HealthNet MHN Therapists

Parent Q&A

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  • I have been urging my husband to seek therapy for a very long time, and to my great relief, he has finally agreed that it would be very helpful.  I worry, however, that if he doesn't find a good fit with a therapist, he'll easily give up -- and who knows how long it will take me convince to give it another try?!  His untreated depression (which manifests itself as anger and irritability) is really having a negative impact on our family in so many ways, and it saddens me what our life will continue to be like if it remains untreated.  So, needless to say, I have an investment in helping him find a good fit.  In any event, because we do have good behavioral health benefits through our insurance carrier (Health Net - UC Blue & Gold plan) and have limited financial resources, I'd like to try and find a therapist in network.  Health Net contracts with MHN for behavioral health, and the list I'm seeing is so exhaustive and with no names that I recognize.  Ideally my husband would like:

    * a therapist with an office in Berkeley

    * an older, mature female therapist (he seems to be more at ease in opening himself up with this "type")

    * someone with experience in addressing depression, anxiety, PTSD, work-related stress, and anger management issues in men

    * someone who is more verbally engaged (as opposed to someone whose style is just to be more of an active listener)

    BPN community, I would be ever so appreciative if you could help identify anyone who meets some (if not all) this criteria, and it would be especially great if you think they might be in network for Health Net members.  Thank you!

    Therapy Den and Psychology Today are excellent websites that allow you to search for therapists based on some keywords, location, experience, and insurance. You can match the list from your insurance to the descriptions on these sites to help you narrow it down. Good luck!

    I recommend Kristin Hirt. She was a very good therapist to me, fits your description. Her office is just off the freeway on Lakeshore Ave in Oakland.

    I have the exact same insurance and recently tried to find a therapist for my teenager. I highly recommend that you do nothing on line and CALL MHN immediately. You tell them what his requirements are and they will find someone who is accepting new patients that fits that criteria. I beat my head against a wall for the longest time because I looked at profiles for practitioners on their website, tried to research, contacted them, and inevitably I would be told that they weren't accepting new patients even though they were listed as accepting on the website. When I called MHN after looking for a while, I found them to be very helpful. I stated all the requirements (my teenager preferred female provider, had to be after school or on the weekend, had to be a certain day of the week and time so I could transport and attend a few sessions with my teen at their request). I thought I was being too particular, but that's what we needed for this to work. It took them a while and they had to "upgrade" me to a supervisor of some sort, but it worked! If you go through insurance, you save thousands of dollars, but these are the hoops you must go through. I sometimes want to try someone where I see their website, but I realize that the people who don't take insurance have the best websites because they need to have them to attract patients! There is also access to an on-line portal through MHN that you can get by calling MHN that he might respond well to because it is more anonymous and private. They make sure you understand your benefits too--make sure they go over them with you. Good luck!

    We really like Dominique Lambert-Blum. I'm not sure of the insurance situation, but she has experience of the type you seek judging from how she interacts with my husband.

  • I'm looking for a therapist in the Walnut Creek/ Lamorinda area. Very much need support in the parenting teens- launching kids to college, grief-loss, aging parents, and general female 40's life.

    I have health net MHN so someone who takes insurance is important. 

    Not sure whether she takes MHN but Anne Case MFT is wonderful!

Archived Q&A and Reviews


May 2008

I finally have the time and energy to spend some quality time learning more about myself, my relationships, patterns of behavior that I see but don't understand. etc. I have MHN (health net) insurance and live near Solano Avenue. Anyone have a fabulous therapist that is on the MHN panel of providers? Thanks! anon


Paul Minsky is a psychologist on Solano Ave in Berkeley. He's real good. I'm pretty sure he is on a lot of the insurance panels (I have MHN) 510 524-0700 Good Luck


Anne Marshall has been a terrific fit for me, and helped me understand and start to address some longstanding core issues. She is smart, empathetic, funny, and gives good PRACTICAL feedback. I come out of sessions with a sense of what my next steps need to be. Her office is midway down Solano, and she takes MHN. 220-0808. anon


i can wholeheartedly refer laine demetria as an integrative psychotherapist. her wise and compassionate approach to listening, relating and participating is unlike any other counselor i have ever been involved with. you can see her website and decide if you're on the same page - www.lainedemetria.com. a hopeful work in progress