Hospital, a Harvard Medical School training site. He is a former advanced candidate in psychoanalysis at the Psychoanalytic Institute of New England, East (PINE).

Dr. Tobin’s academic training focused on how the capacity to form and maintain romantic relationships is affected by relational distress early in life. He has conducted empirical research on the nature of attachment between depressed adolescents and their parents, leading to a clinical orientation that emphasizes the interpersonal processes underlying diverse forms of distress and psychiatric conditions. Dr. Tobin received advanced clinical training in individual, group, and couple/marital therapy.

Dr. Tobin received an A.B. magna cum laude in Psychology and Social Relations from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He completed his pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship in the joint child/adult track at the Massachusetts General Hospital, a Harvard Medical School training site. He is a former advanced candidate in psychoanalysis at the Psychoanalytic Institute of New England, East (PINE).

Dr. Tobin’s academic training focused on how the capacity to form and maintain romantic relationships is affected by relational distress early in life. He has conducted empirical research on the nature of attachment between depressed adolescents and their parents, leading to a clinical orientation that emphasizes the interpersonal processes underlying diverse forms of distress and psychiatric conditions. Dr. Tobin received advanced clinical training in individual, group, and couple/marital therapy.

Professional Membership / Certification

• Member of the American Psychological Association
• Certificate of Professional Qualification in Psychology Awarded by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards
• Member of the Orange County Psychological Association

• Member of the American Psychological Association
• Certificate of Professional Qualification in Psychology Awarded by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards
• Member of the Orange County Psychological Association

Visit Dr. Tobin's Office

15615 Alton Parkway
Suite 450
Irvine, CA 92618

Hours
Monday: 8am - 8pm
Tuesday: 8am - 8pm
Wednesday: 8am - 8pm
Thursday: 8am - 8pm
Friday: 8am - 8pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed