Staff Directory
- Title:
- Clinical Psychologist
- Email:
Dr. Danny Martinez, PhD, (he/him) is a Senior Psychologist with UCLA Athletics. Danny brings significant clinical experience working with student-athletes and serving in various roles in higher education in Southern California. Danny seeks to provide inclusive services to student-athletes of diverse backgrounds through individual, group, crisis, and team modalities.
Danny uses an eclectic style to conceptualization and treatment including Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Psychodynamic, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Family Systems, and Narrative Therapy approaches. His clinical lens is supported by a significant background in neuropsychology, neuroanatomy and function, which help us understand the functional reasons for the ways we think, feel, and behave.
Danny is a proud UCLA graduate (BA ’04) and received advanced degrees from Fuller Graduate School of Psychology (MS ’06, MA ’10, MS ’11, PhD ’13). Danny completed a significant amount of his pre-doctoral training on the UCLA medical center campus including the UCLA Semel Institute (previously the Neuropsychiatric Institute, NPI), the Longevity Center, the UCLA Simms-Mann Center for Integrative Oncology, and the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, as well as an APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship at Tarzana Treatment Centers. Danny’s neuropsychology research was selected for presentation at the UCLA Research Conference on Aging (2012, 2013) and at the Internal Neuropsychological Society’s International Meeting (Montreal, 2011).
Danny was born in Chile, and split up his upbringing between Chile, Australia, and the US. He is bilingual (Spanish) and bicultural, which he integrates into his clinical work. His passionate love of sports is only matched by his many geek fandoms, including comic books (including shows and movies) and graphic novels. In 2023, Danny moderated a panel for UCLA’s Geek Week titled “Comics y Cultura: Healing Through Superhero Stories.”
