Bay Area Clinical Associates (BACA)
Bay Area Clinical Associates (BACA) is a mental health agency committed to providing integrated, scientific, empathetic mental health treatment for kids, teens, young adults and their families. We work to take the “mystery” out of psychiatric care, provide education regarding mental illness, and have a relaxed, fun, caring environment at our clinics. BACA has clinics in Berkeley, San Jose and via telehealth.
BACA offers Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) for teens and young adults with moderate to severe mental illnesses and Child, Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry. Please read more about us at www.baca.org or call for a Free Screening: (844) 560-5616.
Parent Q&A
Parent Reviews
Parents, please Sign in to post a review on this page.Hi--
I am sorry that your son is struggling. It can be so exhausting/demoralizing/frustrating to find appropriate resources for teen mental health. We have had good experience with Bay Area Clinical Associates in the East Bay. They do have a primary mental health focus, but I believe they can provide an initial assessment and recommendation to other local resources if appropriate.
A few other places that we have had positive experiences with are Coyote Coast,Team Wonder, and Evolve Treatment Centers (I believe they now have IOP or PHP services in the East Bay). Good luck!
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!
I'm so sorry to hear that your son (and you) are going through this. We had a similar need for something more intensive than weekly therapy but less so than residential treatment. I believe that BACA (Bay Area Clinical Associates) has what you are looking for. https://www.baca.org
Best of luck to your son in getting the help he needs!
Our teen attended an IOP at BACA this past Spring. As she was finishing the program they announced that both of the core therapists from the program had resigned.They waited until the last week to notify us though they had known for weeks and had apparently stopped bringing new kids in.
The program was shut down with almost no notice. This meant no transitional services for our child including no groups and no other kids she had bonded with. After that several other staff members in the general outpatient program also left. Our kid fell apart as there was no appropriate transition. She is only just recovering several months later.
We later learned the program had ongoing issues with staffing and turn over because of conflicts with the administration. Now they apparently have restaffed. I would warn others about the precarious nature of this agency. Fragile kids/young adults dealing with mental health issues need a strong stable program.
I only recently became aware of a treatment option that falls between weekly therapy and residential treatment. It is called Intensive Outpatient Therapy (IOP). It is a program for a few hours a day, 4 or 5 days/week. BACA (Bay Area Clinical Associates) will do a free assessment and suggest what treatment plan they recommend. They also know of many other programs in addition to their own. If you have Kaiser, you will need to get a referral from a psychiatrist or therapist. If you can keep her out of foster care, that would be better for everyone. Good luck!
Check out the organization called BACA, Bay Area Children’s Association. They have pediatric psychiatrists. If they accept your insurance it is worth making the trip to Oakland.
otherwise there are a couple at children’s Bos. We really preferred BACA, it then our insurance changed. Good luck.
Try BACA (Bay Area Clinical Associates) in Oakland. They have been treating my daughter for the last three (3) years and we have seen great progress and they offer counseling for the entire family. They are wonderful and extremely helpful. Don't know where we would be today without them.
My 19 year old daughter suffers from anxiety and on medication. Not sure if you have thought to go this route. She is also in therapy with Bay Area Children Association in Oakland and has done well there so not sure if you are doing therapy yet, but it will help him and the rest of the family. Yoga would also help. Any form of exercise helps a person with anxiety. Just remember to listen and not try to fix everything for him. You can be there to listen, hold his hand, and gently push, but be very gentle. Start reading on anxiety, there are many on line articles and they help. As for the what if's, - part of this is being 12 and part is the anxiety. When he get's in his head, take him for a walk, get him out of his everyday world. Ask him if he wants to talk, but do it away from the house. Don't create bad energy in the house. Anxiety can go into a panic attack very quickly so getting him outside away from the house really helps. Even if he does not want to go, make him go, tell him you need the walk and the company. Share with him your day, get him thinking outside the box. Find out his interests and expand on them. I hope this helps. Just love him. Give him time and space. I know what you are going through, it's hard and sad.
