Faculty and Staff Assistance Team

Ana Dolatabadi, PsyD, MA, is a clinical psychologist with the UCSF Faculty and Staff Assistance Program and in private practice in San Francisco. Dr. Dolatabadi has a doctorate in clinical psychology and two master's degrees in sociology and transpersonal psychology. After taking her first psychology course nearly 25 years ago, she has dedicated her life to fostering the growth and evolution of individuals and groups.

Dr. Dolatabadi specializes in helping physicians, faculty, leaders, creatives, and other working professionals improve their quality of life, overcome personal and professional difficulties, create resilience, and manage stress in order to live a more meaningful life. She has a collaborative and pragmatic approach adapted to each individual's needs in order to foster insight and transformation. This is cultivated through a psychodynamic foundation with CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), EMDR (Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) for trauma, Solution-Focused interventions, and/or Mindfulness-Based approaches. She also develops psychoeducational group trainings and interventions on topics such as burnout, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, mindfulness in the workplace, and resiliency during times of transition.

Dr. Dolatabadi welcomes you as you are.

John Brown, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist with the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program at UCSF. He previously worked as a clinical psychologist with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in a specialized crisis facility for patients facing acute psychological distress or severe decompensation of daily functioning. His predoctoral training took place at the Community Institute for Psychotherapy in San Rafael, where he worked primarily with individual adult patients and conducted therapy groups. He received his doctoral degree from the Wright Institute in Berkeley. Dr. Brown has extensive experience working with patients who are seeking to make a change, learn more about themselves, or recover from a traumatic event. Dr. Brown tailors the modality of treatment to the patient’s needs, often incorporating psychoanalytic, cognitive behavioral, mindfulness and solution focused approaches in his work. He sees psychotherapy as an opportunity to identify and correct ineffective patterns of thinking and behavior in order to work towards gaining a deeper sense of personal identity and knowingness.

Jessica Allanson, PhD, MA, is a licensed clinical psychologist with the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program. She obtained her doctorate and master's degrees in clinical psychology from Sofia University in Palo Alto, Calif., and her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a concentration in industrial/organizational psychology. Dr. Allanson completed her postdoctoral fellowship with the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program here at UCSF; prior to her fellowship, she worked closely with the UCSF FSAP team for a number of years as the program director of Ohlhoff Outpatient Programs in San Francisco. Most recently, Dr. Allanson has been working as an independent clinical didactic trainer for clinicians and students in the healthcare fields, as well as working in a group private practice specializing in dialectical behavioral therapy.

From community mental health settings to professional wellness work, Dr. Allanson works from a humanistic-existential lens, focusing on the personal integration of adverse experiences with the grounded theory of behavioral change. She has chosen to specialize in addiction/recovery and workplace burnout, incorporating empirically validated behavioral interventions and industrial/organizational psychology strategies into her work. She also has worked extensively with grief and loss, early and complex trauma, depression, anxiety, early and long-term recovery of eating disorders, effective communication, and anger/emotion regulation. Dr. Allanson has a deep appreciation for the highly diverse community within UCSF, and has particular experience working with clients who identify as a part of the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as female-identified clients, to develop a sense of personal agency and effectiveness in their vocational and personal lives. Dr. Allanson has spent the majority of her training and professional years supporting clients and organizational teams as they find meaning, purpose, and direction for the next chapters of their lives. She looks forward to helping clients learn how to help themselves.

Brian Beasley, PsyD, JD is a clinical psychologist with the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program. He earned his doctoral and master's degrees in clinical psychology from Antioch University in Santa Barbara, and completed his postdoctoral fellowship here at FSAP. Before joining UCSF, Dr. Beasley’s work in psychology included assisting adult hospital patients and their families at the UC Davis Medical Center, supporting them with recovery from traumatic brain injury, managing chronic pain, and adjusting to new disabilities, including those from spinal injuries, burns, and amputations. Prior to his current career as a psychologist, Dr. Beasley worked as an attorney and member of the California State Bar, managing contracts and intellectual property rights for corporate clients. He decided to step back into psychology (his first bachelor’s degree) due to feeling a greater sense of fulfillment through authentic emotional connection with his clients.

