Karina Anaya, MD

Board-Certified Adult, Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist

“Conformity requires us to minimize our differences for the greater good. We fear that if we don’t conform, we will be abandoned, but there is no loneliness like having people only see you after you’ve erased yourself.”
– Alok Vaid-Menon, Beyond the Gender Binary

About Karina Anaya, MD

Karina Anaya completed her General and Child Adolescent Psychiatry training at LAC+USC Medical Center. She is a graduate of University of Southern California as a Fine Arts and Psychology Major. It was during her undergraduate years that she first experienced the privilege of being of service when working at New Image Emergency Shelter, one of the largest homeless shelters in California at the time. Her parents are immigrants from Mexico and Argentina, whose stories helped her weave a sense of belonging to a global community. Since 2019, Karina has been regularly volunteering with Refugee Health Alliance in Tijuana, Mexico.

She specializes in LGBTQIA2S+ mental health, chronic pain, trauma, and minority stress. She is passionate about liberation psychology, decolonizing mental health, and working with participants in mental health from an anti-oppressive framework.

Start Your Journey

Education & Training

University: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, Fine Arts (BA), Psychology (BA), 2006
Graduate School: California State University, Long Beach, CA, (Post-BaccBiology), 2007 – 09
Medical School: Ross University, Portsmouth, Dominica, MD, 2013
Internship: LAC+USC Medical Center (Psychiatry), Los Angeles, CA, June 2013 – June 2014
Residency: LAC+USC Medical Center (Psychiatry), Los Angeles, CA, June 2014 – June 2017
Fellowship: LAC+USC Medical Center (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry), June 2016 – 2018
Fellowship: Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (Transyouth Psychiatry), September 2021 – September 2022

Notable Achievements & Interests

Board Certification: General Psychiatry 2017
Languages: Functionally fluent Spanish (1st language), Fluent English
Special interests: LGBTQIA2S+ Mental Health, Minority Mental Health, Trauma-Informed Care, Liberation Psychology, Chronic Pain
Graduate Education Committee; Class Representative, LAC+USC Dept of Psychiatry, Los Angeles, CA, 2013 – 2015.
Healthcare Administration Scholars Program Candidate, LAC+USC Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, Sept 2015 – June 2016
Committee of Interns and Residents/ SEIU, Elected Union Delegate, LAC+USC Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, April 2014 – May 2017
Quality Improvement Scholarship Committee Member, LAC+USC Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, Sept 2015 – June 2016