Swanson, Conti & Associates

Kristen McCarthy Paull, M.A.

Psychotherapy Associate

MFT intern # 62463

Supervisor: Rachela Conti, Psy.D.

Kristen received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Pepperdine University, in clinical psychology, with an emphasis on Marriage, Family, and Child-Centered Therapy. While at Pepperdine, Kristen wrote an in-depth position paper on Borderline Personality Disorder, which explored its complexities, and offered unique insights into this challenging disorder. This work is still in use as part of the recommended reading curriculum at Pepperdine’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology. Upon graduating, Kristen was recognized by the National Honor Society in Psychology for her work, and was inducted as a member that same year. 

Kristen’s clinical experience is extensive. She has worked in-depth with teenagers suffering from Oppositional Defiant Disorder at The David Gonzales Juvenile Center in Malibu, CA. She also worked as a therapist and clinical case coordinator at New Start in Santa Monica, CA, providing individual, group, family, and couples therapy, with a focus on patients suffering from depression, anxiety, sexual disorders, PTSD, and substance abuse. At New Start, she led educational family therapy sessions facilitating healthy communication skills and stress management. 

Kristen worked as part of the treatment team at the Alcott Center for Mental Health Services. Patients included individuals suffering from serious psychological disorders, including schizophrenia as well as personality disorders.  She provided a wide array of therapeutic services, from individual counseling and group therapy, to crisis interventions. She created and developed The Drama Group, which is, to this day, the most popular and well attended group offered.  The Alcott Center Deputy Director said, “Kristen is a caring and sensitive therapist who has a particular strength in her ability to relate well with her clients.”

As a married mother of two children, Kristen has plenty of "hands on experience" and opportunities to utilize her therapeutic skills, incorporating appropriate modeling, limit setting, discipline, and positive reinforcement.  For her volunteerism in her children’s school, Kristen was recognized by The Los Angeles Unified School District.

Additionally, Kristen has served on numerous occasions as a consultant to the motion picture industry, advising writers, actors and studios regarding therapy, and therapeutic interventions.

Kristen has always had an interest and focus on how different age groups and populations cope with both the positive and negative aspects of each stage of life. Influenced by the always-engaged temperament of her great-grandmother, who lived to be 106 years old, as well as the now consistently shifting appetites and challenges faced by her young children, her empathy and sensitivity are all-inclusive.