About

Toby Israel, Ph.D.

Toby Israel, Ph.D. is a visionary founder of the new field of Design Psychology. Defined as “the practice of architecture, planning and interior design in which psychology is the principal design tool”, this new discipline continues to gain international attention including in Fast Company, Men’s Health Living, the L.A., New York and Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Oprah Home and on NPR’s Talk of the Nation.

The Design Psychology visioning sessions and one-to-one interviews Dr. Israel conducts bring to the fore the vast personal store of experience and emotions that contribute to an individual’s or group’s sense of place. Using her ‘Design Psychology Toolbox’ of exercises, Dr. Israel helps clients design from within to create deeply human healthcare, homes, schools and healing products.

An acclaimed pioneer and world-class speaker Dr. Israel presents both nationally and internationally, spreading the word about Oasis by Design Psychology. Dr. Israel’s international experience and groundbreaking theories about people and place are summarized in her book, Some Place Like Home: Using Design Psychology to Create Ideal Places (Wiley/Academy, 2003). This “extraordinary book … includes thought-provoking examples that incorporate the concept of design psychology for residential, institutional and corporate design.” (Design Management Review, 06/25/04)

Trained as an Environmental Psychologist, Dr. Israel has served as head of Design Research for LRK (Looney Ricks Kiss) design firm, as the Visual Arts Coordinator for the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and as a professor at the University of Lincoln School of Architecture (UK). Based in Princeton, N.J., her work combines scholarship with “real world” wisdom that can be applied in everyday practice.