Reviews – Dr Pennell

Patient Reviews

Why suffer another second when she can help you? Get on her calendar as soon as you can.

- Dr. Pennells Patient, B

If anyone has doubts about getting help when you are not sure why you aren't happy, I say call Paige.

- Dr. Pennell's Patient, T

When I was referred to Dr. Pennell, I was dying inside after enduring my son recovering from a life threatening TBI and it causing me to suffer from some sort of PTSD from being in the ICU so long and getting that initial call in the night.
I had never been in therapy before let alone EMDR, and was super skeptical.
I saw Paige and instantly understood that she was put in front of me to be my guide back to recover the most normal life I could for myself -- which is far from normal as I also have an autistic teenager. Paige leaned in with empathy and tough love, too. She rattled my cage where l'd kept everything inside locked up tight. No matter what your trauma or stress, I have no doubt at all that Dr. Paige Pennell can help you - and save you. Don't hesitate. Get on her calendar as soon as you can because she is the best and why suffer another second when she can help you.

— B, 2025

It is so hard to see your child struggle and not know how to help him…We initially came to Dr. Pennell for help with our six year old son who was having difficulty adjusting both emotionally and academically to first grade…
I am eternally grateful to Dr. Pennell for bringing us out of the dark place we were in as both a couple and a family. She helped us to address the serious communication issues that we as a couple were having. I was very unhappy in our marriage and feeling ignored and misunderstood by my husband. My anger towards him was constantly spilling out onto my three children thus creating a very negative environment for everyone. After two months of seeing Paige, we learned how to effectively communicate our needs and feelings which in turn brought love back into our marriage. Once we, as a couple, were feeling that love again we were able to transform our negative and disorderly household into a positive one with limits and consequences. We still struggle at times but, as Mother's day approaches, I can honestly say, that this is my first of seven years as a mom that I am excited to celebrate this incredibly important role.
As the school year comes to an end, my son's teacher can't believe the incredible amount of progress he has made since September. After the first quarter he was severely below grade level in both reading and writing and did not want to go to school. It was at this time that Dr. Pennell took time out of her busy schedule to email and speak to his teacher in order come up with a plan to help him succeed in school. During his sessions she was able to see that he had very poor self-esteem and excessive shyness and therefore, was not getting the help he needed.

— J, 2025

“After caring for my Mom for several years, I discovered that I didn't know how to be anything but a caretaker… I couldn't find my way back to the outgoing happy person that I had been.
Through Paige's eye opening tools and wisdom, I discovered that I had been stuffing my feelings for a long time. I am now able to see the happy self I was, and how to get it back. I am reconnecting with friends and having a lot of fun.
I hope if anyone has doubts about getting help when you are not sure why you aren't happy, I say call Paige.”

— T, May 2024

I have been seeing Dr. Pennell for 2+ years now and I can honestly say she has changed my life and helped me through an extremely tough divorce. I have also brought my daughter to see and work with her on several occasions and she loves meeting with Dr. Pennell and found it very easy to open up to her.
She has always been extremely flexible and accommodating to fit my schedule and has even called to talk with me on her vacation (unheard of)! She is a very genuine and caring person to her clients and always has great insights on my issues and concerns.
I am so grateful to have found her-she is the best there is!

— T, 2024

Life can be tough. If you need a nonjudgmental perspective and want some sensible and caring guidance, Dr. Pennell can help. I have had an opportunity to work with Dr. Pennell in both 1:1 and with family situations and am impressed with how, based on the individual's age/circumstance/gender/history, she connects with people where they are in the moment and finds the most effective path to meaningful communication. Her thoughtful pragmatic style coupled with her compassionate and direct manner allow her patients understood and empowered.
Dr. Pennell is a gifted clinician and definitely one of the good ones!

— F, 2024

I cannot recommend Dr. Pennell highly enough!! Seeing her has completely changed both my life and the life of my family. I am so grateful that we somehow chose her from the long list of therapists! Her sincere compassion, for both her role as a therapist and for her patients, definitely radiates outward making it obvious that she was put here on this earth to do this job.
Within a week of Dr. Pennell’s phone conversation with my son’s teacher, he started showing significant improvement emotionally, academically and socially.
She is both firm and blunt in getting her patients to confront their problematic behavior but at the same time provides them with the empathetic support that is needed to change it. Dr. Pennell truly has a great gift within her and I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to experience it!

— V, 2023

My two children and I began seeing Dr. Pennell about two years ago. I was going through a difficult divorce and wanted to find someone that would be of help to my kids through that difficult time in our lives. My girls were completely at ease with her from our first visit.
She helped them in more ways than I ever imagined. I have some experience with therapists and was extremely pleased with Dr. Pennell’s approach and style. The girls and I have grown immensely and would not be the same with out her guidance, patience and even love in our lives! She has a way about her that makes you feel completely accepted, faults and all.
She can be firm when need be, but always kind and compassionate. She is also very knowledgeable, and her experience shows. I have often recommended her to family and friends and I tell them how I genuinely feel, it has been a privilege to get to know Dr. Pennell as our therapist!!

— I, 2023

I've been going to Dr. Paige Pennell for over 6 months now and it has been truly life-changing. I spent years with indifferent and incompetent professionals before I consulted with her and I was completely disheartened and discouraged.
I've been chronically depressed since my teens. I was despairing of finding help and starting get skeptical about mental health professionals (both psychiatrists and psychologists)in general.
Without going into many details I'll say that she has helped me recognize and change things and habits that were having a serious negative impact on my life.
She is extremely smart and has trained in a wide variety of tools and techniques that she deploys based on the situation and the person. She is kind but firm and no-nonsense. She has no interest in making you come to her for an extended period of time. She demands commitment but is also empathetic.
I've had no problems finding convenient appointment times and she is punctual and consistent.
Above all she is warm and truly interested in you as a person and fellow human being. She more available and accessible than any doctor I've worked with.

