Arpi Minassian, PhD

Arpi Minassian, PhD, is a licensed psychologist who helps people who are experiencing difficulties with chronic medical conditions or with mental, emotional and behavioral disorders. She works with patients at UC San Diego Health's Burn Center and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program, as well as with people experiencing chronic pain and those awaiting organ transplantation. Dr. Minassian's expertise includes psychological assessment and individual and group psychotherapy (also called talk therapy) for adults and children.

As a clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine, Dr. Minassian instructs psychology interns and students. Her research focuses on understanding the relationship between biology and behavior in mental illness, medical illness and substance abuse.

She is a project director at the Translational Methamphetamine AIDS Research Center (TMARC), where she and her colleagues study decision making in HIV, methamphetamine dependence and aging. Dr. Minassian is also a co-investigator on a number of National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded studies of inhibitory and cognitive deficits in bipolar disorder.

Dr. Minassian is widely published, and her work has appeared in JAMA Psychiatry, Journal of Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry Research, among others.

She earned her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from California School of Professional Psychology and completed her fellowship at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

Dr. Minassian serves on UC San Diego's Chancellor's Advisory Committee for Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Issues and has an interest in serving and advocating for the LGBTQ patient community. She is also a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Psychological Association, the National Academy of Neuropsychology and the American Burn Association, among others.

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For more information, see Behavioral and Mental Health.