Tom Wooldridge – Department Chair and Associate Professor

Tom Wooldridge, PsyD, ABPP, CEDS-C

Department Chair

Associate Professor

Tom Wooldridge, PsyD, ABPP, FIPA, CEDS-S is Chair in the Department of Psychology at Golden Gate University as well as a psychoanalyst and board-certified, licensed psychologist. His first book, Understanding Anorexia Nervosa in Males, was published by Routledge in 2016 and has been praised as “groundbreaking” and a “milestone publication in our field.” His second book, Psychoanalytic Treatment of Eating Disorders: When Words Fail and Bodies Speak, an edited volume in the Relational Perspectives Book Series, was published by Routledge in 2018, and has been well reviewed. His third book, Eating Disorders (New Introductions to Contemporary Psychoanalysis), was released in 2022. His fourth book, co-edited with Burke, Michaels, and Muhr, is entitled Advancing Psychotherapy for the Next Generation: Rehumanizing Mental Health Policy and Practice. He has also written a novel about the process of psychotherapy, Ghosts of the Unremembered Past, additionally released as an audiobook with Audible. In addition, Dr. Wooldridge has been interviewed by numerous media publications including Newsweek, Slate, WebMD, and others for his work. He is a Personal and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Institute for Northern California and a Training Analyst at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis. He is on the Scientific Advisory Council of the National Eating Disorders Association, Faculty at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC), the Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (NCSPP), the William Alanson White Institute’s Eating Disorders, Compulsions, and Addictions program, and the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, and has a private practice in Berkeley, CA.

Research Interests & Areas of Specialization

Eating disorders, with a particular interest in male populations
Philosophical problems in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy
The intersection of technology and psychoanalysis

Education

Certificate in Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California, 2018
Board Certification in Clinical Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), 2018
Certified Eating Disorders Specialist (CEDS), International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals, 2017
PsyD (Psychology), Argosy University, 2011
MA (Psychology), Argosy University, 2009
AB (Philosophy), Brown University, 2006

Professional & Teaching Experience

2012 – Present: Department Chair and Associate Professor, Golden Gate University
2013 – Present: Psychoanalyst and Licensed Psychologist in private practice, Berkeley, CA
• 2021 – Present: Editorial Board, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
2015 – Present: Editorial Board, Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention
2013 – Present: National Association for Males with Eating Disorders, Executive Co-director
2012: Adjunct Faculty, Argosy University / San Francisco Bay Area
2011: Postdoctoral Fellow, Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland: Early Childhood Mental Health Department
2010: Predoctoral Intern, National Asian-American Psychology Training Center at RAMS, Inc.

Selected Publications

Books:

Burke, N., Michaels, L., Muhr, J., & Wooldridge, T. (Eds.) (Expected 2022). Advancing Psychotherapy for the Next Generation: Rehumanizing Mental Health Policy and Practice. New York: Routledge.
Wooldridge, T. (Expected 2022). Eating disorders: The Routledge introductions to contemporary psychoanalysis. (Introductions to Contemporary Psychoanalysis Book Series). New York: Routledge.
Wooldridge, T. (2019). Ghosts of the unremembered past. IPBooks. (Also available as an audiobook on Audible.com)
Wooldridge, T. (Ed.) (2018). Psychoanalytic treatment of eating disorders: When words fail and bodies speak. (Relational Perspectives Book Series). New York: Routledge.
Wooldridge, T. (2016). Understanding anorexia nervosa in males: An integrative approach. New York: Routledge.

Journal Articles:

