Meet Erin Armer, PhD

Dr. Armer is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the state of California (PSY31832) 

She provides a supportive space for individuals to process unexpected challenging and sometimes traumatic experiences. She prefers a collaborative engaging approach to therapy. Using evidence-based approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy and accelerated resolution therapy, she encourages individuals to develop tools and confidence in their ability to regulate their emotion, manage stressful life experiences, and achieve meaningful goals.

She has lived in California for decades; however, prior to moving to Northern California she had not lived anywhere longer than 5 years because she had frequently relocated with her family to different states and countries. This required quite a bit of adapting for a shy picky eater who would have preferred to survive on bread, cheese and chocolate. Thankfully, her travels made it less intimidating when she needed to relocate again for her undergraduate and graduate education.

She moved to the San Francisco Bay Area for her Child Psychology Internship at Stanford.  During her graduate training, the sudden birth complications and subsequent complex medical needs of her middle child required a dramatic shift in focus as her family adapted to the change. Unforeseen challenges appeared requiring both new family interactions and coping skills. She paused her training to become the full-time caregiver of a child with complex medical needs and her two siblings, learning to navigate a medical system to handle complicated care needs that no one in her family had ever dealt with before. While caring for her daughter she gained additional experience collaborating with professionals from a wide range of disciplines and provided medical care, case management and advocacy for her daughter until her passing at the age of 12.

She returned to her field by obtaining postdoctoral training in Pediatric Psychology at Stanford, working with parents of infants in an intensive care setting (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit) and with children and families facing serious medical illness, including solid organ transplant. She also supported NICU research as a Clinical Instructor at Stanford. Her work in these settings combined with her lived experience has developed her strong compassion as well as her knowledge of common emotional experiences and useful coping techniques for families facing unanticipated medical challenges and hospitalizations.