Alan D. Brandis, PhD, has dedicated his career to the field of mental wellness. As a licensed clinical psychologist at Atlanta Area Psychological Associates PC, Brandis has 35 years of experience in the field of mental wellness, including psychotherapeutic approaches, as well as psychodiagnostics assessment.
The Making of a Mental Health Expert
Brandis grew up in Chicago and received a bachelor’s degree in human behavior from the University of Chicago, with honors, in 1977. His education there grounded him in psychoanalytic theory, studying with Bruno Bettelheim, among others. He was involved in Gestalt therapy training, which was considered cutting-edge and innovative in the 1960s and 1970s. This form of psychotherapy, developed by Frederick Perls, concentrates on teaching patients to be cognizant of their behaviors and thoughts so they’re more self-aware. It also emphasizes how past experiences can influence a person’s behavior.
Later, Brandis moved to California to attend graduate school, where he explored alternative therapies, including Native American medicine wheels and sweat lodges. He also attended workshops given by Jean Houston. Houston and her husband, a physician, had witnessed the damage psychedelics could do to people, so they developed technologies to expand the human consciousness without psychedelic drugs. He was also granted the opportunity to attend training at the UCLA Pain Management Center, where he received training in chronic pain management and the use of hypnosis under Joseph Barber, PhD.
Brandis earned a PhD in professional psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, now a part of Alliant International University, in 1986.
Brandis maintained a private practice in the Los Angeles area until 1995. He was also a qualified medical evaluator for the California workers’ compensation system. In the mid-90s, he joined the Atlanta Area Psychological Associates PC. He is especially proud of developing the website for the practice in the 1990s, which he maintained until it was taken over by a web professional.
A Deep Interest in Psychotherapy
Brandis was also fascinated by Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), a group of information-processing models based on the concept that, by understanding how patients think, communicate, and behave, patterns can be changed to improve their state of mind and behavior. He had the opportunity to attend several training sessions, including some that were led by the developers of NLP, John Grinder and Richard Bandler.
“What’s unique about me is that I’ve taken a great deal of time, energy, and attention to explore things that I’ve been interested in that were not necessarily part of the mainstream curriculum or the educational programs I’ve been involved in. That’s how I was able to acquire a lot of knowledge and information about things that aren’t necessarily just the standard things that psychologists know and do,” Brandis says.
During one of his internships, Brandis worked with victims and perpetrators of child abuse. His dissertation was about developing a neuro-linguistic treatment for parental anger, which did show positive effects at reducing anger responses.
Brandis became interested in neurofeedback training as an alternative treatment approach for ADHD and received training in its use.
Brandis has seen many new developments in psychotherapy since he first started in the field. He is aware of the latest treatments, such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), but isn’t trained in that. He is concerned with what he regards as the ease with which some therapists consider every bad situation one has experienced as trauma. He asserts that therapists should evaluate their patients and assess for themselves how certain events have impacted the person, and help them build resilience to overcome negative memories, thoughts, and emotions.
“I hesitate to just define everything bad that has happened to you as traumatic. After Hurricane Katrina, I had an opportunity to work with a few Katrina victims. That was real trauma,” Brandis says.
Looking Below the Surface
Brandis describes himself as supremely curious and is an avid reader. He researches source material whenever he can so he can learn and understand subjects more deeply. He says he does not accept anything at face value but looks below the surface — both his patients and the material he researches.
In his free time, Brandis is a skilled home remodeler and has previously renovated rental houses and his office. One recent accomplishment was building an outdoor kitchen in his backyard. He is also an animal lover and understands the benefits of pet ownership for mental health.
