Oakland therapist treating LGBTQIA, depression, and anxiety?
Hello,
I'm looking for an Oakland (or nearby) therapist experienced in working with LGBTQIA teens with a history of severe anxiety, vegetative depression, disordered eating, self-harm, and school refusal. They are in the Kaiser intensive outpatient program, but they just don't have the resources to meet my kid's needs.
In-person would be WONDERFUL. My kid hates Zoom & will not do groups because of it.
Thank you
Sep 6, 2022
Parent Replies
I highly recommend you check out a therapist with a dialectic behavioral therapy background as those are great skills for addressing the root causes of the issues your teen is struggling with. Though they are zoom only right now, Caitlin Burnham is excellent, works primarily with/in the LGBTQI community, and is skilled in DBT work. She is the first therapist my teen has bonded with and they have come a long way together in the last year. You could also check out the Oakland-based Clearwater DBT clinic--they often have queer interns/staff, are very QT friendly and also do great work with kids (and parents, since that in my own experience is definitely part of the work to be done) with similar issues. Good luck.
My kid sounds a bit like yours. They like Kay Guyer, who is an art therapist. Kay is non-binary and young. Which has been very helpful for getting my kid to talk in therapy.
Also, we are about to start a 6 week DBT session with Clearwater in Orinda. DBT is known to be effective for self-harm. I have given up on Kaiser's mental health program because they do not have enough resources. kay [at] kayguyer.com www.clearwaterclinic.com
Hello - Our teen/family had a really positive experience with both the intensive outpatient program and the individual therapists at Bay Area Clinical Associates (BACA) in Berkeley (https://www.baca.org/). They specialize in working with youth, and services are being provided in-person again. There may be a waitlist, but they are most definitely worth a try. Good luck!