Areas of Specialization
Psychopharmacology
In addition to his psychiatric residency at UCLA, Dr. Shurman completed post-doctoral fellowships in Psychopharmacology, the management of Bipolar Disorder, and Schizophrenia Research at UCLA. These fellowships have given him additional expertise in these areas.
SCHIZOPHRENIAGROUP
Dr. Shurman offers a unique treatment modality for patients with Schizophrenia. He runs a group that focuses on basic social, emotional, and life skills that are often not addressed in the treatment of Schizophrenia. Dr. Shurman based the idea of his group off research that has demonstrated much better outcomes in Schizophrenia treatment when patients attend a weekly skills group. Indeed, all of the patients in his current group live and function independently and either work, volunteer, or go to school. The group helps support this level of functioning by teaching necessary skills for functioning better and by the interpersonal support of the other members. In addition, the group allows Dr. Shurman to observe patients with high frequency in a more naturalistic setting with peers. This has often revealed insights and information that were very helpful in treating patients that would not have been gained in a less frequent and shorter one on one visit.
COUPLES Therapy
Dr. Shurman trained at the UCLA Family and Couples Clinic for two years. He is familiar with multiple modalities of treatment for families and couples. A unique perspective that he brings to couples therapy is to be mindful of biological disorders such as depression. Many times couples fail couples therapy because one of them has an undiagnosed psychiatric disorder such as anxiety or depression. The untreated disorder is often a significant hindrance to a couple's progress. When a disorder is recognized and treated, the couples therapyhas a much higher chance of success.
Eating Disorder Management
During his residency at UCLA, Dr. Shurman spent two years working at the UCLA Eating Disorders Program learning all aspects of Eating Disorder treatment. He continues to treat Eating Disorders in his private practice. He works with other care providers such as internal medicine doctors, Eating Disorder psychologists, and nutritionists to provide total care for the Eating Disorder patient.