Dr. Beasley believes in a client-centered and culturally-sensitive approach to counseling and consultation, meeting each unique person wherever they may be. His therapy style is based in psychodynamic understandings of family and relationships, while integrating techniques from cognitive-behavioral, self-compassion, and mindfulness-based practices. Other areas of clinical focus include suicide prevention, threat management, working through grief, processing trauma, supporting those of LGBTQIA+ identities, and providing therapy for depression, anxiety, and self-esteem issues. Dr. Beasley enjoys helping clients rediscover and understand themselves in a new and more compassionate light.

James Curley is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program. He earned his Doctorate of Psychology (PsyD) degree at Alliant International University (AIU-CSPP) in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dr. Curley completed his Predoctoral Internship at Kaiser Permanente East Bay Medical Center, where he worked with adult patients in primary care on the Behavioral Medicine Team. He has experience conducting ADHD assessments, co-leading group therapy for patients living with chronic pain and illness, co-facilitating Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) consultation trainings, and leading trainings on Mindfulness-Based approaches to self-care for medical residents. Dr. Curley has worked with a variety of patient concerns, including work stress, burnout, anxiety, depression, insomnia, lack of focus/motivation, interpersonal difficulties, in addition to helping patients navigate the stress, isolation, and existential fears/questions related to working and living within the limits of a global pandemic.

Clinically, Dr. Curley has a diverse skillset using integrative, evidence-based approaches to treatment while working with a wide range of clients. He sympathizes with the obstacles and stigma faced by individuals coping with a variety of issues at the workplace and in psychological distress. His interpersonal and therapeutic style is inquisitive, collaborative, empathic, respectful, present-focused, and contextually sensitive to each person’s unique presenting concerns and history. In addition to his therapy work, Dr. Curley is interested in the growing field of psychedelic therapy and research and is a co-founding member of the Graduate Student Association for Psychedelic Studies (GSAPS) in the San Francisco Bay Area. In his personal life, Dr. Curley spends much of his free time practicing his computer coding skills and, along with his partner and Scottish Terrier, touring the beaches of Northern California enjoying the ocean and sunshine.

Romy-Michelle Unger (she/her) is a postdoctoral fellow with the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program. She earned her doctoral and master’s degrees (PsyD, MA) in clinical psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA, as well as a master’s in depth psychology (MA) from Sonoma State University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Scripps College.

Dr. Unger works from a relational-cultural, psychodynamic, trauma-informed, and somatic stance with a special focus on social justice, intersecting identities, and racial identity development. She completed her predoctoral internship at Carnegie Mellon University’s Counseling and Psychological Services where she worked with a diverse group of national and international undergraduate and graduate students navigating a fast-paced academic environment, often juggling cultural concerns with professional demands and resulting impacts on mental health. She also brings experience working in community mental health and school-based settings.

Dr. Unger’s dissertation research analyzed themes and patterns embedded in white supremacist group recruitment materials and brings a special attunement to the sociocultural and systemic realities that intersect with individual experiences. Her values deeply inform her work, which include: centering liberation amidst systems of oppression, understanding power in the therapy dynamic, and working towards decolonizing practices in mental health.

Shahrzad Nouraini (she/her) is a postdoctoral fellow with the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program. She earned doctoral and master’s degrees (PsyD, MA) in clinical psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, Calif., as well as a master of science in psychology from University of Surrey in England and a master of arts in sociology from the University of Hawaii. Dr. Nouraini completed her pre-doctoral internship at CPMC’s Outpatient Mental Health Clinic, working with adults and couples struggling with both relational and medical issues, as well as providing palliative care support to patients within the oncology unit. As chief intern, she was also responsible for supporting organizational and team wellness. Dr. Nouraini has also trained with the City of Berkeley’s Mobile Crisis Team responding to citywide emergency and crisis calls, in outpatient clinics in San Francisco and Berkeley with a focus on adults with severe mental illness, with adolescents and families in the community as well as in schools, and was an assistant psychologist at an addiction recovery clinic for the National Health Service in London, England.  She also has experience conducting psychological assessments including forensic evaluations for asylum cases. Prior to entering the psychology field, Dr. Nouraini worked with front-line workers and administrators in international and local aid organizations. This work fueled her interest in supporting wellness in the workplace and led to her desire to join the FSAP team at UCSF. Dr. Nouraini works from a relational, culturally focused, psychoanalytic orientation.