About Doctor Diane Strachowski

Diane Strachowski, Ed.D is a licensed psychologist and researcher with more than 20 years of clinical experience.  She is primarily a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist, who specializes in the treatment of mood disorders.  She works with individuals, couples and families.  As a relationship expert, she helps individuals and couples improve their communication skills.

Dr. Diane Strachowski’s professional training started when she pursued her undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of Illinois. While pursuing her degree, she worked as a volunteer at a crisis hotline for the greater Chicago land area. She also worked in a halfway house with clients who suffered from serious mental illness. After graduating with her bachelors degree, she moved to California, where she did residential counseling with severely emotionally disturbed children while pursuing a Masters Degree in Counseling from Santa Clara University.

During her Master’s program, she began her research career working at Stanford’s Behavioral medicine program. Diane supervised a Stanford sponsored school-based research project with the purpose of identifying panic attacks and eating disorders in high school students. Inspired to continue her postgraduate learning, she pursued her doctorate at the University of San Francisco.

While she was a student at USF, she did a clinical internship at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto working with couples and doing brief therapy. She completed a one-year APA approved internship at the University of California, Santa Cruz campus where she counseled college students and lead eating disorders groups.  After receiving her doctorate in Education, she returned to Stanford for her post-doctoral fellowship.  In the Behavioral Medicine program, she became certified as a Cognitive Behavioral therapist while working on a large-scale clinical trial. She learned CBT and received supervision from the Beck Institute working with patients who suffered from depression following a heart attack. At Stanford Dr. Strachowski provided individual and group therapy for patients suffering from Chronic Pain, Social Anxiety, Driving Phobia and Epilepsy. She became licensed as a psychologist and started her private practice in Palo Alto. She simultaneously did advanced training in corporate coaching and has worked with mid-level executives on leadership, management skills and success building. After moving her practice to Menlo Park she continued her affiliation with Stanford as a consultant. Her most recent clinical trial was to provide CBT for clients who have insomnia. Dr. Strachowski continues to pursue continuing education in marital therapy, neuropsychology, mindfulness meditation, brief therapy and CBT related trainings.

Dr. Strachowski has a strong belief in giving back to the community and volunteers for two organizations. For the past 18 years, she has led body image trainings and provided emotional support for young adults who are burn survivors through the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation.  She is also a volunteer for Valle Monte League; a nonprofit charity whose mission is to raise funds that provide and promote better mental health in the community through mental health agencies.