About the Owner
Johnna Medina Daniels, Ph.D.
"The process of change is essentially contradiction in synergy. Therapy can be BOTH engaging/fun AND challenging/uncertain."
Dr. J from LA
Her Story
Dr. Medina Daniels (she/her) is a BIPOC (4th-Gen Mexican American), neurodivergent clinical psychologist, who is unabashedly expressive and passionate in all that she does. Dr. Medina Daniels attended undergraduate at Stanford University, where she double-majored in both Psychology (concentration in health and development) and Art Practice (concentration in oil painting). After working two years doing research with veterans on PTSD and marijuana withdrawal and dependence at the VA Menlo Park, she went to graduate school, with a specific aim to be proficient in both the research and clinical sides of psychology. As such, she obtained her M.A. from SMU and with her Ph.D. from UT Austin in 2017, where she conducted her dissertation on exercise and yoga based interventions to target maintaining factors of anxiety and addictive behaviors. Click here for brief overview of her academic background, publications, and clinical proficiencies.
After grad school, she completed a biobehavioral research training fellowship at Stanford Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry, where she studied further into other mind-body interventions (e.g., self-hypnosis) and deeper into the pathophysiological mechanisms of stress and medical illness (e.g., dysregulated cortisol rhythms); there she also honed her clinical skillset in addiction medicine/dual-diagnosis interventions and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) before staying on after completing her postdoc in 2019 as a part of the clinical faculty in the Addiction Medicine/Dual-Diagnosis Clinic. On the side, she also launched a small solo private practice where she lived in the Bay Area in San Francisco's Sunset District. In the middle of the pandemic, she felt that the Bay Area and academic medicine had ran their courses. She decided to make life some changes, so she left the institutional role and moved down to Los Angeles to be closer to her hometown roots and realize her business goals. These steps brought her here, to where she is now in creating the Process of Change!
Her Professional Values and Vision
Dr. Medina Daniels, aka Dr J from LA, created the Process of Change in the image of her most authentic professional and personal identities, which converge on keeping the core values of human connection (authenticity, depth, and dedication, balanced out by needs for reciprocity, balance, and boundaries), self-expression (creativity, vibrancy, fun, and humor, with equal parts intentionality, scientific integrity, and precision), and courage (take the fear and grow anyways; make good trouble; get started from where you are now; embrace ambiguity and uncertainty where it unfolds naturally).
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As part of her mission to DE&I objectives and decolonizing practice, she prioritizes affirming clients' lived truths and sharing stories of pain, power, and privilege in a socialized, racialized world.
Dr. Medina Daniels brings her whole self into her work without minimizing or masking her personality or diverse identities, especially those that are underrepresented in the field psychology (e.g., Latina/racial minority, woman of color, person with disabilities, neurodivergent/ADHD). Despite her passion for science and nerd obsession with theoretical frameworks, she can be found using casual, effusive language (even to describe the densest of topics), laughing and joking with clients, and saying "like" way too much (she's working on it, but she IS from "The Valley"). She might annoy patients when playing up the benefits of exercise and mindful movement or reminding them that not doing homework also counts as experiential avoidance.
In her day to day sessions, it is not uncommon to hear her referencing emo music lyrics and emphasizing her loves for Hello Kitty, the band Tool, and Hawaiian island travel. Outside of work, she enjoys leisuring with her husband and three dogs, going to hot yoga classes and rock concerts, doing arts and crafts, and driving down to Malibu to enjoy the ocean.
Los Angeles, CA