Portrait of Dr. Jon Weingarden, PsyD

Accepting new patients

Dr. Jon Weingarden, PsyD

Practice Owner / Doctor of Psychology

Currently accepting self-pay clients only.

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Specialties

  • Anorexia
  • Bipolar Disorder
  • Business and Healthcare Consultation
  • Clinical Supervision
  • Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
  • Eating Disorders
  • Graduate School Lecture / Guest Speaker
  • Personality
  • Relational Dynamic Therapy
  • Trauma

About

Approach & background

I'm proud to serve my hometown, Pittsburgh, as a psychologist. I've been practicing since 2010 and founded WPS in 2020. In 2024, WPS expanded by contracting additional clinicians and became a group practice.

While I consider myself a general practitioner, I have several areas of specialized experience:

  • Bipolar Disorder. Seven years working in bipolar research and treatment using Interpersonal Social Rhythm Therapy (IPSRT) at UPMC's Depression and Manic Depression Prevention Program (DMDPP), and light therapy for bipolar disorder at UPMC's Women's Behavioral Health Program.
  • Trauma and Personality Disorders. Supervised training during my doctorate at UPMC's Adult Trauma Inpatient Recovery Program, where I later served as covering director. During that time I also received supervised training in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Seeking Safety trauma-informed treatment.
  • Eating Disorders & Feeding Disorders. As a senior program director at UPMC's Western Psychiatric Hospital I served the inpatient eating disorders treatment program. During that time I updated the DBT protocol, added an Eating and the Self psychodynamic group therapy manual based on Focal Dynamic Therapy, and developed a site-specific CBT-E manual including treatment of ARFID as it occurs within anorexia.

My approach to therapy is integrative — I see psychology through a relational dynamic lens. Our problems, personality, and symptoms can and should be understood in an interpersonal context. We are social beings and must be understood in our social context. That means taking a person-first perspective: understanding the individual first, and the symptoms second. This drives interventions whether they're psychodynamic or cognitive-behavioral.

I also believe our internal — intrapsychic — world is made of parts seeking homeostasis, and my work often incorporates parts-work: exploring ambivalence or mixed feelings, and seeking new, more sustainable balance as part of therapy.

Publications

Selected publications & press

  1. Sit, D., McGowan, J., Wiltrout, C., Weingarden, J., Diler, R., Dills, J., … Wisner, K. (2015). A Randomized, Placebo-controlled Trial of Light Therapy for Bipolar Depression. Society of Biological Psychiatry.
  2. Rastelli, C., Cheng, Y., Weingarden, J., Frank, E., & Swartz, H. (2013). Differences between unipolar depression and bipolar II depression in women. Journal of Affective Disorders, 150(3), 1120–1124.
  3. Weingarden, J., Hamilton, D. (2016). A Qualitative Exploration: Attributional Insight in Depression (Doctoral Dissertation). Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA.
  4. Post-Gazette — 19 Neighbors: Seasonal Affective Disorder (2020).
  5. UPMC — Coping with Election Stress.
  6. CBS — Light Therapy for Seasonal Affective Disorder.
  7. TODAY — Managing Cell Phone Use to Avoid Anxiety.
  8. Time2Track — Transference, Uncertainty and Reasons Therapists Might Fail (3-part series).
  9. HR Vendor News — How Workplaces Support Mental Health.

Presentations

Lectures, panels & talks

  • Weingarden, J. (2021). Uncertainty, transference, and reasons therapists might fail. Antioch University, Lecture Series.
  • Solai, L. & Weingarden, J. (2018). Behavioral Management in a Nursing Home Unit For Residents with Chronic Serious Mental Illness. Kairos Presentations, Webinar.
  • Tew, J., Weingarden, J., & White, C. (2017). Plan, Do, Study, Act Cycle in Quality Improvement Research. Clinician Educator Showcase, WPIC of UPMC.
  • Weingarden, J. (2017). Agitation in Inpatients with Major Neurocognitive Disorder. Geriatric Education Meeting, WPIC of UPMC.
  • Weingarden, J. (2017). Geriatric Psychiatry Inpatients: Preventative Interventions for Outlier Patients. WPIC of UPMC.
  • Weingarden, J. (2016). Understanding Agitation in Students with Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Best Practice Interventions. Carnegie Mellon University.
  • Weingarden, J. (2015). Interpersonal Stew: What You Put In Is What You Get Out (Aggression In College Athletes). Carnegie Mellon University.
  • Weingarden, J. (2014). Integrative Psychotherapy, Theoretical and Practical Bases. Chatham University.
  • Weingarden, J. (2012). Differences in Interpersonal Psychotherapy Problem Foci Between Individuals Suffering from Unipolar and Bipolar Depression. UPMC Poster Presentations.