Our Founder
Rubin Khoddam, PhD is a Clinical Psychologist who specializes in the treatment of addiction and trauma as well as mood disorders, such as anxiety and depression. Dr. Rubin started COPE after growing his own personal private practice and recognizing the need for quality, evidence-based mental health care. He has personally handpicked each team member and psychologist at COPE and is passionate about helping those who come to COPE learn the skills, tools, and insights they need to be able to do their life’s work.
In addition to his work at COPE, Dr. Rubin is also a psychologist and team lead on a 30 bed track at a residential treatment facility at the West Los Angeles VA Hospital helping individuals begin their recovery journey free of substances. He supervises psychology and psychiatry trainees and is a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA. Although currently a Bruin, Dr. Rubin earned his doctorate from the University of Southern California (Fight On!) after graduating cum laude from the University of California, San Diego with his BS in Psychology. Throughout his training, Dr. Rubin has worked extensively in academic medical centers, including within the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, USC Keck Hospital Department of Neurology, as well as community clinics, such as Homeless Healthcare Los Angeles.
Dr. Rubin has received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and has published over 20 articles in peer-reviewed journals within the substance use field. He has published in many journals, including Addiction, Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, and Alcohol and Drug Dependence. Dr. Rubin also publishes blogs regularly on Psychology Today with hopes of integrating science, self-help, and practice.
Lastly, Dr. Rubin was selected as a scholar of the Elyn Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics Scholar at the University of Southern California and has been a member of the Research Society on Alcoholism’s National Advocacy and Public Education Committee.
More personally, Dr. Rubin is the youngest of four children and raised by immigrant Persian parents. As a result of his upbringing, he recognizes the unique cultural identities that have shaped our personalities. Many have faced hardships throughout life that were endemic to the specific family we were raised in and some of us have experienced more pervasive oppression as a result of systematic, sociopolitical forces. Unfortunately, some of us have experienced both. All of these factors and many more are critical to helping Dr. Rubin and all the staff at COPE understand the totality of your life and experience and will help us work together to move your life forward with the realities of these experiences.