Mayra Allen, Ph.D.

I am a bilingual (English and Spanish) clinical psychologist (PSY#34113) based in California. I identify as a ciswoman (she/her/ella pronouns), Latina, first-generation American, daughter of Colombian parents, pansexual, wife, and mother. On my spare time, I enjoy music, love exploring foods, dancing, art, yoga, traveling, fashion, spending time with family and friends.

My focus in graduate school was exploring the long-term effects of traumatic stress and PTSD. While studying this, I witnessed the overarching impact that trauma can have on ones physical health. This shifted my focus to explore the intersectionality between traumatic stress and chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, liver failure, AIDS/HIV, chronic pain, diabetes, and others. I believe that we have an incredible capacity to build resilience in the midst of adversity and have the strength within ourselves to live a meaningful life.

In addition to my work in private practice, I am an Attending Clinical Psychologist at UCSF’s Psycho-Oncology Department within the Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center. My work entails serving adults navigating different stages of their cancer journeys such as, coping with recent cancer diagnosis, navigating treatment, cancer survivorship and end-of-life.

My Therapeutic Approach

I believe that each individual has the capacity for growth and healing through self-reflection, self-discovery, and hard work. As a therapist, I aim to create a safe space to support you in fostering your own curiosity and readiness to do your inner work. I encourage collaboration as I recognize that you are the expert of your life and my role is to be compassionate, reflective, humble, flexible, transparent and direct. The therapy process can be challenging and I do my best to walk alongside you to support you in building resilience and inner confidence that you have the skills to work through life’s adversities.

As a health psychologist, I use the Biopsychosocial Cultural Model to guide my work. This framework helps me explore the relationship between biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors that influence health outcomes. Exploring these elements helps me understand you as a whole-person and informs the therapeutic interventions I use.

In general, I use evidence-based therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Meaning Centered Psychotherapy (MCP), Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), Motivational Interviewing (MI) and mindfulness-based approaches.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Diversity, equity and inclusivity are very important to me and I aim to be as inclusive as possible in my work. I have experience working with following identity groups:

  • Adults of all ages from young adults to older adults in their 80s and 90s.

  • Individuals who identify as black, indigenous, person of color (BIPOC)

  • Spanish speaking individuals

  • Active military & Veterans

  • LGBTQIA+

  • Individuals with developmental and/or acquired disabilities

Qualifications

  • California Board of Psychology, Licensed Clinical Psychologist: PSY34113

    • APA-accredited Postdoctoral Residency - Integrated Care in Primary Care Medicine: San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAHCS)

    • APA-accredited Pre-doctoral Internship - Generalist Track: San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAHCS)

    • Ph.D in Clinical Psychology - Palo Alto University

    • M.A. in Clinical Psychology - Palo Alto University

    • B.A. in Psychology, minor in biology - University of California, San Diego (UCSD)

    • American Psycho-Oncology Society Pre-Conference Workshop: Let’s Talk About It: Sex, Cancer and What Every Cancer Clinician Needs to Know with Sharon Bober, PhD and Christian Nelson, PhD

    • Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Meaning Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) Training with Dr. William Breichtbart

    • Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI), VA VISN 21 Phase I and Phase II Training, San Francisco VA Medical Center

    • Psychology Summer Institute, Minority Fellowship Program -Recipient for the American Psychological Association (APA)

    • Spanish graduate course - Clinical consideration for Latinx clients at Palo Alto University. Instructor: Dr. Martha Hernandez, Ph.D.

    • ACT Mini Rotation, Palo Alto Veteran Affairs Healthcare System. Trainers: Robyn Walser, Ph.D. and Veronica Reis, Ph.D.

    • CAPS-5 Training and administration, National Center for PTSD, Menlo Park Division. Trainers: Brian P. Marx, Ph.D., Michelle Bovin, Ph.D., and Patricia Watson, Ph.D.

  • Gomez, M. A., & Brown, L. M. (2020). Childhood Trauma-Related Interventions: Treatment at Different Stages Across the Life Span. In Childhood Trauma in Mental Disorders (pp. 443-460). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49414-8_21‍ ‍

    Gomez M. A., Eastwood, J, Pepine C. J, Handberg E. M, Bittner V, Mehta P. K, David S. Krantz D. S, VaccarinoV, Eteiba W, Merz N. B, Rutledge T. (2020). Psychological stress, cardiovascular risk factors, and cardiovascular event risk associations in the Women’s Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation. Journal of Stress and Health.https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2928

    Rutledge T, Nidich S, Schneider R, Mills PJ, Salerno J, Heppner P, Gomez M. A, Gaylord-King C, Rainforth M. (2014). Design and rationale of a comparative effectiveness trial evaluating transcendental meditation against established therapies for PTSD contemporary clinical trials. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 39, 1, 50-56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2014.07.005

    • Nurse Practitioner Trainee Group Facilitator, San Francisco VA Medical Center

    • Adjunct Professor, University of San Francisco (USF) for the Clinical Psychology Psy.D. Program, School of Nursing and Health Profession

    • Delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for Cancer Survivors Via Telehealth at International Psychosocial Oncology Society (IPOS) Pre-conference workshops

    • LLS Spanish Podcast called Sintiendo el Pulso“Soy cuidador de un paciente con cáncer. ¿Y ahora qué?” Podcast on finding balance between self-care and caregiving. https://thebloodline.org/TBL/esp4/

    • Mental Health Tools for Navigating the Uncertainty of Cancer. Presented at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) annual conference held in San Francisco, California.

    • LLS Webinar called Caregiving Over Coffee

      “Giving Yourself Grace”

      Webinar discussed tools to navigate caregiving and self-care. https://lls.org/patient-education-webcasts/caregiving-over-coffee-giving-yourself-grace

    • Overcoming Post-Traumatic Stress. Class presented to at UCSF’s Helen Diller Cancer Center. Lecture explored the impact of the cancer journey that contributes to traumatic stress in survivorship. ACT tools presented to take action towards living a meaningful life.

    • Team Leadership, Consultation, and Interprofessional Collaboration. Lecture focused on organizational psychology content relating to models of leadership at USF’s Clinical Psychology Psy.D. Program, School of Nursing and Health Profession. San Francisco, CA.

    • Clinical Considerations for Trauma Treatment for LGBTQ+ populations. Human Sexuality Seminar Series at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System, San Francisco CA

    • American Psycho-Oncology Society (APOS) 2025-2026 Health Equity Scholars Program Awardee

    • Helen Diller Family Cancer Center Office of Diversity Equity Inclusion Accessibility (DEIA) Mini Grant for Conference Travel

    • Palo Alto University Minority Fellowship Award

    •  Palo Alto University Certificate of Excellence in Trauma Research