Wooldridge, T. (in press). Anorexia nervosa, psychic death, and the subjugation of need. Psychoanalytic Dialogues.
Wooldridge, T. (in press). “How his hair is growing thin!”: On the emotional significance of male-pattern hair loss. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
Wooldridge, T. (2019). Ghosts of the unremembered past. IPBooks. (Also available as an audiobook on Audible.com)
Wooldridge, T. (in press). Boys and their muscles: The paternal object in muscle dysmorphia. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child.
Wooldridge, T. (2021). Book review: Re-thinking eating disorders: Language, emotion, and the brain. Routledge, New York, 2018, 213 pp. Psychodynamic Psychiatry, 49(3).
Wooldridge, T.. (2021). Prologue: Advancing Psychotherapy for the Next Generation: Rehumanizing Mental Health Policy and Practice. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 41(8).
Wooldridge, T. (2021). Abjection, traumatic themes, and alexithymia in anorexia nervosa. Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 57(2), 327 – 353.
Wooldridge, T. (2021). Anorexia nervosa and the paternal function. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 69(1), 7-32.
Wooldridge, T. (2021). Alexithymia, meaning-making, and management: Response to Novack. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 31(2), 197 – 204.
Wooldridge, T. (in press). Anorexia nervosa and the paternal function. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
Wooldridge, T. (2018). Finding freedom: An exploration of the relationship between agency, motility, and aggression. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 65(1), 41 – 58.
Wooldridge, T. (2018). The entropic body: Primitive anxieties and secondary skin formation in anorexia nervosa. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 28(2), 189 – 202.
Wooldridge, T. (2018). Anorexia nervosa and the analyst’s paternal function: Response to Schoen, Zerbe, and Boulware. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 28(2), 228 – 233.
Aafjes-van Doorn, K. & Wooldridge, T. (2018). The complexity of loss during a forced termination: A case illustration. British Journal of Psychotherapy.
Wooldridge, T. (2017). Now I see me, now I don’t: Computer-based screen services and narcissistic psychopathology. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, 14(2), 193 – 205.
Wooldridge, T. & Lemberg, R. (2016). Macho, Bravado, and Eating Disorders: Special Issues in Diagnosing and Treating Men. Psychiatric Times.
Cohn, L., Murray, S., Wooldridge, T., & Walen, A. (2016). Including the excluded: Males and gender minorities in eating disorder prevention. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 24(1).
Murray, S.B., Griffiths, S., Hazery, L., Shen, T., Wooldridge, T. & Mond, J.M. (2016). Go big or go home: A thematic content analysis of pro-muscularity websites. Body Image, 16, 17 – 20.
Wooldridge, T. (2015). Primitive anxieties and secondary skin formation in anorexia nervosa. fort da, 21(1), 74 – 84.
Wooldridge, T. (2014). The enigma of ana: A psychoanalytic exploration of pro-ana forums. The Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 13(3).
Wooldridge, T. (2014). It’s hard to hold an enigma: Response to discussants. The Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 13(3).
Wooldridge, T., Dwiwardani, C., & Prasad, S. (2014). Cultural training in internship: A relational model founded on cultural humility. Psychotherapy Bulletin, 49(3), 19 – 26.
Wooldridge, T., Mok, C., & Chiu, S. (2014). A qualitative content analysis of male participation in pro-ana forums. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 22(2).
Wooldridge, T. & Lytle, P. (2012). An overview of anorexia nervosa in adolescent males. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 20(5), 368-378.

Book Chapters:

Wooldridge, T. (in press). Revisiting in the entropic body: When the body is canvas. In R. Hilty (Ed). When the body tells the story. London: Karnac.
Wooldridge, T. (2019). Catastrophe and faith in anorexia nervosa. In A. Alisobhani & G. Cortorphine (Eds). Explorations in Bion’s “O” : Everything We Know Nothing About. New York: Routledge.
Wooldridge, T. & Lytle, P. (2017). Web-Based Intervention for Adolescent Males with Anorexia Nervosa. In R. Valle & J. Klimo (Eds.), The changing faces of therapy: Innovative perspectives on current Issues, disorders, and assessment. San Francisco: Argosy University Press.
Wooldridge, T. & Lytle, P. (2013). An overview of anorexia nervosa in males. In L. Cohn & R. Lemberg (Eds.), Current findings on males with eating disorders (pp. 23 – 33). New York: Routledge

Other Writing:

Wooldridge, T. (2020). Dark feelings will haunt us until they are expressed in words. Retrieved from https://psyche.co/ideas/dark-feelings-will-haunt-us-until-they-are-expressed-in-words
Wooldridge, T. (2019). Despite their dangers, pro-anorexia forums have much to teach us. Retrieved from https://aeon.co/ideas/despite-their-dangers-pro-anorexia-forums-have-much-to-teach-us.

