Kirsten Thompson, M.D.

Kirsten Thompson, M.D. Kirsten Thompson, M.D. is a psychiatrist serving patients from throughout West Los Angeles from her She looks forward to meeting new patients.

Kirsten Thompson, MD is a board certified psychiatrist serving patients throughout West Los Angeles from her practice located in Brentwood, California. She helps patients with a variety of mental health conditions including but not limited to major depressive disorder, anxiety, postpartum depression, ADHD, bipolar disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and insomnia. Dr. Thompson also provides psycho-oncology care to cancer patients, survivors, and their families. Dr. Thompson is a graduate of Cornell University and was an asset manager associate at JPMorgan in New York before changing direction to become a physician. She attended a post-baccalaureate premedical program at Columbia University before earning her medical degree at the State University of New York, Downstate College of Medicine, in Brooklyn. She trained as a surgeon for two years at the University of Southern California before deciding to specialize in psychiatry and completing residency at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Thompson has had extensive training in psychopharmacological treatments, psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, family therapy, and interpersonal therapy. She also served as chief resident at the UCLA Women’s Life Center, where she was devoted to mental health care for peripartum and perimenopausal mood disorders. In addition to her private practice, Dr. Thompson is a Staff Associate Psychiatrist and Clinical Instructor at UCLA. Dr. Thompson is dedicated to helping her patients to achieve optimal health and to lead active and fulfilling lives. Call or request an appointment with Dr. Thompson today!

03/03/2026

What has been your experience? Wearables increase steps by ~1,800–2,500 per day on average in meta-analyses and improve short-term weight loss and sleep consistency through feedback and goal reinforcement!

They also increase alcohol awareness when users log drinks and set cutoffs.

But higher frequency health-app checking has been associated with greater health anxiety and cardiac symptom preoccupation, especially in people with anxiety sensitivity or prior panic.

Resting heart rate normally fluctuates 5–15 beats per minute across the day based on caffeine, hydration, hormones, stress, and posture.

If every fluctuation triggers reassurance-seeking, the device is reinforcing hypervigilance, not health.

Steps for non-anxiety inducing wearable behavior:

1. Use metrics to shape behavior, not to scan for danger.
2. Turn off continuous heart notifications, remove ECG access if you are panic-prone, and review trends once daily at a set time.
3. Keep the tool if it changes habits without increasing rumination
4. Take a break if it increases checking.
5. Save this for your next wearable induced anxiety spike.Share with someone who keeps refreshing their stats.

02/26/2026

Have you been to a peptide party? Please share your experience with us. I have heard stories of good results from some people, no benefit from others, and everything in between. Given lack of regulation around purity, there are also potential catastrophic risks. While there are some very knowledgeable physicians who can prescribe personalized peptide recommendations, this is still highly unregulated terrain.

02/24/2026

These are related to, but different than general anxiety disorder, and ideally need to be addressed more specifically in CBT. SSRIs can be helpful (though managing side effects can be complex given increased body awareness).

02/24/2026

*Differences* between partners can be challenging to navigate, BUT there are people out there with low baseline drive, high, and everything in between.

02/23/2026

Different treatments but both have been effective for many people. Both are often done in conjunction with medication but I’ve also had patients who have had negative experiences with medication (severe side effects or no improvement in symptoms elect to try TMS. Also, both of these treatments don’t entail seggsual side effects and weight gain, like many medications do!

02/23/2026

How have you deceived yourself in a decision and then weathered the consequences? Only to realize later that if you were honest with who you are, you would have made a different decision? (In this case, all of us would end up spending many $1000’s on retainers before realizing it was a terrible idea for almost any child) But this happens many times a day- we are often overly aspirational in small and inconsequential ways, that end up with us feeling defeated when we didn’t need to ultimately feel that way.

02/22/2026

Also, the sweating usually worsens for women along with changes in their cycles. Just like any side effect, there are always options, and there is always hope. I’ve had many patients with incredibly irritating side effects like night sweats, and then many who have done phenomenally well on a medication to reduce the sweats so that they can stay on their SSRI.

02/21/2026

Women! Our pain, our heart attack symptoms, our medical symptoms are still unconsciously disregarded in the medical system- as a result, we need to be educated and self-empowered in advocating when something isn’t right.

02/20/2026

What is “ideal” to you? For me: in control, home in my backyard with the sun in my face, surrounded by loved ones eating good food and music playing. Effectively a fabulous goodbye party!

02/19/2026

Am I alone in this?

02/18/2026

My kids say there’s no chance I’ll ever be cool in ther minds. That’s fine because I don’t think they’re cool either.

02/18/2026

Education and options are POWER. You can learn, get a consult and decide if either it is or isn’t for you. But you’re worth it- get all the information on all the treatments that might help you, and then you can make an informed decision. The stigma of ECT is still very high, so you may not know anyone who has openly done it, but people are getting this treatment all over the world, every day, even if no one is talking about it.

Address

11980 San Vicente Boulevard, Suite 711
Los Angeles, CA
90049

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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