About

Dr. Zoi Dorit Eliou was born in Athens, Greece and was raised in Greece and Israel. She graduated from Tel Aviv University with a BA in Philosophy and Political Science, Magna Cum Laude. In 1986 she came to the US with an Onassis Foundation Scholarship to attend Lesley College in Cambridge, Mass. She graduated from Lesley with an MA in Expressive Arts Therapy. She was awarded an additional scholarship from the Onassis Foundation to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology from Palo Alto University in Palo Alto, CA (APA approved program).

Dr. Eliou trained at Lemuel Shuttack Hospital (Tufts university affiliate) in expressive art therapy with rotations in the acute and chronic psychiatric inpatient units. She completed her pre-doctoral psychology internship at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in NYC (Columbia university affiliate, APA approved internship). She completed rotations in inpatient and outpatient services, and a day treatment service for patients with Borderline Personality Disorder and Affective Disorders.

Dr. Eliou has worked in inpatient, residential, and day treatment settings primarily with patients with severe psychopathology and personality disorders. She has worked at the Metropolitan State Hospital in Waltham, Mass, as well as in a private residential facility in Lexington, Mass, and at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn NY. While at Kings County Hospital, Dr. Eliou was a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Downstate Medical Center, SUNY, and she supervised practicum psychology students and medical students in inpatient psychiatry. In 1995, she returned to Greece to set up and direct a Substance Abuse Program for Adolescents in Athens, Greece. The program was funded by a European Union Grant and was partnered with similar programs in Ireland and Portugal.

Dr. Eliou returned to California in 1998 and worked at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara and Mountain View for 9 years. She was a psychologist for the crisis service, intensive outpatient program, and mood disorders team. During her nine-year service at Kaiser, she supervised post-doctoral psychology students and was the Chair of the Continuing Medical Education program for the Department of Psychiatry in Santa Clara, CA. Dr. Eliou opened her private practice in 2001. She practiced in downtown Palo Alto for 18 years and opened her practice in San Francisco in 2011. In 2023, she opened a Peer Consultation Group for psychologists for continuing training and continuing educational credits towards license renewal.

Dr. Eliou sees primarily patients with Affective Disorders (Bipolar Spectrum Disorders, Depressive Disorders, and Anxiety Spectrum Disorders), as well as patients with Trauma history. She has a particular interest in chronically suicidal patients, family suicide survivors, and survivors. She has extensive experience treating personality disorders, primarily Borderline Personality Disorder. In addition, she treats patients with complicated medical and psychiatric profiles (autoimmune disorders, diabetes, cancer, and pain disorders). She is EMDR trained. She is fluent in English, Hebrew, and Greek. 

In 2022, Dr. Eliou finished her training in Awareness Through Movement (ATM) under the direction of Arlyn Zones (see profile link) and joined the Feldenkrais Guild. She is on the editorial board of the Feldenkrais Journal of the North American Guild since 2023. Also at the end of 2023 she published her paper on the integration between Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Awareness Through Movement (please see the attached pdf of the paper). Her 2nd upcoming paper on ATM training and research is scheduled to be published in 2024.

Dr. Eliou is the founder of Living Breath By Breath® (LBB), an organization that aims to deliver learning opportunities integrating Mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lessons, and the Expressive Arts. 

In her free time, Dr. Eliou is busy with globe-trotting, photography (www.circumio.com), gardening, art performances, swimming, scuba-diving, reading, and spending time with friends and family. In 2024, Dr. Eliou trained as a California Certified Naturalist at the Point Reyes National Park through the University of California, Davis, Agriculture and Natural Resources Department. She especially enjoys teaching people about coastal history and nature.