About

Photo of Dr. Stephen Doyne

Education and Training

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Doctor Doyne earned his Bachelor’s Degree with Highest Honors in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was Phi Beta Kappa. He then began his graduate studies as a U.S. Public Health Fellow at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University where he earned a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in clinical Psychology with a Minor in Special Education.

Doctor Doyne then completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Center for Studies of the Person in La Jolla, California where he studied with internationally known psychologist, Carl Rogers, Ph.D. Granted his Psychology License in California (PSY 4242), he located his private practice at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla where he maintains offices today.

Professional Leadership and Honors

Throughout his career, Doctor Doyne has taken a leadership role for psychologists. At Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, he was one of the first psychologists to establish an office on the La Jolla campus. Doctor Doyne also served as the first chairperson of the Psychology Section and is still an active member on the Medical Staff at Scripps.

Elected to the presidency of the California Association of Psychology Providers (CAPP), Doctor Doyne guided that statewide organization to a victory in the California Supreme Court in a lawsuit by some of its members to allow psychologists to practice in hospital settings (CAPP vs. RANK). As a result, he was given recognition for his Outstanding Contribution to American Psychology by the American Psychological Association Practice Directorate. Further, that landmark decision opened the door for psychologists across the country to practice in hospitals.

Doctor Doyne has also been recognized as the first and only non-physician member of the La Jolla Academy of Medicine, an honorary society of medical doctors who have practiced in La Jolla for over twenty years. He was also awarded Fellow status by the San Diego Psychological Association and is also a Diplomate of the American College of Forensic Examiners.

With respect to professional affiliations, Doctor Doyne is a member of the American Psychological Association, the California State Psychological Association, the San Diego Psychological Association, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the American College of Forensic Examiners.

Having a special interest in family violence, Doctor Doyne was also the primary author of an Amicus Curiae brief (Friend of the Court) submitted in the State of California Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three, in the O.J Simpson/ Nicole Brown Guardianship case (In re The Guardianship of Sydney and Justin S., Appellate Case No. G021264). To that end, he organized a team of internationally known psychologists and family lawyers who took the position that the lower Court, who ruled that Mr. Simpson could have his two children returned to him after he was exonerated in the criminal trial, erred in discounting the possibility that the father murdered their mother, Nicole Brown. That brief proved influential as the Appellate Court reversed the lower Court ruling returning the children to their guardians, Lou and Judy Brown. The Amicus brief was submitted without any remuneration or publicity because Doctor Doyne felt that the children’s interest should always come first. That brief, linked to this website, is made public for the first time.

Doctor Doyne has conducted continuing education workshops for mental health professionals with Alex Caldwell, Ph.D., a distinguished psychologist, who is renowned for his pioneering work on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. (MMPI)

Doctor Doyne has also given numerous educational workshops for fellow psychologists and attorneys who work on family law cases. In 2003, he was given the Instructor of the Year award by participants who took courses from him at PsychoLegal Associates in Los Angeles.