Robert Michael Gibson

Robert M. Gibson, Ph.D., J.D., is licensed both as a psychologist and as an attorney in the State of California.  He earned his Ph.D., in 1997 at the California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego, and his J.D., in 1998 from California Western School of Law, also in San Diego.  He is currently employed in a large skilled-nursing facility where he provides psychological services, including psychotherapy, cognitive assessment, and assessment of decision-making capacity for patients with a wide range of conditions.  These include various forms of dementia resulting from head injury, substance use, progressive conditions like Huntington’s disease, AIDS, and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as a variety of physical conditions.  He also maintains a private practice with a primary focus on the assessment and treatment of addictive behavior.

Dr. Gibson has also been active in writing or revising many of his facility’s policies and procedures, addressing issues like advance directives, determination of capacity, surrogate decision-makers, conservatorship, danger to self/others, and various other topics.  He is a member of his facility’s ethics committee, the San Diego County Bioethics Commission, as well as chair of his facility’s Quality of Life Committee.  Additionally, he has been a presenter at the American Medical Director’s Association (AMDA), California Hospital Association Center for Rehabilitation Services and Hospital Services for Continuing Care, and various other organizations.  Topics have included dementia care and have generally emphasized the issue of decision-making capacity in a variety of contexts.  Additionally, Dr. Gibson has experience conducting forensic evaluations with the San Diego County Superior Court Forensic Psychiatry Clinic.