Hello and thank you for visiting! My name is Kristin Walker, PhD, and I am a Licensed Psychologist (PSY-27836) and President of PEAKPsychLA - a private psychotherapy practice in Beverly Hills, CA. I work with teenagers, adolescents, and adults who are experiencing depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, intense or overwhelming emotions, and alcohol and drug misuse. I also work with people living with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and personality disorders. If you are struggling with any of these experiences, and are looking for individual therapy, couples, and/or family therapy - you have come to the right place!

At PEAKPsychLA, I specialize - and work most often - in the areas of suicide prevention, mood disorders, and personality disorders (including Borderline PD and Narcissistic PD). I work with people who are or have been suicidal and/or who lost a loved one to suicide. I have more than 12 years of experience working with amazing people to achieve positive results, and I hope to be able to help you too!

My goal is to really listen and understand how you are feeling and what you are going through, and then use my expertise in combination with the most up-to-date psychological research available to provide the best available treatment options for YOU! I want to work WITH you to help you meet your goals, improve your relationships, feel better about yourself, and reach your PEAK!

I received my PhD from East Tennessee State University in 2014. I completed my predoctoral clinical internship at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA working for Dr. Nadine Kaslow, the 2014 President of the American Psychological Association. In 2014, I moved to Los Angeles to begin a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior in the Center for Neurocognition and Emotion.

From 2014-2016, I worked at Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - Los Angeles (CBTLA) providing outpatient psychotherapy, and I was an Adjunct Professor for Pomona College and Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA. After completing my fellowship at UCLA in 2016, I taught in the UCLA Department of Psychology and served as an Assistant Project Scientist and Clinical Supervisor within the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences.

Suicide and suicide prevention, especially among adolescents and young adults, is not only an area of expertise but also one that I have been committed to for more than 12 years when I began my Master’s degree program at University of Louisville in Kentucky. I have been a Master Trainer for Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) - a suicide prevention gatekeeper training program - since 2012, and I am fortunate to have trained over 200 people in Southern California since I moved to Los Angeles. In my former life as a research scientist, I have studied suicide, depression, problem solving ability and personality traits among college students and adults. I am published in the areas of depression, suicide, and problem solving and have given numerous invited addresses and presentations on these topics to diverse audiences since 2009.

If you are struggling, please know that you are not alone and there is help available. If you are thinking of suicide, please let someone - anyone - know how you are feeling. Call the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-866-273-8255 or text HOME to 741741. As hard as it seems to believe when all you can see in the moment is darkness, there is light ahead and it can get better.