Bay Area children's association
BACA
The Kaiser children's mental health program didn't work for our daughter. There was not enough focus on her issues or our parenting -- just a lot of group programs that didn't help her. On the other hand, we've been extremely pleased with the child therapy and family therapy at Bay Area Children's Association (BACA) in Oakland. The initial evaluation process is intensive and expensive (four sessions, $1,900), but very worth it, as the psychologist and psychiatrist came away with a pretty clear understanding of her issues. Even though we have Kaiser, we actually purchased an Anthem Blue Cross plan for just our daughter to use at BACA. The premium (about $375 per month) plus the minimal copay was far less than the out of pocket costs of the intake process. We also save money this way for our typical month of services (two sessions per week, once with just her, once with her dad and I). Good luck!
I highly recommend Dr. Sanford Newmark-- we have Anthem. My son is a current patient , and although he is not a psychiatrist, he is an integrative medicine pediatrician specializing in ADHD/Autism at UCSF Osher center. He is also listed in CHADD and Additude as a doctor they recommend for ADHD treatment/management. I totally get the mixed emotions and my son was diagnosed in middle school and is now a sophomore at Bentley in Lafayette (he is thriving but it takes a village!) . He was always a pretty gifted student but we were stumped why he was inconsistent in assignments or was constantly distracted in certain situations. He has the inattentive type which is a littler harder to identify and I was fortunate that his school community had parents that were willing to share information and references.
They told me that finding the right ADHD help is not a sprint but more like a marathon -- so please be kind to yourself while you embark on this journey! Finding the right help/providers for ADHD can be be frustrating as most don't take insurance and those that do may not offer the more in depth help that you are looking for. This is why those that are quality ADHD doctors usually have a long waiting list-- and it wook us a year to see Dr. Newmark. The list might be shorter now and they can always put you on the waiting list but he was definitely worth the wait and once he's patient theres not a wait anymore. We see Dr. Newmark specifically for ADHD twice a year now and the appointments are always thorough in guiding any new concerns we might have.
https://osher.ucsf.edu/patient-care/patient-care-team/sanford-newmark
I would be happy to discuss our own ADHD journey if you think you would find it helpful ~ just send me a DM! Hang in there Mom, its going to be okay!
Sorry forgot to mention -- Even tho Dr. Newmark has a more conservative approach to medication-- we eventually did medicate through Dr. Newmark once he entered HS. I did all the things prior - eliminating sugar, rest, creating a support system, a therapist for my son, exercise, vitamins and it did make a difference in middle school. The diet was extremely clean Keto with a little bit more carbs but the fats were fish or avocados and we cut out all processed foods... It was time consuming because I made everything from scratch but I definitely saw a different child that was able to regulate better-- if you think about anyone that exercises, eats clean, and gets enough rest also feels less brain fog and has more energy and focus for the day -- so lifestyle choices is pretty critical for ADHD nuerodiverse kids... But when we got to HS I also didn't want him to have a negative relationship wiht medication and possibly self medicate so when we were ready for that step- Dr. Newmark was there as well. Good luck~
I don't have experience with Dr. Uno, but our child went to BACA in Berkeley for a few years, and the staff was always pleasant and accommodating. We were satisfied with the clinic.
Hi you probably already realize you’re looking for a unicorn. I don’t know Dr uno but I have had good experiences with baca. Without knowing the specifics of your clinical situation, would a developmental pediatrician be an option instead of a psychiatrist? The wait is likely quite long but you may have more options. Dr Nayfack or tang in the South Bay.
We have used BACA for years but have used online appointments for psychiatry and in person appointments for weekly therapy. I really like our psychiatrist (we see Dr. Haoyu Lee). Those appointments are typically 30 minutes and we spend the bulk of it with just parents then he meets with kid for a few minutes (which is good because they don't tolerate Zoom very long. For a long time Dr. Lee had them play an online game together during their portion). We also had a really fabulous marriage/parent therapist (online) through BACA but she's no longer with them. Kid had in-person weekly therapy for a long time (several years) with someone that has left, and it has been hard to get in person therapy with a long term person since then, about the time BACA shifted to start focusing on their IOP for teens. But, we have been meeting with students under supervision for the last two years and they have been helpful. It is really hard to find any in-person stuff for kids.
Dr. Uno is great! She’s very personable and knows her stuff. She helped our family immensely (dealing with ADHD and depression in our little one). However, BACA has some less capable non-psychiatrists, and sometimes it is rushed.
You can also go to Lifestance, but they are staffed by nurses a lot rather than doctors and we didn’t feel comfortable with that.