Meet the team

Director:  Dr. Michael Gitlin

Dr. Michael Gitlin serves as Director of the Division of Adult Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Medical Director of the Neuropsychiatric Behavioral Health Services, and Director of the Mood Disorders Clinic at the Semel Institute. From 1980 until 2004, he was the Medical Director of the Aftercare Clinic, a research clinic specializing in schizophrenia. He served as Chief of Staff at the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA from 1997 to 1999.

Dr. Gitlin has published numerous scientific articles, book chapters, and five books: two editions of The Psychotherapist’s Guide to Psychopharmacology, a textbook for non-physician therapists; Psychotropic Drugs and Women, co-authored with Dr. Victoria Hendrick; Clinician’s Guide to Bipolar Disorder: Integrating Pharmacology with Psychotherapy, co-authored with Dr. David Miklowitz; and The Essential Guide to Lithium Treatment, co-authored with

Dr. Michael Bauer. His awards include: Distinguished Educator Award in Teaching from the UCLA Department of Psychiatry (1999); Outstanding Housestaff Teaching Award in 1994 and 2008; Teacher of the Year from the Psychiatric Times in 2002; Dadone Clinical Teaching Award from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in 2010; and the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in 2010.

Medical Director:  Dr. Katrina DeBonis

Katrina DeBonis has been Medical Director of UCLA Student Behavioral Health Services since 2012.  Originally from New York City, she graduated from M.I.T. where she studied Brain and Cognitive Science, after which she went on to receive her medical degree from NYU School of Medicine.  She completed her residency in psychiatry at UCLA and joined the faculty at UCLA in 2011.

Clinical Director:  Kathleen Neal, MFT

Kathleen Neal joined UCLA Student Behavioral Health Services (BHS) in 2002 as a staff psychotherapist.  She was appointed to her current role of Clinical Director in 2010.  Since then, she has facilitated development of the current therapy track system, the Mentalization Based Therapy (MBT) program, and other group therapies designed to work in conjunction with the individual therapies offered.  She specializes in working with students with serious mental illnesses including depression, personality disorders, and substance abuse disorders.