About Charles W. Dithrich
Charles W. Dithrich is a psychoanalyst and licensed clinical psychologist with a private practice in north Oakland, California. He specializes in psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and clinical supervision and consultation.
He has been in practice for more than 40 years and treats children, adults, adolescents, and couples. Dithrich’s expertise includes working with neuroatypical, neurodivergent, and autistic conditions.
He is an accomplished researcher, author of numerous papers, and has participated in various panels.
In addition to his clinical practice, Dithrich is a core faculty member and personal and supervising analyst at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC) in San Francisco. He has taught courses on a variety of subjects, including the psychoanalytic principles of Winnicott and Bion and, most recently, dreaming. PINC is a vibrant center for comparative psychoanalytic inquiry, research, and training.
Academic Background
Charles W. Dithrich obtained his master’s degree and PhD in psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in San Francisco. He completed his undergraduate work at Washington University, St Louis, MO.
He completed his postdoctoral fellowship with Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA, and became licensed as a psychologist in California in 1978.
Dithrich began psychoanalytic training at PINC in 1991. He graduated with the institute’s first class in 1995.
Professional Experience
Dr. Charles W. Dithrich, PhD, initially opened a private practice with offices in San Francisco, CA,
and Oakland, CA, in 1978. In 1980, he moved to his current office in north Oakland, CA.
In addition to his private practice, over many years, Dithrich’s professional experience has included serving as a consulting and supervising psychologist at Boyer House in San Raphael, CA; consulting psychologist at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA; clinical supervisor at Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco, CA; attending staff psychologist at Herrick Hospital in Berkeley, CA; consulting psychologist at Ann Martin Children’s Center in Oakland, CA; clinical supervisor in the Department of Psychiatry at Children’s Hospital, San Francisco, CA; clinical supervisor at California School of Professional Psychology, Berkeley, CA; clinical supervisor at San Francisco Community Mental Health; and clinical supervisor at St. Mary’s Hospital in San Francisco, CA.
Teaching Experience
Dr. Dithrich began teaching in 1978 at the Professional School of Psychology in San Francisco, CA. He taught courses on personality development and psychotherapeutic techniques. Since then, he has taught a variety of topics related to psychoanalysis and has discussed numerous papers in the San Francisco Bay Area for various professional organizations, including the Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (NCSPP) and PINC.
He also taught at the Boyer Research Institute and The Psychotherapy Institute, both in Berkeley, CA. Boyer Research Institute was devoted to the understanding and application of psychoanalytic treatment for the psychoses, a patient group that had formerly been considered untreatable by existing psychoanalytic techniques. The Psychotherapy Institute is dedicated to providing accessible, high-quality psychotherapy and to the study and practice of psychotherapy in the psychodynamic tradition. Dithrich served as an instructor at both Chapman College in Oakland, CA, and for John Exner Rorschach Studies.
Dithrich has taught classes on a wide range of topics, including Winnicott, Bion, Dreaming, Clinical Supervision, Donald Meltzer, Betty Joseph, Primitive States, Perversions, and The Uncanny.
Professional Affiliations, Research, and Papers
In addition to PINC, Dithrich is a member of the International Psychoanalytic Association, the world’s primary accrediting and regulatory body for the profession of psychoanalysis.
From 1983 to 1990, Dithrich was a member of the Center for the Advanced Study of the Psychoses, chaired by LB Boyer, MD, and Thomas Ogden, MD. The focus of the center was the theoretical and clinical study of the psychotic treatment of severely regressed and psychotic patients. During this same period, Dithrich worked closely with LB Boyer, MD, and his wife, Ruth Boyer, on a content-based scoring system for the Rorschach. This led to Dithrich contributing to publications in the Psychoanalytic Study of Society, one involving the assumption of shamanic status by a Mescalero Apache woman and another on the effects of acculturation on indigenous aboriginal peoples.
Dr. Dithrich presented his Rorschach research at the Rorschach Congresses in Brazil and New Orleans. In 1987, Dr. Dithrich presented a paper at the International Rorschach Congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which was subsequently published as Psychological Containment and the Rorschach: a View of Psychotherapeutic Change in Rorshachiana XVI, Casa do Psicologo, Sao Paolo.
He published his first major paper in 1991 in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, titled “Pseudologia Fantastica, Dissociation, and Potential Space in Child Treatment.” The paper was subsequently republished in Volume 2 of Master Clinicians on Treating the Regressed Patient, edited by LB Boyer and Peter Giovacchini.
Dithrich has been the discussant for several candidate PINC graduation papers, as well as discussing numerous papers presented by various visiting scholars.
Beyond His Profession: A Passion for Music
In addition to his ongoing practice of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, Dr. Charles Dithrich, PhD, is an accomplished musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist currently focusing on playing the kamale n’goni, a 16-string harp that originated in Mali. The kamale n’goni is derived from a sacred traditional instrument, the doso n’goni, also known as the hunter’s harp. Dr. Dithrich studied with and played with the kamale n’goni master, Mamadou Sidebe, one of the first Malian musicians to develop and play the kamale n’goni. Dr. Dithrich performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival and has played locally in the San Francisco Bay Area for many years.
Dithrich’s love of music and culture led him to write from the perspective of a psychoanalyst on his experiences attending the Woodstock music festival in 1969. In 2020, he wrote and published “Woodstock: Reminiscences of a Psychoanalyst.”
He recently released the album “Creatrix,” a musical project he organized and produced in the early 1980s with guitarists John Abercrombie and Dave Creamer.
