Paula Swaner Ph.D.

Rock Mountain Psychological Center
2005 E. 2700 S., #180
Salt Lake City, UT 84109
801-278-3124
paulaswan@att.net

Paula Swaner has been a member of Utah's psychotherapeutic community since 1963 when she volunteered at Granite Mental Health, Utah's first community mental health center. The training she received there, as well as the staff's clinical expertise, inspired Paula to dedicate her life to helping emotionally distressed individuals. She obtained an MS (Ed Psych) in 1978; a PhD (Clinical Psych.) in 1986; Certification in Psychoneuroimmunology, Academy for Guided Imagery in 1990; and, in 1991, finished in the first graduating class in Object Relations Theory and Therapy at the Washington School of Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis, directed by Drs. David and Jill Scharff.

In her career, Paula has worked at Granite Community Mental Health Center, the Second District Juvenile Court, and in private practice. She has also served on numerous boards, and was the Chairman of the Norman S. Anderson, MD Award Fund. In 1995, the Scharffs invited her to join the national faculty of the International Institute of Object Relations Therapy (now IPI). In that role she started a long effort to bring object relations theory and psychodynamic theory to Utah through locally based seminars, workshops, and supervision. Through her generosity (of spirit, time and money) and her unbridled enthusiasm, she has supported the professional development of an entire generation of therapists.

Paula has recently organized Perspectives on Prejudice, a two-year educational program with the Utah Psychological Association's Task Force on Discrimination, as well as the International Conference on Prejudice (with IPI and other sponsors), which took place in SLC Dec. 1-4 2005. She also obtained her Masters in Mythology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2003 and hopes to complete her Ph.D. in Archetypal Psychology soon.
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