Dr. Cheryl Kempinsky completed her doctorate in philosophy at the California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University in 1990. She pursued a pre-doctoral internship in child and adolescent and family therapies at the San Francisco Valley Child Guidance Clinic in Northridge, California.  She has been licensed as a psychologist in California since 1993 (PSY 13481).

As a clinical psychologist she has been practicing DBT for over 20 years. She has been trained over the years in group skills training, individual therapy, suicide and crisis management, and exposure therapy by both Marsha Linehan and Behavioral Tech, LLC, her training institute. She completed two intensive trainings in 2007 and 2009, and she completed online training protocols for both Management of Anxiety and Panic for Adolescents, and Behavioral Activation for the treatment of depression. In October 2017, Dr. Kempinsky completed an intensive training for the treatment of children and their families using Dialectical Behavior Therapy for children (DBT-C).

Dr. Kempinsky consults with clinicians and families on the application and integration of DBT as it is practiced with children, adolescents and adults. She conducts both individual psychotherapy and group skills training at DBT Associates of Southern California. She has taught graduate courses in ethics and law, clinical interviewing, and forensic psychology. She is a Board Member of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder.