Christie Dooley LMFT
Clinical Director, Clovis IOP LMFT
Areas of Clinical Expertise
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Co-Occurring Disorders
- Trauma-Informed Care
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Family Systems Therapy
- Integrative Psychology
“It’s an honor to join with a client who is being instrumental in their personal growth and pursuit of change. It’s a privilege to support a family as they evolve and become stronger.” – Christie Dooley
Experience
Christie brings over a decade of experience in mental health and substance use treatment across residential and outpatient settings. Her clinical approach integrates individual, group, and family therapy with a strong emphasis on connection, cultural humility, and systems thinking. Christie has previously served as Clinical Director at Forward Family Services, where she oversaw IOP and residential programming. She has also provided therapy in private practice and at My Time Recovery, specializing in anxiety, addiction recovery, family dynamics, and life transitions.
Christie believes healing happens through connection and that therapy is a space where individuals and families can both “be” and “become.”
Education
Christie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Brandman University, with dual minors in Sociology and Psychology. She continued at Brandman for her graduate studies, receiving a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy. Christie is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in the state of California.
Role at Muir Wood
Christie serves as the Clinical Director of Muir Wood’s Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) in Clovis, CA, where she leads a multidisciplinary team in providing structured, developmentally appropriate care for adolescents ages 12–17. With a focus on clinical excellence and compassionate connection, Christie creates a safe, engaging environment where teens can practice therapeutic skills, strengthen family bonds, and prepare for lasting success beyond treatment.
Her leadership emphasizes consistency, collaboration, and clinical alignment across the care team. Christie partners closely with therapists, case managers, and families to ensure each teen receives highly individualized treatment rooted in empathy, accountability, and relational connection. Dedicated to building continuity and trust, she fosters a supportive culture where every team member is deeply invested in meaningful, lasting outcomes.
Personal Interests
Outside of work, Christie embraces the quiet rhythm of her empty nest, spending quality time with her husband and doting on her three beloved cats. She finds peace in gardening, creativity in crocheting, and joy in music. Travel offers her renewal and fresh perspective, reinforcing the importance of balance and self-care in both life and leadership. This commitment to self-care keeps her grounded, energized, and deeply connected to her work as a clinical leader.
Who We Are
Muir Wood treats primary mental health and co-occurring substance use disorders with equal clinical depth. Our approach is mental health-first, trauma-informed throughout, and grounded in nationally recognized expertise in adolescent substance use treatment.
Every program is designed exclusively for teens, with specialized environments for those needing an even greater level of psychiatric, trauma, or clinical support — like our Penngrove campus for girls, and our upcoming Sonoma Mountain campus for boys (Fall '26).
Mental Health First
Every program treats primary MH — anxiety, depression, trauma, mood — as the core clinical focus.
Trauma-Informed Lens
Every staff interaction, not just therapy, is filtered through a trauma lens. It is our operating principle, not a modality.
Integrated SUD Expertise
Substance use is treated alongside mental health throughout all programs, not in a separate track.
Adolescent Specialists
Every clinician, psychiatrist, nurse, and educator works exclusively with teens ages 12–17.
We Treat the Whole Teen
Nothing is treated in isolation, because nothing exists in isolation.
Every teen arrives with behaviors that developed for a reason — ways of coping with or adapting to emotional pain. Our role is to understand what's driving those patterns and build healthier, more sustainable ways of regulating and coping.
Mental Health
Trauma Informed
Emotional Functioning
Family Systems
Why Specialized Programming Matters
Many teens benefit from environments designed around shared clinical presentations and needs.
Greater Peer Alignment
Shared clinical presentations create more cohesive, therapeutically relevant group dynamics.
Individualized Treatment
Approaches tailored to the specific developmental and psychiatric profile of each population.
Improved Emotional Safety
Environments designed to reduce threat, increase predictability, and foster genuine connection.
Clinically Relevant Groups
Group therapy dynamics mirror real-world experiences of teens with similar presentations.
Lower-Stimulation Environments
Sensory and environmental design calibrated to the needs of highly activated or sensitive teens.
Enhanced Psychiatric Support
Specialized staff training and clinical protocols matched to the population's complexity.