Overview

Dr. Piatigorsky offers high-performance athletes two distinct types of services: (1) Clinical Services for mental health and well-being, and (2) Performance Consultation for athletic excellence and achievement. These may happen independently or concurrently.

Services are linked by Dr. Piatigorsky’s proprietary method — Dialectical Sports Skills (DSS) — which is a comprehensive treatment guide and training system that combines clinical psychology with performance skills.

Science

Effective care or training is grounded in research. Dr. Piatigorsky sews together clinical science, informed by his academic background; evidence-based Cognitive and Dialectical Behavior Therapies, refined through his medical center experience; and allied sport sciences, learned through his training as an AASP Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC).

Learning

Skills can be learned. Dr. Piatigorsky’s dedication to lifelong education drives his approach to client development and skills mastery. His faculty position at the University of California, Berkeley, distinguishes the quality of his instruction. He teaches each client the nature of their problems, the skills required, when to use them, how those skills function, and why they matter, building insight and self-efficacy rather than simply offering another technique.

Holism

Each client is a whole person — mind and body — situated within their unique history, development, and current reality. Personalized care or training plans consider individual characteristics and circumstances, including biology such as genetics and physiology; medical status such as injury and pain; diversity factors such as culture and identity; psychological processes such as attention and emotion regulation; health behaviors such as sleep and recovery; social influences such as family and team; sociocultural context such as school and community; sport pressures such as training and competition; and other determinants of health and performance. This broad lens captures multilayered problems and supports overall well-being.

Style

Dr. Piatigorsky’s professionalism is defined by integrity, expertise, and commitment. His laid-back manner blends radical genuineness, directness, and irreverence with compassion, validation, and warmth. Grounded in dialectics, he unites acceptance and change to derive solutions. He strives to make hard work fun!