Divya Kakaiya Ph.D

Biographical Info Divya Kakaiya Ph. D M.S. (Psychopharm) Licensed Clinical Psychologist PSY 14052 Neuroscientist. Educational Consultant. Author. Peacemaker. Parent. Biography Divya Kakaiya, Ph.D., M.S.(Psychopharm.) Clinical Director, and Founder of Healthy Within treatment program in San Diego, and Past President and Founder of Healthy Within Foundation, California, has been treating brain/psychological conditions since 1983. In addition to her Doctoral Degree, Dr. Kakaiya received a Post-Doctoral M.S. in Psychopharmacology in May 2011. This is in hopes of becoming a Medical Psychologist. Dr. Kakaiya’s clinic primarily focuses on treating brain conditions utilizing Neurofeedback. In 2019 she was awarded Fellow Status with AAPB Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback for her significant contributions to Neuroscience. Healthy Within, Dr. Kakaiya’s Center, incorporates treatment modalities that are on the cutting edge of brain neurocircuitary, gut-brain axis and biochemistry issues. As an Integrative Psychologist, she has been utilizing Neurofeedback at her treatment center for the last 11 years and sees tremendous progress with all her patients. In 2013 Dr. Kakaiya presented on “Neurofeedback with Eating Disorders; one of the first presentations of its kind in the Neurofeedback and the Eating Disorder community. Healthy Within was one of two Eating Disorder programs in the country that utilized Neurofeedback. The success with Neurofeedback made her pivot her entire practice to brain optimization as her primary treatment modality. She has moved completely away from eating disorders. Her practice encompasses Neurofeedback only, and treats all brain conditions. Her patients range from 4 to 89 years old! She is becoming a foremost expert with integrative treatments for TBI’s, Concussions and PTSD. She wears numerous hats within the teen world and parenting, ethnic communities and the addiction world. Neurofeedback is now making her an expert with Asperger’s, Autism, Pain Conditions, Fibromyalgia, ADHD and Learning Disorders. Her role as a Neuroscientist and Integrative Psychologist makes her highly knowledgeable about the effects of trauma, drugs and other neurotoxins on the brain. Mindfulness as an additional modality that is the essence of neurogenesis, is a pillar of Dr. K’s toolbox for her patients. She presents at conferences on the teen brain, ADHD, family and diversity issues. In May of 2021 she introduced 300 Psychiatrists to utilize neurofeedback in patients with Complex Trauma. Additionally, she has presented at numerous conferences in San Diego with local psychologists and therapists, and regularly consults with physicians and psychologists regarding their cases. In her past profession in the eating disorder professional community she served in a number of ways. She was an approved supervisor for the IAEDP (International Association for Eating Disorder Professionals) certification requirements. She has served on the Conference Committee for the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP) and the National Eating Disorder Association (formerly EDAP). She was also on the Honorary editorial board for Eating Disorder Journal of Treatment and Prevention and an ad-hoc reviewer for the journal Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. Her area of specialty within eating disorders was cultural and diversity issues. Now that she has moved to Neurofeedback, she is no longer treating eating disorders. Her passion for empowering young women translated into the extensive prevention work she still conducts in San Diego, California. Since 1994, Dr. Kakaiya had begun massive outreach efforts in the community, and since 1999, she and her team had conducted about 50 to 80 presentations a year in high schools and middle schools. In October of 2002, she founded the Healthy Within Foundation through which she has trained over 15-25 volunteers each year, who conducted outreach efforts in the community with prevention issues. Her prevention work had translated into Life Skills workshops, which her team has been implementing in San Diego Middle and High schools. In February 2010, Dr. Kakaiya and her current team of 24 active volunteers had simultaneously launched a FREE “Full of Ourselves” program in 5 locations in San Diego. FOO and Girl Talk are Wellness Programs that Dr. Kakaiya and her team have been presenting in the community for the last 20 years. Dr. Kakaiya and her team also began presenting workshops for pre-adolescent and adolescent boys in 2013. The Council for Boys and Men was offered for the first time in San Diego through the Healthy Within Foundation. As of June 2015, Dr. Kakaiya officially closed her Foundation. In 2012 she had become a member of the San Diego Rotary Club and all her needs for community service were being met through her Rotary family. However, she continues to be invited to extensive talks on raising healthy families and brain training. She currently conducts about 2 talks a month with parent groups. Even though she no longer trains interns, all her past interns are conducting programs all over the city and the country. This is a proud legacy that Dr. Kakaiya has created. To date she has had over 385 interns who trained under her in the twenty five years of this body of work. Dr. Kakaiya has received numerous awards for her service to the community. She is a Psychologist who truly lives up to her Rotarian motto of “Service Above Self.” In August of 2003, Dr. Kakaiya won the KGTV 10 News Leadership Award, which honors leaders in the community that make a difference. Dr. Kakaiya was also the Symposium Co-Chair and Presenter for the Healthy Girls, Healthy Lives; initiative of San Diego County Girl Scouts for 2005, 2006 and 2007. In 