— T, 2022

Dr. Paige Pennell is an excellent psychologist and a wonderful person. I started seeing her when I was at a really low point in my life, and I was looking for someone who could help me figure out how to reexamine and change my thinking and behavior. I have been seeing Dr. Paige for 2 years.
She has been the perfect doctor to guide and help me through this challenging and sometimes difficult process. She is extremely insightful, intelligent, intuitive and empathetic. She also challenges me to look at my thoughts and behaviors from another perspective, and challenges the narrative that I had developed about why life and relationships were difficult for me.
Dr. Paige is very well educated and attends an impressive number of professional training courses and seminars from which she brings back and incorporates innovative techniques and therapies such as EMDR, tapping, and relaxation techniques. These techniques have been of real benefit to me in coping with strong memories and feelings. She also has experience in many different settings and fields of mental health, including addiction and working with children who are coping with having a parent who has cancer. She's not just a "talk therapist;" she provides important feedback and recommendations. I really can't recommend Dr. Paige highly enough.
I don't think I would have made anywhere near as much progress in how I feel and my coping skills without her. Just as an example of how much I value my time with Dr. Paige, I drive to La Jolla from downtown and adjust my work schedule to get to my appointments. It's more than worth it to me.

— J, 2022

My children have been seeing Dr. Pennell for issues related to my divorce. She has been able to connect and build rapport with my children and they (especially my teenager) have made great progress under her guidance. She is very professional and real - she listens but also tells it like it is and helps you come to your own answers by being open, honest, and caring. She asks questions that help you draw your own conclusions so that the answers are meaningful and true.
She was very flexible in finding an appointment time that worked for mine and my children's busy schedules.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her to my friends, co-workers, and family if they were in need of a great family therapist.

— A, 2021

My children have been working with Dr. Pennell for two years. She has helped them prepare for a horrible event, deal with it, and now is helping them move along with their lives. I would have thought it would have been a nightmare to get my kids to drive an hour to meet with a dr. once a month, but never have they complained. They enjoy their time with her and seem to benefit immensely. Dr. Pennell is always on time and also takes time to convey to me any concerns or ideas about the children.

— G, 2021

Paige is fantastic. Tough when she needs to be but kind and caring. My kids love her and my son doesn't like to talk to anyone. She has helped all of us work through the death of our husband/father. Other theraptist I have seen haven't given me any tools to work with. Paige has a lot of suggestions and tools for us to use. I resisted to driving to her office initially but she is completely worthwhile. I won't bother looking anywhere else and recommend her highly.

— C, 2021

I have been seeing Dr. Paige Pennell for a number of years now. She has helped me immensely let go of the past, embrace forgiveness, and to resurrect my marriage of 30 years.
She uses innovative techniques to help me keep calm and keep an open mind when it comes to my husband and people in my life. Dr. Pennell has taught me to use energy work and positive thinking journals (where I replace hot, negative thoughts with more rational, positive thoughts).
She also helps me role play to practice talking about feelings and emotions in my communication with people. She is incredibly positive and uplifting and has taught me how to be a better partner for my husband.
I no longer dwell on the negative in life. My husband seems a changed man now that i am more positive with him and have stopped the nagging and living in the past with all kinds of regrets.
We are now empty nesters and have so much fun together. My husband has evolved into the kind of husband I have needed all these years.

— K, 2021

Dr. Pennell is willing to be very creative when trying to find ways or tools to help her patients.
She has extensive knowledge of appropriate literature and tools to help a person understand their particular situation and problems. She is able to communicate concepts in a warm and easily understandable manner. She is willing to think outside the box and it never seems that she is just following protocol. She is extremely engaged, engaging and 100% focused on the person in front of her. Very little, if anything, sneaks past her and she is not afraid to communicate frankly with her patients. At the same time she is much warmer and attentive than one could ever expect from a therapist. She clearly loves her job and is willing to work very hard for the success of her patients. She has had a profound impact in my life and I am not sure I could've achieved what I did with anyone else. It is certainly possible that we connected but I know of other patients (friends I have referred) that feel the same way about her.
I would've not been able to open up and be as honest had I not had complete trust in Dr. Pennell. She is very patient and willing to work at the pace her patient dictates. I appreciate that she sets goals and includes the patient in the treatment progress. She does expect her patients to come to her with the intention of working on their problems and working together to solve them.
I have experienced Dr. Pennell in different settings as I have also come to her for marriage counseling as well as family counseling, though the majority of my sessions were individual. She seems to have an ability to make the biggest skeptic feel at ease in her presence. She is incredibly welcoming and always prepared. It is immediately evident that she is very experienced yet it comes across in a very jovial but still professional manner.
My husband and I only needed 4 sessions to completely change around our way of communicating with each other. The tools she teaches might be well known but her way of implementing them is so much more effective than reading them in a book or going to a workshop. It seems she custom-tailors to each individual patient to help them understand and succeed with their application.
The sessions Dr. Pennell has had with my biological family have had such a profound impact on the way we communicate with each other. Being a member of a family with each member taking on a different role and having a particular function it can be difficult to see anything but one own's perspective. Dr. Pennell found a way to make us all see each other's perspective without it resulting in any hostility or misunderstanding. We are closer than ever before and know that without Dr. Pennell’s help this would have been nearly impossible. She was very effective in figuring out what we needed as a family and found ways to reach everyone as individuals as well as the family as a whole.
The gratitude I feel for Dr. Pennell cannot be fully expressed in a review but in my attempt to summarize my experience with her I hope to encourage future patients to pick up the phone and seek her services. I am convinced you won't regret it.

—N, 2020