Dr. Ayelet Hirshfeld
Dr. Ayelet Hirshfeld is a licensed clinical psychologist, Lacanian psychoanalyst, psychotraumatologist, and consultant with more than two decades of experience across clinical practice, psychoanalysis, trauma, psychological assessment, clinical supervision, research, and organizational consultation.
Her clinical work focuses particularly on trauma, PTSD, complex trauma, dissociation, attachment, and complex psychological presentations. Her approach brings together clinical psychology, Lacanian psychoanalysis, trauma-informed treatment, and EMDR, with careful attention to the singularity of each person’s experience.
Beyond her clinical practice, Dr. Hirshfeld works across clinical supervision, executive consultation, trauma-informed program development, professional education and training, and organizational consultation. Her broader professional experience includes mental health and technology entrepreneurship, advisory work, and consultation with mental health, healthcare, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations.
Education & Training
Stanford University
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Psychology, Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS)
Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalytic Formation
California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University
Ph.D., Clinical Psychology
M.A., Clinical Psychology
University College London (UCL), Global Business School for Health
Healthcare Executive Programme
Licensure & Professional Credentials
California Board of Psychology
Licensed Clinical Psychologist · PSY 22767
National Register of Health Service Psychologists
National Register Health Service Psychologist · Credential ID 149650
EMDR Institute, Inc.
EMDR-Trained Clinician
Star Behavioral Health Providers
Trained Provider · Military-Focused Care
Professional & Academic Engagement
Lacanian School of Psychoanalysis
Analyst of the School · Member, Program Committee
Vestigia
Editorial Board
Selected Clinical, Research & Scholarly Experience
PTSD Research Program — San Francisco VA Medical Center / UCSF
Clinical Interviewer and Research Coordinator in the PTSD Research Program at the San Francisco VA Medical Center/UCSF. Conducted clinical interviews and psychodiagnostic assessments in longitudinal traumatic-stress research involving veterans and police academy trainees. Designed, conducted, and coordinated doctoral research examining secondary traumatization among spouses and partners of newly recruited police officers under Principal Investigator Charles Marmar, M.D.
Variable Length Lacanian Analysis — Mission Mental Health
Developed and implemented a Variable Length Lacanian Analysis model at Mission Mental Health and provided training in Lacanian technique and its clinical application. Subsequently served as a consultant to the Brief Analysis Project and facilitated the Variable Length Lacanian Analyses Seminar with Raul Moncayo, PhD, supporting implementation of the model by pre- and postdoctoral clinicians.
Trauma & Secondary Traumatization Research
Doctoral dissertation, “Secondary Effects of Traumatization Among Spouses and Partners of Newly Recruited Police Officers” (2005), examining secondary traumatization among police partners. Conducted within the PTSD Research Program at the San Francisco VA Medical Center/UCSF under Principal Investigator Charles Marmar, M.D., this work was followed by collaborative research and publication on secondary trauma among police officer partners, including “Prospective Study of Police Officer Partners: A New Pathway to Secondary Trauma?”
Psychoanalytic Scholarship
Co-author with Raul Moncayo, PhD, of “Variable Length Lacanian Analyses and the Question of Brief Analysis,” published in The Emptiness of Oedipus: Identification and Non-Identification in (Lacanian) Psychoanalysis (Routledge). Author of a published review of Claudia Frank’s Melanie Klein in Berlin – Her First Psychoanalyses of Children, European Journal of Psychoanalysis, No. 30, Winter–Spring 2010.
Vestigia Journal
Editorial Board member. Guest Editor of Anti-Semitism/Segregation, Volume 4, Issue 2 (2025), and author of the issue editorial.
Professional Education, Lectures & Training
Extensive experience providing lectures, professional education, clinical training, and workshops for mental health professionals, healthcare providers, organizations, and community groups. Areas of focus have included trauma and PTSD, complex and secondary traumatization, vicarious trauma, dissociation, PTSD/TBI differential diagnosis, psychoanalytic theory and practice, psychosomatic presentations, grief and loss, and trauma-informed clinical care. Selected professional education and training have included work with International SOS, the National Institute of Neuropsychological Rehabilitation in Israel, and Kids & Art Foundation, as well as other clinical, healthcare, and community-based organizations.
Clinical Approach
Depth. Subjectivity. Clinical rigor.
Dr. Hirshfeld’s clinical approach begins with the singularity of each person and the complexity of psychological experience. Her work draws from clinical psychology, Lacanian psychoanalysis, trauma-informed treatment, and EMDR, bringing depth-oriented inquiry into dialogue with contemporary approaches to psychological care. With particular expertise in trauma, complex trauma, PTSD, dissociation, and attachment, she works with patients to understand not only symptoms and current difficulties, but also the histories, relationships, unconscious patterns, and meanings through which experience is organized. Treatment is individualized, with careful attention to each person’s history, subjective experience, clinical needs, and aims for treatment.
Languages
English and Hebrew — native/bilingual proficiency