Abbey-Robin Durkin Ph.D.

Dr. Durkin completed her dissertation at Stanford University, specializing in vicarious trauma as experienced by family members of patients admitted to STS Intensive Care Units. Her early research and clinical interests were focused on developmental psychology, however while working as a researcher at the Palo Alto & Menlo Park VAs, she was inspired to refocus her attention towards preventing PTSD within the adult population. Upon graduation she accepted a commission as a Military Officer and served as a uniformed psychologist for 8 years. During her military service she enjoyed providing a wide range of psychological services including counseling for PTSD, depression, anxiety, marriage problems, eating disorders, LGBTQ+ support, occupational distress, and toxic workplace intervention. After the service she joined the Defense Intelligence Agency and spent 12 years traveling globally to teach, support, and train military diplomats on how to navigate operational stress, culture shock, political crisis, austerity, loneliness, bullying, and build healthy team dynamics.

Now at Tokyo Mental Health, Abbey is pleased to provide compassionate behavioral health care across the lifespan for individuals living in Japan. She tailors each session and therapeutic intervention to the needs of the client, taking into account their individual learning styles, developmental level, resources, and social support.  She especially enjoys helping clients gain insight and mastery over automatic negative thoughts, release coping skills that no longer serve them, and experience the reduction of traumatic stress symptoms to levels that no longer disrupt daily life.

Abbey grew up in Italy, England, Germany, the US, and now lives permanently in Japan.  Prior to coming to Japan she lived on a sailboat named Tardigrade with her son, 2 guinea pigs, 2 cats, and a dog. During the pandemic, Dr. Durkin wrote many children’s books called “Life As Strange.” The first set of in the series “Navigating Rough Waters”  was released on Amazon in April 2023, and is currently being translated into Japanese. Her books tell the story of life’s adventures through the eyes of her guinea pig named Strange. Each story addresses challenges of childhood, including moving, feeling out of place, making new friends, having a family member become ill, bullying, body image concerns, and learning how to be brave in the face of hardships.