Selected Presentations

Wooldridge, T. (2021). Psychodynamic Treatment of Eating Disorders. Two week class for medical residents at the University of California Medical School.
Wooldridge, T. (2021). Alexithymia and Abjection in Anorexia Nervosa. Presentation at Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc.
Wooldridge, T. (2020). Psychodynamic Treatment of Eating Disorders. Two week class for medical residents at the University of California Medical School.
Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California. “Psychic Organization III: Narcissism and Perversions” 8 week course for Psychoanalytic Candidates taught in 2019, 2020 (2x), and 2021.
Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (NCSPP). “When Words Fail and Bodies Speak: Psychoanalytic Treatment of Eating Disorders.” 8-week course offered as part of the year-long Intensive Study Group (ISG) to students in East Bay and San Francisco in 2020.
Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (NCSPP). “When Words Fail and Bodies Speak: Psychoanalytic Treatment of Eating Disorders.” 6-week standalone course offered in San Francisco in 2020.
Wooldridge, T. (2019). Psychodynamic Treatment of Eating Disorders. Three week class for medical residents at the University of California Medical School.
Wooldridge, T.. (2019). Rough-and-Tumble: Agency, Play, and the Analyst’s Paternal Function. Presentation at Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc.
Wooldridge, T. (2019). Finding Freedom: Exploring the Relationship between Agency, Motility, and Aggression. Presentation at Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California.
Wooldridge, T. (2018). Rough-and-Tumble: Agency, Play, and the Analyst’s Paternal Function. Presentation at the Eating Disorders, Compulsions, and Addictions Program at William Alanson White Institute.
Wooldridge, T. (2017). Discussant for Kathryn Zerbe’s presentation, The secret life of secrets: Toxic effects of preconscious knowledge on the development of eating disorder, psychosomatic illness, and countertransference reactivity. Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California.
Wooldridge, T. (2017). Eating Disorders Discussion Group. Presentation at the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) with Kathryn Zerbe, MD.
Wooldridge, T. (2016). The entropic body: Primitive anxieties and secondary skin formation in anorexia nervosa. Presentation at the Eating Disorders, Compulsions, and Addictions Program at William Alanson White Institute with discussant Sarah Schoen, PhD.
Wooldridge, T. (2016). The entropic body: The (mis)use of the body in patients with eating disorders. Presentation at Richmond Area Multi-Services, Inc.
Wooldridge, T. (2016). When words fail: The role of the body in managing primitive anxieties in patients with eating disorders. Symposium at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California with discussant Peter Goldberg, PhD.
Wooldridge, T. (2014). Catastrophe and faith in anorexia nervosa. 8^th International Bion Conference. Los Angeles, CA.
Wooldridge, T. (2014). The enigma of ana: A psychoanalytic exploration of pro-ana forums. Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology Scientific Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Wooldridge, T. & Chiu, S. (2013). A qualitative content analysis of male participation in pro-ana forums. Poster presented at the 2013 annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Honolulu, HI.
Mok, C., Wooldridge, T., Christopher, S., Trafton, J., Kimerling, R., & Weaver, C. (2013). Complex trauma and criminality in veterans in recovery from substance abuse. Poster presented at the 2013 annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Philadelphia, PA.
Wooldridge, T. “Psychodynamic Therapy with Eating Disorders.” Lecture at Notre Dame de Namur University / Department of Psychology, November 2013.
Wooldridge, T. “Psychodynamic Therapy with the Borderline Couple.” Lecture at Notre Dame de Namur University / Department of Psychology, June 2013.
Wooldridge, T. “An Exploration of a Therapist’s Biases about Couple’s Therapy.” Lecture at Argosy University / San Francisco Bay Area, December 2011.
Reiss, S., Kennedy, C., Wooldridge, T., & Krishnamurthi, S. (2003). CLIME: An environment for constrained evolution. Demonstration at International Conference on Software Engineering.

Professional Associations

Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC)
International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy (IARPP)
Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (NCSPP)
Division 39, American Psychological Association
International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (IAEDP)
Alameda County Psychological Association (ACPA)

Honors & Awards

2018: Golden Gate University – Given Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Integration
2017: Two published articles chosen for “Top 25 Articles from 1993 – 2017” by Editor-in-Chief of Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention.
2013 – 2014: Nagel T. Miner Research Professor, Golden Gate University
2003: Royce Fellow, Brown University

Media & Interviews

Psych Up Live with Dr. Suzanne Phillips. “Psychoanalytic treatment of eating disorders”
ED Matters with Kathy Cortese. “Psychoanalytic Treatment of Eating Disorders”
Psych Up Live with Dr. Suzanne Phillips. “Understanding anorexia nervosa in males”
Stuff.co.nz. “Anorexia: A teen’s struggle and his mother’s love”
Newsweek. “Where’s Ken? The abandonment of men in body positivity”
WebMD. “Binge eating disorder in men”
Slate.com. “Let them blog: The panic over pro-anorexia websites and social media isn’t healthy”
Yahoo Health. “For young men, eating disorders aren’t always so obvious”
Glammonitor, “Male eating disorders on the rise”
Philadelphia Inquirer “Missing the signs in a boy’s eating disorder”
Student Health 101 “What’s Batman got to do with body image and eating disorders?”
Canadian Medical Association Journal. “Treatment challenges for men with eating disorders”
National Post. “Anorexia hitting men increasingly hard: One in three cases in new study is male”
Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun. “The new face of eating disorders: Men starving themselves to look like pictures in magazines”
CBS San Francisco: About the Bay with Mike Sugerman.