Clinical Psychologist
“I strive to create a warm, positive, and fun testing environment for my clients so they can work to the best of their ability and we can achieve the most optimal results.”
Highlighted New Service: Specialized Clinical Assessment, Multidisciplinary Evaluation
Dr. Gamboa is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and young adults. As the Director of Clinical Assessment at San Diego Kids First (SDKF), she brings her over 18 years of assessment experience to the team, with expertise in standardized testing for children and adolescents with developmental, psychological, and/or educational challenges, including Autism Spectrum Disorders, ADHD, Anxiety Disorders, Learning Disorders, and Mood Disorders. She also plays a key role in providing Multidisciplinary Evaluations in conjunction with the SDKF Educational Psychology Department as well as overseeing and supporting the SDKF Clinical Assessment team.
Dr. Gamboa received a B.A. in Psychology from La Sierra University and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, San Diego. She has broad experience working with children, adolescents, and families, and is an expert in assessing and treating Anxiety Disorders, Behavioral Challenges, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Mood Disorders, and Substance Use/Abuse. Dr. Gamboa has provided psychotherapy and assessment services in her role as psychologist at the San Diego Regional Center, Rady Children’s Hospital Outpatient Psychiatry, St. Vincent de Paul Villages, and the College Counseling Centers at USD and SDSU.
When Dr. Gamboa is not in the office, she enjoys traveling, hiking, riding her bike, playing guitar, and spending time with her friends and her Siamese cat, Bean.
What Others Say About Us
Dr. Pontillo is an exceptional, and one-of-a-kind child psychologist. I have referred many children of my patients to Dr. Pontillo and she has always given them the best care and attention. Referring a patient to another professional is a big responsibility. I always look for a colleague who is efficient, professional, experienced and one who is able to come up with a clear diagnosis. I keep referring to Dr. Pontillo because of her expertise, efficiency and especially her warm and caring personality that is extremely necessary when dealing with children. I very highly recommend Deborah Pontillo, Ph.D as a child diagnostician, developmental and behavioral specialist, and therapist.
I’ve been referring my patients to Dr. Pontillo for the past several years with the utmost confidence that she will care and understand their developmental needs. Dr. Pontillo always provided them with a balanced and age appropriate intervention to help not only the child but the family as a whole.
I am a general pediatrician with a special interest in ADHD, spending about 20% of my clinical time caring for ADHD patients. I have known Dr Pontillo since 2005 and have an enormous respect for her clinical skills and insights. She is my “go to” psychologist for more complicated developmental issues and for diagnosis of subtle high functioning disabilities. Dr. Pontillo’s interest in her patients and her ability to clearly delineate developmental problems allows parents to move forward with establishing a treatment plan. She is an invaluable resource to the San Diego Pediatric community.