Angela Breidenstine, PhD

Angela Breidenstine, PhD, is a senior psychologist in the ADHD and Behavior Disorders Center at the Child Mind Institute in the San Francisco Bay Area.

With more than two decades of experience, she partners with clients to address PTSD and other stressor-related disorders, anxiety, ADHD, behavior problems, early childhood emotional and behavioral difficulties, attachment disorders, parent-child relationship challenges, parenting concerns, sleep problems in childhood, mood-related issues, and selective mutism. She has worked in various settings, including outpatient mental health clinics, inpatient psychiatric units, and medical centers.

Dr. Breidenstine combines evidence-based therapeutic approaches with a warm, collaborative, respectful, and developmentally informed style. She has certification in evidence-based therapeutic models, including Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Circle of Security (COS), Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy such as Preschool PTSD Treatment (PPT). She also has advanced training in evidence-based therapies such as SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions), Parent Management Training (PMT), and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Selective Mutism (PCIT-SM). She continues to expand her practice by incorporating elements of third-wave cognitive behavioral therapy approaches, including acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). Dr. Breidenstine has completed multiple trainings related to mindfulness and psychotherapy, and she is a trained teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) and Self-Compassion Training for Healthcare Communities (SCHC).

In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Breidenstine has presented on topics such as infant and early childhood mental health, attachment, development, trauma, anxiety, cultivating wellness, self-compassion, and behavior management. She has led workshops for parents, educators, clinicians, child protective service workers, and foster parents. She has supervised psychology externs, interns, postdoctoral fellows, and psychiatry residents, taught at the graduate level and in intensive training programs, and co-authored scholarly publications and book chapters on infant mental health, trauma, attachment, and foster care.

Before joining the Child Mind Institute, Dr. Breidenstine spent over 16 years as a faculty member with Tulane University’s nationally recognized Infant Team, where she provided comprehensive mental health services for infants and young children involved in the child welfare system. She still holds a part-time Adjunct Associate Professor appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Tulane University School of Medicine. In this role, she collaborates with the Louisiana Children’s Museum to create programming for young children and parents, and she participates in the Early Trauma Treatment Network, a multi-site program funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

• Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane University School of Medicine
• Clinical Psychologist/Supervisor, Tulane Parenting Education Program & Tulane Infant Team
• Clinical Psychologist, Tulane Infant Mental Health Services and Tulane Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology Services
• Faculty Member, Tulane Institute of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health

• Postdoctoral LEND Fellow (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental & Related Disabilities), Clinical Psychology, Early Childhood; Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
• Predoctoral Clinical Intern, Clinical Psychology, Child Track; Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Tulane University Medical Center
• Extern, Center for Clinical Psychology Services, University of Virginia
• Extern, Adolescent Unit, Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents, Staunton, Virginia
• Extern, Center for Clinical Psychology Services, University of Virginia

• PhD, Clinical Psychology, University of Virginia
• MEd, Clinical and School Psychology, University of Virginia
• MS, Psychology, Pacific Graduate School of Psychology
• BA, Psychology and English, Bridgewater College