Our Clinicians

Dr. Thatcher (pronouns are: he/him/his) is a licensed clinical psychologist (PSY#3386) specializing in evidence-based therapy and assessment for children, adolescents, and families. He has extensive experience working with children and teens who struggle with anxiety (e.g., social, academic, generalized); depression; substance abuse; disruptive behaviors; autism; ADHD; OCD; family stressors; among other conditions. Over the past several years he has evaluated hundreds of adults for autism spectrum disorder and other neuropsychological disorders.  Dr. Thatcher believes that treatment and diagnostic evaluation of children and teens is most effective with the inclusion of caregivers and actively seeks to strengthen understanding within family systems to best support individuals. His therapeutic approach combines culturally sensitive, evidence-based treatments with a focus on individual/family strengths.

Prior to starting Forest Psychological Clinic, Dr. Thatcher worked at Kaiser Permanente in San Jose, California as a clinical psychologist in the Autism Center Department. Within this role he has administered, performed and consulted on over a thousand neurodevelopmental, cognitive, and psychological evaluations on children from 18-months to 18-years-old using state-of-the-art assessment tools and evidence-based measurements to diagnose even the most difficult cases. He also ran a small private practice seeing children, teens, and young adults in Pacifica, CA. 

Dr. Thatcher completed his postdoctoral residency in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, in San Jose. Furthermore, he completed an internship at a substance use clinic for teens in rural Missouri. His undergraduate degree is in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Missouri, Columbia before attending a doctoral program in clinical psychology, with an emphasis on Child/Adolescent therapy and evaluation, at The Professional School of Psychology at Forest Institute also in Missouri. During his doctoral program, Dr. Thatcher received extensive training in evidence-based treatments, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and mindfulness-based practice. 

Additionally, Dr. Thatcher has been credentialed in providing dialectical-behavior therapy (DBT), an evidenced-based cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression, anxiety, family problems, and a range of other issues. He has also been credentialed in working with grief and loss in children/adolescents.

Dr. Thatcher is passionate about mental health and truly enjoys providing individualized therapy to those seeking help.  He is originally from the Midwest and grew up on a small farm. In his free time, he loves spending time with his family, hiking, watching movies, and traveling.