Ron Pilato
- Psy.D. Clinical Psychology (APA Accredited), The Wright Institute, 2002
- M.A. Integral Counseling Psychology, CIIS, 1997
- B.S. Human Service Studies, Cornell University, 1988
Ron Pilato, Psy.D. is Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Clinical Training in the residential doctoral program. A licensed clinical psychologist since 2003, he brings more than 15 years of clinical and research experience to ITP.
Before joining the ITP Executive Core Faculty, Dr. Pilato worked at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) as clinician and coordinator of several clinical research trials funded by the National Institute of Health and private industry. He also taught graduate coursework at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and San Francisco State University (SFSU). He currently maintains a small private practice in San Francisco as a member of the supervising and research faculty of Stillpoint Center for Depth Psychotherapy, working primarily with adults of diverse cultural backgrounds.
Dr. Pilato's clinical training and experience have developed a framework for case conceptualization that incorporates a spiritual perspective and is influenced by a broad array of theory and research including systems, control mastery, interpersonal neurobiology, object relations, mindfulness, motivational interviewing, narrative and depth psychological approaches. Dr. Pilato also incorporates psychodiagnostic assessment into his clinical work.
He received training at various San Francisco Bay Area clinics including The Sequoia Center, Golden Gate University Counseling and Psychological Services, The Wright Institute Clinic, San Francisco Department of Public Mental Health and the Family Institute of Pinole. During his doctoral studies he worked as Research Associate on a large clinical study investigating the potential linkage between genetics and alcoholism at the UCSF Department of Neurology/Gallo Clinic, where he completed his dissertation research focused on sibling personality characteristics and resilience in the presence and absence of alcoholism. More recently he has completed Level II training in Richard Miller's Integrative Restoration (iRest®) protocol which is being utilized as an adjunctive PTSD treatment with special populations, including the military, the homeless and people with severe mental illness. His clinical training and experience have cultivated broader interests in quality assurance in psychology education, clinical training competencies, and professional development.
Dr. Pilato's current research interests are in the areas of spiritual competency, clinical trials, outcome and evaluation research, participatory action research, mixed methods research, auto-ethnography, eco-psychology, motivational interviewing, and gender/queer theory.
Additionally, Dr. Pilato is the Owner and Director of Pronto Seminars, an organization that conducts small interdisciplinary continuing education (CE and CME) workshops and retreats in Italy for licensed health care professionals and their families. Participants from 12 countries have attended the last 10 seminars, which have been held in Sorrento, Venice and Lucca. Pronto Seminars developed out of Dr. Pilato's exploration of his cultural roots in Italy over the past 22 years. His experience of language study, travel and genealogical research not only led him to obtain Italian citizenship, but have engendered in him a deep respect for re-connection with family, language and culture of origin as part of human development. Dr. Pilato finds great pleasure speaking and reading Italian in ongoing classes and during regular visits with his family and friends in Italy. These experiences have infused a deep multicultural sensibility into his clinical practice.
As new faculty to ITP, Dr. Pilato is in the process of envisioning how ITP students, alumni and faculty might participate in interdisciplinary CE/CME trainings in Italy as a way of collaborating with the global community on issues relevant to Transpersonal Psychology.
