Judith Adams, MSEd, LMFT

Judith Adams, MSEd, LMFT earned her master’s degree in counseling psychology from the University of Southern California. During her internship at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (Division of Psychiatry) she was trained in the fundamentals of psycho-analytical theory and early child development, coupled with family systems.

She worked on one of the first child abuse treatment programs in the country specializing in parent education and family therapy and was licensed as a Marriage Family Therapist in 1980.

Prior to joining the Aloha team, Ms. Adams worked as a medical social worker at Sharp Mesa Vista psychiatric hospital, and as a marriage family therapist at Sharp McDonald Center substance abuse treatment program. Her extensive clinical career includes management and leadership positions (Children’s Institute International, San Diego County Child and Adolescent Mental Health, and Casa de Amparo, an emergency shelter for abused children. Subsequently, she broadened her focus to include the challenges of neighborhoods and communities. She became a master trainer in Techniques of Participation (ToP) through the Institute of Cultural Affairs, specializing in strategic planning and organizational planning within neighborhoods, communities, NGOs and government agencies. She also served as the strategic planner for the President’s Family Justice Center initiative, and The International Family Justice Center Alliance, creating more than 35 domestic violence intervention programs across the country and around the globe, including Bahrain, and Amman Jordan. In 2012, she retired from international travel and returned to her first passion, individual and family therapy.

Ms. Adams has extensive experience working with survivors of abuse and trauma. She also understands the challenges faced by military families experiencing deployment, homecoming, combat trauma, duty station transfers, changes in rank and status, and discharge from active duty. She specializes in individual and family growth and development. She combines the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with the theories of depth psychology, including work with symbols and dreams.

Ms. Adams is licensed by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences as a Marriage and Family Therapist. She is also a member of CAMFT. She continues her training in Jungian psychoanalysis in San Diego.

She serves on the board of directors of the Operation for HOPE Foundation in San Diego. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, moved to San Diego in 1982 and currently resides in both Arizona and Montana, with her husband, a retired USMC Captain.

“Life is the gift we’ve been given to make the most of; to learn and grow and develop; to spread our wings and see what we are made of. And if along the way, we find like-minded people who share our journey – even if just for a while, we are blessed.”