ABOUT
35 Years of Clinical Expertise.
One Clear Focus.
Helping high-achievers perform at their greatest level and live with full enjoyment of everything they have built.
I am Darby Bonomi, PhD
A licensed Clinical Psychologist, Psychoanalyst, and Performance Psychologist.
For 35 years I have worked with high-achieving individuals around the world, from junior competitors to global executives.
As a competitive equestrian and business owner, I understand the worlds elite athletes, entrepreneurs and executives live in.
The pressure to perform perfectly. The weight of extraordinary expectations. The gap between how capable you are and how accomplished you allow yourself to feel. I have lived all of it, and those experiences are woven into every conversation I have with my clients.
To learn more about where my understanding comes from, Unshrinkable is where I tell that story.
credentials
A foundation for thoughtful, effective care
California Licensed Psychologist
Since 1992
PhD in Clinical Psychology
California School of Professional Psychology, Berkeley
Post-Doctoral Certification in Psychoanalysis
San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis
Faculty Member
San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, 2000–2010
Performance Psychology Practice
2016–present
Author
Unshrinkable (2026)
Author
Parental Panic (Forthcoming)
what shaped my approach
My path to my current work was intentionally dynamic and is exactly what makes it different.
The first two decades of my career were spent as a Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst. I maintained a private practice, supervised psychology interns and psychiatry residents, and served on the faculty of the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis. When I shifted my focus to Performance Psychology in 2016, I brought all of it with me.
Those years of experience allow me to hear what is not being said. I am able to see how patterns formed early in life show up later under pressure. And I am able to untangle the complicated situations that arise when the demands of high performance interfere with everything else—relationships, well-being, and the ability to joyfully live the life you have worked so hard to build.
That is the foundation I bring to all my client relationships; and it is one you will not find in a traditional coaching program.
Writing & Recognition
My work has been featured in:
Psychology Today
Practical Horseman
The Chronicle of the Horse
USHJA InStride
The Plaid Horse
Eventing Nation
And other respected publications
I have also delivered sport and performance psychology clinics nationwide and spoken at forums including the Columbia University Club and the University Club of New York.
My debut book, Unshrinkable, explores why high-achieving women undermine themselves—and how to stop. Published in February 2026, it quickly received a “GET IT” verdict from highly respected Kirkus Reviews.
What I offer is not an off-the-shelf framework.
I offer a relationship shaped entirely around you, informed by decades of clinical depth and a genuine understanding of the world high performers inhabit. You have already built something extraordinary. Let’s make sure you are able to recognize it, continue with it, and fully enjoy it.