CBT Therapist for a teen girl with anxiety and OCD
Hi Fellow Parents,
i am searching for my shy niece who has been showing signs of OCD throughout middle and high school. She has also been sleeping more since started high school. Recently, she was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Looking back, she was showing signs of anxiety in six grade but too settle to recognize. She is also very caring and sensitive to her friends and the school community. Lately, she is isolating herself from friends. Her doctor recommended a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist. If you could recommend someone in San Ramon, Berkeley, Oakland Area, I would very much appreciated. Someone who takes insurance would be fantastic since funds are limited. I can be reached by my private email as well!
thank you very much!
Teen
Parent Replies
Our 9 year old has a phobia and a little generalized anxiety. We found Dr Kim at the Wright Institute in Berkeley very very helpful.
akim [at] wi.edu
All the best.
So sorry to hear that your niece is dealing with this. What a great aunt you are for reaching out to seek resources for her.
You say that your niece has been showing signs of OCD—has she been diagnosed with OCD by a psychiatrist? If not, I’d definitely seek the expertise of a good psychiatrist ASAP.
If she has OCD, CBT therapy is absolutely essential. It can be hard to find a CBT therapist in the Bay Area with an opening, nevermind one who’s covered by insurance. Not sure what insurance your niece has, but I’d call the insurance and explain the situation and ask for their assistance in locating some practitioners who are trained in CBT.
My daughter was recently diagnosed with OCD by a psychiatrist (Lester Isenstadt, who does accept some insurance plans and whom I can highly recommend) after struggling with anxiety on and off throughout 8th and 9th grade. He prescribed an SSRI medication to help her for the short-term but made it clear that the only way to truly address OCD is with CBT.
We went with a CBT therapist whom he recommended—unfortunately she doesn’t take insurance. Her name is Ilyana Romanovsky and she practices in Berkeley and is located near the Claremont Hotel. Our daughter has only been seeing Ilyana for 6 weeks, but she has already made huge strides.
Another great source for CBT is the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy, which is in Oakland.
Please contact Roger's Behavior Health in Walnut Creek. It is a great center that treat exactly what you need. They will be able to help you or refer you to a cbt therapist.
Also, you can look up therapists here:
https://iocdf.org
And specifically in San Ramon Dr. Robin Yeganeh is highly recommended 925-400-9604
www.cbthealth.com
Best of luck to you!
I am the parent of a now-adult child with OCD. If you think your niece has OCD, I strongly encourage her to be seen by a psychiatrist (MD) who specializes in OCD for a firm diagnosis. It is a distinct illness. UCSF has an OCD clinic with an emphasis on pediatric OCD and the clinic takes insurance. They are experts and can provide a diagnosis and treatment plan. She will also need to get a specific form of CBT called ERP (I highly recommend going to the website of the International OCD Foundation for info and referrals to treatment providers). Most therapists who specialize in ERP don’t take insurance bc they are in high demand and can be paid higher amount and avoid the insurance hassle. I suggest calling your behavior health insurer and asking them to find someone. If they cannot, you can then ask for them to cover the cost of treatment with an out of network therapist. Beware that lots of therapists claim they treat OCD in their listings but they have little experience or no training with ERP. So you want to make sure you aren’t given a run around to someone who isn’t qualified. OCD is a federal and state Parity Act diagnosis so read up on that if your niece has health care insurance that also includes behavioral health. I hope she gets treatment soon so that she can learn to cope with her illness and participate in her life.