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Ditta M. Oliker Ph.D.

About

Ditta M. Oliker, Ph.D., began her career in theater at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA had recently formed a partnership with members of the film industry to establish a professional theater on campus known as The Theater Group. The organization evolved into the Mark Taper Forum at the Los Angeles Music Center, with Oliker as a member of the core producing staff.

After a personal tragedy, she went back to school and graduated with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. She began to develop her ideas about psychological survival and the lasting effects of the experiences and hidden messages of childhood while in graduate school. She continued to develop these themes after beginning her practice and incorporated them into her concept of survival systems. Dr. Oliker has lectured on the subject at various universities and mental health facilities, including UCLA and Alliant University, among others. She is the author of The Light Side of the Moon: Reclaiming Your Lost Potential.

Her innovative approach to the field of psychotherapy was based on her knowledge of psychodynamic theory interwoven with her theater background. Her concept of survival systems is based not only on theory, but also on her understanding of the struggles of her patients; on her own life history; and on her work in the theater which showed her the power of creative communication. She continued to elaborate on these principles until her death in 2022.

Books by Ditta M. Oliker Ph.D.
Recent Posts
Let’s Play: How the Science of the Brain Is Changing Therapy
I recently attended a conference at UCLA entitled: Play, Creativity, Mindfulness and Neuroscience in Psychotherapy. The conference offered an approach that has been gaining increasing importance, namely that: “Throughout the lifespan, play supports neurological growth and development while building complex, skilled, flexible, responsive and socially adept brains."
On Being A Burden
What are the long-term effects of a child internalizing the belief that he or she is a burden? Plus, how it can feed into a pattern of being an outsider in adulthood.
The Either/Or of Family Dynamics
The dictionary definitions of a tug-of-war: “as a game meaning two teams tug on opposite ends of a rope each trying to pull the other across a dividing line and as a struggle for supremacy.” Both definitions are played out between two warring parents, usually using a particular child as “the rope”– who then gets caught in a dilemma of “You’re either for me or against me."
Therapy Thru the Magnifying Glass of Sherlock Holmes
Part One opened with: “Psychotherapy is not unlike forensic science in uncovering the clues that have not allowed you to live your potential—which is a crime.” Today’s blog is focused on a “crime of a dissolving marriage” and how, using the tools and principles of forensic science as explained in Part One, the "detective" (therapist) is "You," the reader.
Therapy Thru the Magnifying Glass of Sherlock Holmes

CSI, as any television viewer knows, is a popular form of a crime show based on forensic science. Psychotherapy is not unlike forensic science in that its focus is on uncovering the clues that have not allowed you to live your potential, which is a crime.

CSI, as any television viewer knows, is a popular form of a crime show based on forensic science. Psychotherapy is not unlike forensic science in that its focus is on uncovering the clues that have not allowed you to live your potential, which is a crime.

Lasting Effects of a Goodness-or Poorness-of-Fit

Do you feel like things are always your fault? This concept from parenting literature may explain why.

Do you feel like things are always your fault? This concept from parenting literature may explain why.

This Is Who and What They Are!

The motives of the individuals who consistently take advantage of another can be tied to personality, and their belief to entitlement. But why does the individual being taken advantage of continue to not recognize the consistent negative pattern of the other. We begin with how the beliefs and experiences of childhood continue to influence and direct our lives as adults.

The motives of the individuals who consistently take advantage of another can be tied to personality, and their belief to entitlement. But why does the individual being taken advantage of continue to not recognize the consistent negative pattern of the other. We begin with how the beliefs and experiences of childhood continue to influence and direct our lives as adults.

Living in a Psychological Theme Park - Part One

Imagine that you’re walking down the street when suddenly a stranger approaches you, points a gun and robs you. According to the standard definition of a victim – “a person who suffers a destructive or injurious action” – you have become a victim. Hopefully, you recover from the trauma; deal with any physical and/or emotional problems connected to the experience and get on

Imagine that you’re walking down the street when suddenly a stranger approaches you, points a gun and robs you. According to the standard definition of a victim – “a person who suffers a destructive or injurious action” – you have become a victim. Hopefully, you recover from the trauma; deal with any physical and/or emotional problems connected to the experience and get on

"All Men Are Brutes"

Most readers would read the title and object to the bias expressed. They would also object if I wrote: “All women are intrusive”—or “All gays are flamboyant”—or any number of statements that would classify all members of a particular group in negative terms. And their objections would be legitimate.

Most readers would read the title and object to the bias expressed. They would also object if I wrote: “All women are intrusive”—or “All gays are flamboyant”—or any number of statements that would classify all members of a particular group in negative terms. And their objections would be legitimate.

There's A Lion In The Bank

The television ad shows a mother and young daughter sitting near a lion’s den in a zoo. The mother aims her camera at a check as she explains that the check will now go to the bank. Just then a lion walks out of his den and mother aims her camera at the animal. What one sees on the screen is a lion walking down an aisle in the bank, approaching two tellers. “No, Mommy,

The television ad shows a mother and young daughter sitting near a lion’s den in a zoo. The mother aims her camera at a check as she explains that the check will now go to the bank. Just then a lion walks out of his den and mother aims her camera at the animal. What one sees on the screen is a lion walking down an aisle in the bank, approaching two tellers. “No, Mommy,