Gurney Helps Others Improve Communication

Andrea Gurney knew she wanted to become a psychologist when she was 13 years old. When Gurney’s parents separated, she moved with her mother and sister from New York to Arizona. She remembers going to a family therapist at that time and how it helped provide stability and helped the family to openly communicate with one another.

“I remember thinking as an eighth grader that if I could make a difference in an adolescent’s or a family’s life the way this psychologist has made a difference in our life, then it would be worth it.”

Gurney, assistant professor of psychology, recently opened a private practice in Montecito. She began teaching at Westmont in the fall of 2005.

“My mom had enough insight to recognize we needed an outside professional to help us adjust, as individuals and as a family, to the stressors accompanying our cross-country move,” she says. “It truly was a time when I knew I wanted to make a difference in someone’s life to help them communicate better, help them love better and help them learn how to live together better in the face of normal everyday stressors.”

Gurney is uniquely qualified to help people with many different psychological issues. Her diverse background includes counseling, as well as neuropsychological testing, with children, adolescents and adults in a variety of contexts. She has done work in schools, inpatient units, outpatient clinics, and home-based therapy. Additionally, she chose to do a post-doctoral fellowship in couples and family therapy.

“I purposely sought out a broad range of training so I’d be able to work with anyone who comes to see me,” she says.

Gurney’s research experience has focused on attachment relationships in families as well as immigrant youth, inner-city youth, and families with children who are developmentally delayed.

“I enjoy helping people find healthy positive outcomes in the face of challenges, whether it be life transitions or severe stressors such as poverty or life-threatening medical issues.” she says.

But Gurney says it shouldn’t take a dire situation or tragedy before people visit a psychologist.

“I recommend therapy as a preventative step,” she says. “It’s great working with people who want to learn how to love better or communicate better and are motivated to do so.”

“We all come from some sort of background. Nobody’s perfect. Some of us have had role models who were less than perfect.”

Gurney earned her doctorate at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., and her master’s degree at University of Pennsylvania. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in couples and family counseling and a pre-doctoral internship in individual therapy at Harvard Medical School.

She is a member of both the American Psychological Association and the Santa Barbara Psychological Association.

Her clinical office is located at 1187 Coast Village Road, Suite 10G. Please call (805) 565-6057 for more information.