AMIE LOVE CALLON, PSY.D.

Hello. I am a licensed Clinical Psychologist in private practice with over 17 years experience providing psychotherapy to patients of varying ages and backgrounds. I work with adults, adolescents, and children, providing psychotherapy for individuals, couples, adolescents, and families. I am the Founder, President, and CEO of South Bay Psychology Specialists, A Professional Corporation, located in Manhattan Beach, California.

Truly getting to know, learn and deeply understand the people I work with is a strong focus throughout my therapy. I hold great appreciation for the vast complexity of human life and the exquisitely intricate uniqueness that exists within the lived experience of every individual. 

I feel fortunate to have received exceptional and extensive education and training in the field of psychology. Since I was very young I have been fascinated with the human mind, the vast array of unique emotional experiences people have and an ongoing curiosity to cultivate a deeper understanding of our relationships with ourselves and others.

I received my Bachelors degree in Psychology from UCLA, an incredible experience that fueled my desire to continue learning as much as I could about the field. I completed graduate school in San Francisco, receiving my Masters and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, graduating at the the top of my class. The rigorous education and intensive clinical training was remarkable. Despite the enormous amount of time, energy and focus the program demanded, I found the experience endlessly fascinating. Ultimately it proved invaluable to my life’s work.

During graduate school I was fortunate to learn from a multitude of truly remarkable and seasoned professors / psychologists. This is also where I was first introduced to contemporary psychoanalytic / psychodynamic perspectives and what turned out to be my greatest passion of all within the field. This lay the foundation for the ever-evolving journey and discovery of my authentic self as well as my own unique analytic therapeutic style.

More specifically, I work within a contemporary psychoanalytic model called Intersubjectivity, a theoretical orientation with philosophical underpinnings in phenomenology and contexualism. I continue to be delighted by how profoundly nuanced, non-judgmental, authentic and expansive this framework is.

This work has allowed me the honor of witnessing some incredibly profound human experiences, from the most heart opening and awe inspiring to the most heartbreaking and devastating, and so much in between.

One of the most significant truths I hold close to my heart and am reminded of again and again is this: To be of any kind of real help to another human being we must, to the best of our ability, be able to provide an atmosphere of emotional safety. This means one must be able to hold a deep and genuine non-judgemental inquiry into another’s life experiences. The ability to sustain a true sense of curiosity and desire to understand what it has been like for the other is crucial. I believe we must take great care, as psychotherapists, to remain continuously open to learning, allowing space for multiple possibilities of understanding another, while trying to veer away from reductionistic and assumption based thinking.

Within the psychotherapy process my patients and I are able to make sense, together, of how they have come to be who, how and where they are in life, functioning in the way they currently do. What may have previously seemed nonsensical does start to make sense when we really take the time to listen and understand another person’s subjective experience. We must take whatever time is needed while continuing to listen deeply and with a compassionate ear, open mind, and stance of curiosity while remaining focused on understanding what it has been like for another human being. 

I work to build a strong therapeutic relationship, grounded in authenticity, with a safe, genuine and non-judgmental atmosphere. This is essential for cultivating the benefits that come with greater self-awareness and emotional understanding of both past and present life experiences. Within this therapeutic atmosphere opportunities open up for deeper personal meaning and more effective choices in responding to life’s challenges. When people commit to this work I tend to see great shifts in their ability to tolerate and grapple with painful emotions. With those shifts, new ways of experiencing life become possible.

The ability to take a genuine, curious, and compassionate look at yourself can lead the way to a profound sense of freedom and relief. I have seen nothing more beautiful than the kind of liberated and fulfilling life experiences that have resulted from dedication to this journey.