2009 Dr. Kakaiya received an award from the San Diego Girls Scouts Council that named her as one of the “Top 10 Cool Women of San Diego.” The Poway Chapter of Soroptimist International honored Dr. Kakaiya with their annual “Making A Difference for Women” Award in May 2009 for the work she does for girls and women. In April 2010, Dr. Kakaiya received the KPBS/Union Bank Local Hero Award for Cultural Diversity for her work with the Foundation. She has been a plenary speaker at numerous conferences and is highly regarded in the field of prevention and brain health at a national level. In February 2017, The International Fellowship of Scouting Rotarians awarded her The Cliff Dochterman Award for her distinguished service to Scouting. She was nominated by the Union Tribune as “Someone You Should Know in San Diego” in February 2019. From 2011- 2018, Dr. Kakaiya has held the position of the Diversity Chair for the San Diego Psychological Association. Additionally she is serving a 2 year term on the Board of San Diego Psychological Association. She was also on the Board of the Sanskruti Kendra, a local religious Hindu organization. From 2010-2012, she served as the President for SDNari, a Global Women’s Organization that has its roots in the South Asian Community. She is also a proud member of San Diego Rotary Club 33, the oldest and largest Club in San Diego. She had also served on the Board of this prestigious Club. She is also on a number of other Youth Committees with her Rotary Club. Being an avid proponent of women having strong voices, she was also invited to be President of the Board for the Women’s Museum of California, which she served with passion and activism. Dr. Kakaiya’s interest in women’s issues has led her to join HT-RADAR (Human Trafficking Task Force), and serve on the Board of San Diego CrimeStoppers, where her passion is to help fight sex trafficking of girls and women in San Diego. She has been on the Board of San Diego Girl Scouts Council for the since 2019 and will serve for 6 years. Within that organization, she has conducted numerous no cost workshops for families for the last 15 years. During the COVID year she conducted a weekly free Brain Health Friday for the entire 130 staff members of GSSD through all of 2020 to walk them through the turbulence of a pandemic and all the social justice issues that ensued that year. She did these from May 2020 till December 2020. She graduated from the LEAD IMPACT Program in 2017, with distinction, and was nominated by her class to win the Herbert G Klein award. LEAD Impact is a flagship program of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce and they cultivate engaged, civic leaders. As an entrepreneur, in April 2019, she completed Phase 1 of a Business Boot Camp conducted by LYFT Enterprises, where she learnt all the skills to create Healthy Within Enterprises as a Franchisor of Neurofeedback Treatment Centers. Healthy Within Enterprises is one of a couple of companies in the country that are selling neurofeedback franchises. Her goal was to have Neurofeedback become a household word, so people can realize the benefit of brain optimization without any drugs. She closed HWE in August of 2023 and has pivoted to creating education of neurofeedback in other ways. To that effect she just published her book “Healthy Within-Brain Fitness Through Neurofeedback” in March of 2020. This book outlines the success she has had with Neurofeedback and her desire to educate people about the health of their brain. Dr. Kakaiya thrives with media appearances and has a dynamic charismatic energy. In February and April 2006, she appeared on the Tyra Banks Show, as an expert on eating disorders. She made numerous appearances each year on local TV and radio on the issue of prevention and treatment of eating disorders. She has also been a regular presenter for the Young Women Leadership of the Jenna Druck Foundation and the Girls Scouts Volunteer Conference. She was also on the Board of the Young Women’s Leadership Program, which is presented by The Center for Creative Leadership. She is very active in local schools and has served on numerous PTSA Boards for the schools that her daughter and son attended. She is a sought after speaker for podcasts and has begun to create Webinars about Brain health as of May 2020. Since 2010, she has become a popular speaker on “The Teen Brain,” “Impulse Control Disorders and Trauma” and “Raising Respectful, Resilient Teens.” She presents frequently to both clinicians as well as middle and high school parents, and is often in high demand for repeat presentations. Dr. Kakaiya believes in empowering clinicians to see the damaging impact of the social media, violent video games, unmonitored Internet use, and rapid technology on the development of the teen brain. She is an avid proponent of the non-dieting philosophy and rejecting our toxic food culture. She inspires families to develop value based living by truly rejecting the toxicity of the mass media. She is not a technophobe and empowers her teens to become mindful users of the “tech” world! Being a parent of a 31 year old young, empowered woman who received the Gold Award in Girl Scouts, and a 25 year old kind, compassionate, young man, who received the Eagle Award in Boy Scouts, she is real and authentic in her presentations. Dr. Kakaiya also presented at a Ted Talk in Claremont, CA in September 2012. The topic was “Dare to Love Your Body.” In the future, she hopes to present at a Ted event on the Teen Brain and Neurogenesis as well as the Power of Neurofeedback to regulate the brain. Her most recent appointment to the CCAB (Chancellors Community Advisory Board) for UCSD will give her an opportunity to be a spokesperson for the community as well as an ombudsman for UCSD.